On May 25, 2018, the European Union set into law the General Data Protection Regulation. Although it is intended to protect people living in Europe, you might recall when it came into effect, how your email inbox got cluttered with hundreds of messages from practically every organization that you subscribe to—asking you to agree to their new terms. There’s a reason this happened.
If your nonprofit has not sought to thoroughly protect the data of your donors, volunteers and even your website subscribers, you are placing your organization at a significant risk, which can cost your charity as much as 4 percent of your total year’s revenue for failing to set appropriate safeguards on information.
Paul D’Alessandro, J.D., CFRE, is a vice president at Innovest Portfolio Solutions. He is also the founder of High Impact Nonprofit Advisors (HNA), and D’Alessandro Inc. (DAI), which is a fundraising and strategic management consulting company. With more than 30 years of experience in the philanthropic sector, he’s the author of “The Future of Fundraising: How Philanthropy’s Future is Here with Donors Dictating the Terms.”
He has worked with hundreds of nonprofits to raise more than $1 billion dollars for his clients in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, as a nonprofit and business expert — who is also a practicing attorney — Paul has worked with high-level global philanthropists, vetting and negotiating their strategic gifts to charitable causes. Paul understands that today’s environment requires innovation and fresh thinking, which is why he launched HNA to train and coach leaders who want to make a difference in the world.