Companies often talk about the value proposition of their products or services, as though the only thing that makes a consumer buy is where the perceived value of a product/service is greater than the perceived price to supply said product/service. This simple formula gives the consumer the feeling that they have received more than what one would reasonable expect to pay i.e. a bargain (jousting sticks anyone?).

So how does this formula apply to not-for-profits like The Smith Family? Well it doesn’t, because there isn’t a commercial transaction taking place as such, rather a relationship built on trust and goodwill.

We approached The Smith Family after Dave, our Co-founder, donated and received a thank you letter with a note about their privacy policy, as well as a hard copy privacy statement in the mail titled Protecting the privacy of our supporters. The document covered just about everything that we ourselves ask in regards to how other parties are collecting, storing and using our personal information. Reading through the privacy statements, we felt that The Smith Family was creating the grounds for a trustful relationship by recognising and respecting first and foremost what we care about – our privacy. And so, we decided to get in touch to ask a little more. Here is what they had to say:

“We know that successful relationships are built on trust, and that consumer trust is a critical factor in the decision to support a charitable organisation such as The Smith Family. Being open and honest about The Smith Family’s use of data is one of the ways the organisation establishes and retains consumer trust.”

The OAIC and other relevant bodies in the online privacy space have often advocated for the need to build websites with privacy in mind at time of development. At My Privacy Policy, we too have always stressed that privacy should be seen by organisations as the very first step in showing end users that you respect their personal data, and hence allowing privacy to be a trust builder, and not just a necessary legal requirement. The Smith Family again goes one step further and caters for multiple stakeholders:

The Smith Family has four different privacy policies, each directed at a particular group of stakeholders; supporters, student and families, volunteers and VIEW Clubs. Each directly and transparently addresses the ways and types of data we collect, store and use and is unique to each stakeholder group.

When organisations like The Smith Family put privacy first, they take the very thing that matters to millions of Australians and bring it to the foreground to show that they care about protecting their personal data. This gesture in turn, encourages us to also care and to donate to an organisation that supports those in more need than us.