WSPN 3rd Thursday Fall Series: Data Protection: How to Protect Yourself, Your Organization, and Your Philanthropy Team

This program will explore emerging data risks, including types of phishing scams and social engineering methods that are directly relevant to nonprofit fundraising professionals. Participants will learn how to protect themselves from these risks, and by extension, their respective organizations and the donor data they collect, process, and store.

The session is interactive, allowing the attendees to practice recognizing potential risks, and it will also emphasize safe digital habits. By strengthening awareness and sound decision-making, fundraising teams can better steward donor relationships, protect their organization’s reputation, and cultivate lasting connections that support long-term philanthropic success.

Key Takeaways:

• Everyday activities expose personal, financial, health, and organizational data, making vigilance essential.
• Provide fundraising professionals with practical examples to help them recognize phishing and related social engineering methods across various channels, such as email, text messages, QR codes, and voice calls, including increasingly convincing AI-enabled scams.
• Learn how to protect yourself and implement safeguards into existing processes that utilize donor and financial data to avoid becoming a victim.
• Strong security depends on everyday habits, clear technology policies, ongoing training, and promptly reporting suspicious activity.

Michael V. Borromeo is a Senior Advisor at Conlon Public Strategies. He is a cybersecurity, data privacy, and AI governance leader with over 20 years of experience helping organizations design and implement practical strategies to protect their data and manage risk.

Outside of work, Michael serves on the Board of Directors of multiple nonprofits in the housing and healthcare sector. In these roles, he brings a pragmatic governance approach that aligns strategy and regulatory expectations with organizational realities, and enables confident, informed decision-making.