Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Creating Online Policies

When you shop online, you probably notice links to the legal section on many sites. You often see online privacy policies, user agreements, return or exchange policies, and other protective verbiage. After you begin your online fundraising endeavors, you too need to create certain policies to display on your site and to provide some basic information to visitors.

Include these items:

• A privacy policy: A privacy policy is a requirement. It's a statement that tells your visitors whether and how you collect information about them, such as e-mail addresses or name and physical addresses. It's also the place to let people know whether you're tracking their visits to your site through the use of cookies or other tools. If you're collecting information, tell them how you use it, and state whether you share that information with others. A link to your privacy policy should be clearly displayed on the home page of your Web site.
• A security policy: Similar to a privacy statement, your security policy lets visitors know how you store and protect their personal data. Although this policy is optional, you should use one if you collect donations online. In it, you explain how credit card data and other personal information are stored and protected. If you use a Donate Now button or another outside source to process online payments, let patrons know and then provide a link to those sites' privacy and security policies.
• A COPPA statement: If your nonprofit appeals to ...