Seth Godin's post, People truly don't care about privacy, makes you wonder if his theory could be applied to donors as well. Seth believes that people talk about it but in reality, they don't care about their privacy at all. Seth's bottom line is: Make promises, keep them, avoid surprises.
Nowadays, we create accounts in so many different sites - shopping sites, airlines, charities, forums, even our professional membership organizations. We also give out our credit card information, home address, phone numbers, etc. And, anytime you are online, you can be tracked - which sites you are visiting and from where.... not to mention the incredible power of Google's AdSense. We just don't think that much about signing up for accounts/emails, etc., since it has become so common nowadays.
Then we are surprised. Let's take Convio's breach. Nonprofits have been using the GetActive platform to send emails to their volunteers, donors, etc. for awhile now. Nothing out of the ordinary happens and no one pays attention to it. Then someone hacks into the platform. Email addresses and passwords were stolen (but not the credit card information). Someone didn't keep their promise. Suddenly, folks are worried.
The point is, people, especially donors, don't like surprises when it comes to their privacy.
About the photo: My very shy cat, Fluffy.
