Define the release decision
A fundraising manager has donor CRM exports, gift receipts, pledge records, payment-processor statements and acknowledgement logs spread across email, downloads and paper folders. The archive owner must define the authoritative donor extract before encryption.
Identify the fundraising period, restricted extract purpose, authoritative donor records and every person allowed to receive the packet.
Run the control sequence
- 01Name the fundraising period, source system, extract purpose, accountable owner and approved recipients.
- 02Inventory the requested attachments without copying donor details into the manifest.
- 03Separate authoritative evidence from working notes, duplicates, blank scans and unrelated personal files.
- 04Record file name, source, date, version and expected retention trigger.
- 05Confirm which fields the approved recipient requires and which remain under the fundraising manager’s control.
Preserve enough evidence
Record the donor extract identifier, fundraising cycle, source device or system, export date, manifest, responsible custodian, authorized recipients, key location, encryption environment, recovery result, retention rule and next review date. Do not put passwords, recovery secrets or unnecessary donor details in the decision record.
Keep the manifest, custodian, approved recipient, key-separation decision, restore result and retention owner together without copying donor details into the record.
Keep surrounding controls visible
Encryption does not determine gift restrictions, tax receipting, gift designation, consent, recipient authority or whether an authorized recipient will accept an attachment.
Donor-export preparation can create extra copies on tablets, laptops, removable media, synchronization folders and recipient devices. The archive owner must address those copies separately and verify the current software release before relying on product behavior.
Questions to ask
Should the archive password travel with the donor extract?
No. Send the archive and its credential through separate approved channels, and verify the authorized recipient before release.
Does encryption make a donor extract accurate or authorized?
No. Encryption restricts file access; it does not establish gift validity, tax treatment, donor consent, recipient authority or gift restrictions.
Primary references
References support specific controls and do not imply endorsement.