Preserving the trust and support of donors requires that donor information be handled with respect and confidentiality to the maximum extent permitted by law. Charitable organizations should disclose to donors whether and how their names may be used, and provide all donors, at the time a contribution is made, an easy way to indicate that they do not wish their names or contact information to be shared outside the organization. In all solicitation and other promotional materials, organizations should also provide a means, such as a check-off box or other “opt-out” procedure, for donors and others who receive such materials to request that their names be deleted from similar mailings, faxes or electronic communications in the future. The organization should immediately remove a donor’s name from any lists upon request and should ensure that all donors at least once a year are provided information about how they may request that their names and contact information not be shared outside the organization.

• Charities should respect donor privacy.
• Nonprofits should always provide an option to members, customers, and donors to opt out of the inclusion of their names in lists to be sold, rented, or otherwise shared.

• Public charities and private foundations must file donor information with their IRS Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF. However, the names and addresses of donors to public charities are treated as confidential by the IRS. Donor information for private foundations is open for public inspection.
• Healthcare organizations need to determine whether Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations apply to their fundraising procedures.

A charitable organization is required to report on its annual IRS information return (Forms 990)
the names and addresses of those who contributed the greater of $5,000 or 2% of the total contributions received by the organization in the tax year covered by the return. Federal tax laws specifically provides that tax-exempt organizations, other than private foundations or political organizations described in section 527 of the tax code, are not required to disclose the name and address of contributors to the public.¹ However, to the extent that donor information is included in a public charity’s application for tax-exemption, or correspondence with the IRS during the application process, such information may be subject to public disclosure.

 Some charitable organizations affiliated with governmental entities, such as supporting organizations affiliated with a public higher education institution, may be subject to state Open Public Records or Freedom of Information laws that require disclosure of records that include donor information. As a result of court decisions upholding such requirements, the state of Iowa recently passed legislation allowing state-affiliated university foundations to preserve the confidentiality of donors’ personal financial information. The Iowa law also permits the state university foundation to uphold a donor’s request to remain anonymous. Eight other states ² have enacted laws protecting donor information from disclosure.

1. What steps are considered good practice for maintaining donor lists? Have we developed the appropriate steps to ensure we are maintaining and accurately updating our donor lists?
2. How easily can donors “opt-out” when they are not interested in receiving additional information or want to be removed from lists shared with the public? 
3. Do we have an adequate privacy policy that can be easily found and informs interested parties about the use of their personal information? 
4. How does transparency about the use of donor information preserve the trust and support of donors?

28 Compliance with Donor’s Intent

30 Gift Acceptance Policies