GDPR for Charities: What You Need to Know

A guide to GDPR compliance for charities, ensuring data protection and maintaining trust with donors.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a vital regulation for all organizations handling personal data, and charities are no exception. Charities often deal with sensitive information from donors, beneficiaries, and volunteers, making compliance with GDPR crucial to ensure data protection and maintain public trust.

GDPR’s Impact on Charities

GDPR applies to any charity that processes personal data, including names, addresses, and donation details. Whether collecting this data for fundraising, volunteering, or service delivery, charities must adhere to the same rules as other organizations. This involves transparent data collection, ensuring data accuracy, and safeguarding the personal information they handle. Non-compliance can lead to severe fines—up to 4% of annual revenue or €20 million.

Key GDPR Principles for Charities

Charities must follow several core principles, including:

Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency: Clearly inform individuals how their data will be used.
Data Minimization: Only collect data necessary for specific purposes.
Accuracy and Storage Limitation: Keep data accurate and do not store it longer than necessary

Consent and Legitimate Interest

Charities need to obtain consent from individuals when processing their data for purposes like fundraising. Alternatively, they can use “legitimate interest” as a legal basis for data processing, especially for activities directly related to their mission. However, charities must carefully assess whether legitimate interest overrides individuals’ privacy rights.

Special Considerations for Charities

Certain GDPR exemptions apply to charities. For example, processing data on minors for counseling services may bypass consent from parents. Additionally, smaller charities with fewer than 250 employees may have fewer documentation requirements, unless handling sensitive data like health records

Compliance Measures

To stay compliant, charities should:

Conduct a data audit to identify what personal data they hold.
Implement strong data protection policies and security measures.
Train staff and volunteers on GDPR responsibilities.
Regularly review data processing practices to ensure ongoing compliance

By ensuring GDPR compliance, charities not only avoid penalties but also strengthen their reputation and build trust with their supporters.