If you’re like me, you did some of your Christmas shopping at Target last year.
But if you’re also like me, you’ve gotten a letter in the mail from your bank informing you that your debit or credit card needs replacing as a result of the security breach that occurred this holiday season, affecting up to 40 million shoppers.
When I first got the letter from my bank, I was a little annoyed… but, hey, at least money wasn’t missing from my checking account, right?
Largely unscathed by the problem, I came into work and in my job of managing our monthly giving platform, I noticed something strange: Since last week, a handful of monthly supporters were dropping out of our system every day until I started receiving emails and phone calls that because of the security compromise at Target they were forced to replace their card.
In the world of charity and fundraising, monthly partners are key. They are the foundation of our work, the ones we can count on month in and month out, the ones who help us grow responsibly. Monthly donors help us care for children today and tomorrow.
And selfish, unthinking hackers had pulled the rug out from under us, the children we serve, and every one of those 40 million affected.
These hackers are responsible for donations going missing and our work being impacted on a daily basis. It’s as simple as that.
Not only will February be a month where we miss many of the gifts we count on, but it will be a month where we have to go back to our donors and ask them to re-submit their debit or credit card information — a task that’s far easier said than done.
From firsthand experience, when asking supporters to re-submit their giving information, at least one-third fail to do so.
I hope this isn’t seen as a slight at Target. We think they did as good a job as they could have, given the fact that the attack happened on the biggest shopping season of the year.
My hope is that all of you reading — whether you give to Love146, or to some other worthwhile charity – understand that your monthly gifts are incredibly important to us, and that you continue to help us care for children month in and month out.
