The 28th of January is Data Privacy Day, an international educational event intended to raise awareness about and promote best practices in privacy and data protection for individuals and businesses.

As a digital fundraising platform, we maintain year-round vigilance in the security of our tech and today is an opportunity to share a refresher about how we protect data and encourage others to do so as well. 

‍‍General safety guidelines

First and foremost, everyone should make an individual effort to protect personal information. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) envisions a safer, more trusted digital world. It has shared four simple steps that everyone can take to stay safe online at home, work and school. These include using strong passwords, reporting phishing attempts and keeping software updated on your devices. Learn more about CISA’s general safety guidelines. 

Public nonprofit data

To become a Give Lively member nonprofit and then maintain that membership, an organization must be a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization (public charity or private operating foundation), an eligible foundation type and in good standing with both the IRS and relevant state authorities. Learn more about Give Lively membership requirements.

To confirm the existence and tax-exempt status of a nonprofit, Give Lively consults public data available through multiple IRS databases. It is important that your organization updates the information it has registered with the IRS. If it has changed – especially your organization’s name, EIN or mailing address – check whether this information has been recorded by the IRS using its Tax Exempt Organization Search Tool. Notify the IRS directly about any corrections.

Fundraise and donate safely

At Give Lively, we feel strongly about privacy, security and transparency. At every level of what we do, we spare no effort to ensure data privacy and security in accordance with the law, best practices and what is right.

How Give Lively protects data

• We never sell, rent or lease any data to third parties. Ever.‍
• We and our nonprofit members never directly see or store any donor payment information. Saved payment details are captured by and stored securely in a third-party payment processor without passing through our servers.‍
• With any data we do collect and retain, we take every reasonable action to protect against its loss or misuse, both in transit and at rest. While in transit, it is protected using end-to-end encryption and SSL protected web pages (see more below). At rest, it resides in encrypted databases, where we store data for as long as required. 
• We acknowledge and respect donors’ rights to control their data. We set store by the spirit of the California Consumer Privacy Act and the stricter standards of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), both of which govern data protection and privacy, and we comply with them where possible. For more regarding this, see our Master Service Agreement, Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.‍
• We enforce end-to-end encryption and SSL protected web pages. You may have noticed that the hyperlink address to your fundraising page starts with "https". In layman's terms, a hyperlink starting with HTTPS means that the page is secure. Even when our platform is embedded as a widget on a page that does not include "https" in the hyperlink, the platform is still secure.

Take a closer look at our data security and privacy measures.

How you can protect personal information

• Choose trustworthy nonprofits. Review nonprofits’ privacy policies to ensure they clearly outline how donor data is collected, stored and shared. Look for commitments not to sell or share personal information with third parties. 

• Verify security certifications. Confirm nonprofits use secure fundraising platforms to collect donations. Learn more about our and our tech partners’ security practices. 

• Release information you’re comfortable sharing: Donate anonymously if privacy is a concern. Nonprofits can add the ability to make private/anonymous donations on their Give Lively-powered fundraising pages. Full details must still be recorded, but will not be posted publicly.

• Use secure payment tools: To process donations made using Give Lively fundraising technology, we use Stripe and PayPal, two industry-leading payment processors trusted by thousands of companies and nonprofits. Stripe and PayPal are PCI Level 1 compliant, which means they maintain the highest level of data security when protecting payment information. Learn more about Stripe’s PCI compliance and PayPal’s PCI compliance, and take a closer look at our data security and privacy measures. 
• Avoid public wi-fi when donating: Donate through secure networks to prevent data interception.

Whether you're using Give Lively to raise money for your nonprofit or you're using the platform to donate to your favorite cause, you can rest easy knowing that your data is secure. Read more about how strongly we feel about privacy, security and transparency. 

If there is ever any reason to believe that Give Lively and its technology are not doing what they should or that the security of an account has been compromised, please contact us immediately.