Non-profits & Education

Keep donors, students, and beneficiaries safe

Non-profits and educational institutions operate with limited IT staff and sensitive data. Protecting donor PII, student records, financials, and program data is essential to keep funding, preserve reputation, and meet legal obligations. We design practical controls that fit your budget and operations so you can focus on mission delivery.

Snapshot first - measure before we scope

We begin by measuring the environment so recommendations are fact based and focused. The Snapshot delivers:

• An inventory of donor, student, financial, and program systems and data locations.
• A GAP analysis for access control, encryption, backup, and logging.
• A review of vendor and fundraising platform exposure.
• Quick wins and the highest-risk items to remediate first.
• You get a prioritized roadmap you can act on immediately.

Scope and objectives - agreed after the Snapshot

Using Snapshot results we confirm what to protect and what success looks like.

Together we set:

• Which programs, systems, and data are in scope.
• Recovery and availability targets for critical services.
• Compliance and reporting needs for donors, regulators, or funders.
• Acceptance criteria and named owners for each control.
• This keeps the work focused on mission impact and avoids scope creep.

Mission-focused protections that matter

• Donor data protection and PCI readiness for donation processing.
• Student privacy and FERPA-aligned controls for educational records.
• HIPAA-aware controls when health data is involved.
• Vendor gating for fundraising and cloud platforms so third parties do not become weak links.
• Practical backups and recovery plans so programs and services stay running.
• Role-based access and simple offboarding so volunteers and contractors do not retain access after missions end.

Our five-step client process

1. 360-degree Snapshot (five days) - inventory data and systems, vendor review, access and logging checks, and a prioritized roadmap.
2. Scope and Objectives - sign-off on in-scope systems, recovery targets, compliance needs, owners, and acceptance criteria.
3. Design and small-step policies - pragmatic controls, encryption and backup plans, vendor gates, and short SOPs staff will follow.
4. Implement and validate - staged rollouts, vendor contract checks, backup and restore tests, and user acceptance to avoid operational disruption.
5. Operate and sustain - recurring checks, refresher training for staff and volunteers, scheduled evidence capture, and governance that fits your team.

Deliverables - what you walk away with

• Snapshot Report - data inventory, vendor exposure, and a prioritized roadmap.
• Signed Scope and Objectives - agreed targets and owners.
• Policy pack - short, usable policies for donor data, student records, vendor access, and incident response.
• Backup and recovery playbooks - tested restores for critical program systems.
• Vendor governance templates - onboarding gates, access templates, and audit checklists.
• Audit and funder-ready bundle - evidence templates, retention rules, and a one-page security statement you can share with donors and grantors.
• Training and handover - short modules for staff, volunteers, and contractors plus an annual refresh plan.

Timeline and what to expect

• Days 1 to 5 - Snapshot and prioritized roadmap, with our five-day clarity guarantee.
• Week 2 - Scope and Objectives sign-off and initial control design.
• Weeks 3 and up - implementation sprints, vendor gating, and restore testing coordinated with program schedules.
• Ongoing - monthly checks, annual refresh, and evidence updates ahead of audits and funder reviews.

Acceptance criteria - how success is measured

• Snapshot delivered and Scope and Objectives signed by stakeholders.
• Critical program systems and data locations inventoried and verified.
• Vendor gating in place for fundraising and cloud services.
• Backup and restore tests pass for scoped systems within agreed recovery targets.
• Evidence bundle available that satisfies common funder, insurer, or regulator questions.
• Staff and volunteer training completed and reporting in place.

Risks and how we mitigate them

• Volunteer and contractor access creates exposure - enforce role-based access, short-lived credentials, and strict offboarding.
• Donations or financial systems are under-protected - apply PCI best practices and vendor gating for payment platforms.
• Academic or research data mishandled - implement least-privilege access and audit trails for data use and exports.
• Operational disruption during changes - stage deployments, test restores, and schedule work outside peak program times.
• Vendor or platform changes - require contractual gates, periodic revalidation, and written vendor evidence for key services.

Three simple next steps - protect mission and keep services running

1. Book a free 30-minute Clarity Consultation - we confirm the single biggest data or operational risk to your mission.
2. We run the five-day Snapshot - you receive a prioritized roadmap that protects donors, students, and program continuity.
3. We kick off Week 1 sprint - we finalize scope and objectives, assign the Delivery Lead, and begin implementing the highest-value controls so you start reducing risk fast.