Cyber Awareness Month, observed every October, is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness about the importance of cybersecurity. In 2025, non-profits have a critical opportunity to strengthen cyber hygiene, protect donors, safeguard beneficiary data and build trust with the communities they serve.
Why Cyber Security matters most to nonprofit organizations
- Trust is everything: A breach can disrupt mission critical services and erode donor confidence.
- Limited resources: Budget constraints can lead to outdated systems and minimal IT staffing.
- High-value targets: Non-profits often hold sensitive personal data and financial records but lack robust defenses.
Threats facing your organization
- Phishing and social engineering: Staff and volunteers are often targeted with fake emails and impersonation scams.
- Conducting regular end-user security awareness training helps your staff recognize dangerous emails and texts.
- Always verify email requests for new or changed financial payment info using a second method, such as calling the person on a known phone number
- Ransomware: Continues to threaten operations and critical infrastructure, causing financial and reputation damage.
- Never open attachments that you were not expecting. When in doubt, contact the sender through another means, such as phone, to confirm if the attachment is legit.
- Human error: Simple mistakes in basic cyber hygiene (weak passwords and unpatched systems) or clicking malicious links—are the most common entry points and are the primary enablers of larger incidents.
- Always use strong passwords.
- Follow system prompts when requested to restart your machine or your browser to help keep your machine up to date.
- AI-enabled deception: Rapidly increasing attacker sophistication, enabling convincing fraudulent audio/video and text that amplify social-engineering success rates.
- Beware of deep fakes. Look and listen for inconsistencies or unnatural details in images, text, and speech. If a request seems unusual, use a pre-established code word or secondary channel to confirm the person’s identity.
Practical cyber hygiene activities for your organization during this month should include updating passwords regularly, conducting cyber training sessions with your staff on phishing awareness, and implementing multi-factor authentication and password management to ensure greater protection for your organization’s public and private information.
IT4Causes can help your nonprofit organization become more secure. Reach out to us to start a conversation!