Taking care of donor data

How we take care of donor data

UNICEF is implementing programmes for children all around the world thanks to the support of our donors. None of our programmes supporting the most vulnerable children would be possible without you. Therefore, taking care of the data we have access to when you make a donation is important to us.  

Below you can find out more about how we collect, use and protect your personal data.

Please read this text carefully. By giving us access to your personal data, you agree that we may collect and use them in the ways described in this text.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to call our Fundraising Department on 02/96 96 208, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:00, or email us at sivanova@unicef.org or dkrasteva@unicef.org.

Who we are

The UNICEF Office for Bulgaria is part of an international humanitarian organisation financed exclusively through voluntary donations made by citizens, companies, foundations and governments. Donor support is extremely important in our shared mission to help children, so we take care of your data with the greatest respect and responsibility.

How we collect data

Data are crucial for our efforts to help the most vulnerable girls and boys in Bulgaria and around the world. These data help us take the most efficient actions for children, and they make our communication with you timely and relevant.  

We collect data in the following situations and in the following ways:

• When you are interacting directly with us– for example, when you communicate with our representatives and agree to open a standing order to donate to UNICEF, when you donate via a payment slip or attend one of our events. Sometimes you might communicate with another company or an organisation representing us, but it is still us who are responsible for protecting your data.

• When you are interacting with a third party– for example, when you donate to UNICEF through a website which is not maintained by UNICEF. In such cases, we make sure that they also protect your data to the highest level.

• When you visit our website– we collect data such as the pages you visit or the links you click on. These data help us to enhance both our website and your user experience, and to share information and appeals with you that we think might interest you. Like most other websites, we also use cookies, but these data are used as groups of anonymous information that cannot serve to identify individuals. You can learn more about the use of cookies here.

Other publically available data sources– we use these to understand you better and ensure that our communication is tailored to your interests. To do so, sometimes we use public data sources (such as phone books) or information published in the media.

The data we collect

The data we collect depends on the type of interaction with you, but they can include your name, address, email address, telephone or mobile phone number, banking data, personal identification number, your date or year of birth, and gender.

We also collect data on your donations, the campaigns you have participated in, the events you signed up for or attended, and important details from your interaction with our employees from the Fundraising Department.

We collect all these data to communicate with you in a manner that is most appropriate for you because we know this means a lot to the many donors who support us.

We might occasionally use third-party services to assist us in our work. You can learn more about this in the “Who we share your data with” section.

How we use your data

We will use your data to communicate about children’s rights and needs that we think might interest you, or for administrative purposes. This includes:

• Providing information you requested from us or information one can reasonably assume you expect

• Communication about your donations and verifying information about them

• Sending notifications about the work we do for children and how much your support means for this work, and informing you of other ways you can support us

• Processing your donations and verifying financial transactions

• Sending invitations to participate in UNICEF events or in our research

• Sending information about jobs at UNICEF that you have applied for.

Depending on the method of communication you agree to, we may mail, phone or email you. You can change the way we contact you at any time by calling our Fundraising Department. For further information, please read the “How to change the way we communicate with you” section.

When you enter data in a form on our website, i.e. you start filling in a form, but you do not fill it in completely, we might email you to check if we can help you and see if you have encountered any difficulties.

If you would prefer us not to analyse your data or not to combine them with publicly available data, please notify our Fundraising Department. 

Who we share your data with

Sometimes we will share your data with partners, service providers and suppliers who, in accordance with our agreements, implement some of the activities (which indirectly contribute to children’s well-being) in our name. These agreements guarantee that our vendors operate exclusively in accordance with UNICEF guidelines and that they do not use your data for their own purposes or share them with third parties.

Our vendors respect the personal data protection standards and have established systems and processes for protecting the privacy of your data. We promise that your data are always safe with us, and that we will never sell them or exchange them for information from other organisations.

If you are using social networks, we might use your data on these platforms to share with you (and others like you) news and information about how you can support vulnerable children. You can disable targeted communication and marketing through social networks on websites and applications such as Facebook, Instagram and Google.

It is possible that we will reveal your personal data if it is required by law or if we believe this is necessary to protect and defend the rights, ownership or safety of UNICEF, our websites, our visitors, or for other legal purposes.

How we protect your data

We make sure that all the appropriate measures are taken to protect your data. All employees with access to personal data understand the importance of protecting your data at all times, and they have all completed a training programme to help them with this.

We ensure the strictest control for financial, sensitive and other categories of data in accordance with regulatory and legal obligations for managing these kinds of data.  

Sometimes we will share your data with our other offices, and on such occasions we will use a service provider or a partner outside the European Economic Area (EEA), which might also include a country which does not have the same level of data protection as Bulgaria. In these cases, we will take all measures to ensure the safety of your data and also to respect the EU-US Privacy Shield decision.

From the moment we receive your data, we do our best to keep them safe in our systems and during transfer between our systems and partners working for us.

How long we store your data for

We will store your data for as long as is necessary for a certain activity and for meeting legal or regulatory obligations. Doing so enables us to provide you with the services or information you have requested, to maintain our relationship, or to ensure we do not contact you if this is what you have requested.

You have the right to request that we do not process your data. You can do this by contacting the UNICEF Office for Bulgaria via mail at the address Sofia 1504, 87 Aleksandar Dondukov Blvd, floor 2., by email to sivanova@unicef.org, or by calling 02/ 96 96 204.

If you would like to see the data we have on you, please send a description of the information you would like to receive, along with proof of your identity. You can request this by contacting the UNICEF Office for Bulgaria via mail at the address Sofia 1504, 87 Aleksandar Dondukov Blvd, floor 2., by email to sivanova@unicef.org, or by calling 02/96 96 204.

How to change the way we communicate with you

We would like to nurture good, open communication with you. If you would like to change the method of communication or update your data, please feel free to contact the Fundraising Department by email at sivanova@unicef.org or by telephone on 02/ 96 96 204 (Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:00).

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