Document 8: Benchmark Cooperative Terms (Consent to a Future Capability)

Dormant future capability. Nothing described in this document is running. Opting in records consent for a capability that does not yet pool or share any data.

Plain-language summary: We plan to offer sector benchmarks built from pooled, anonymized data, if enough organizations join. Today, nothing is pooled: the comparison you see is your own numbers next to published sector figures. Opting in records your consent to contribute anonymized aggregates if and when the cooperative launches. You can withdraw at any time before launch, and after launch withdrawal stops future contribution.

1. What opting in means today

The Benchmark Cooperative is a future capability. Opting in records the organization's consent to contribute de-identified, anonymized aggregate figures to sector benchmarks if and when the cooperative launches. Today, no cross-organization aggregation runs, no organization's data is pooled with another's, and the comparison figures shown in the Platform are the organization's own numbers displayed next to published figures from the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

2. What will happen before any pooling begins

Before the cooperative launches and any pooling begins, Relae will: (a) finalize and document the anonymization method, designed to meet the standard for anonymized information under Quebec Law 25, using measures including irreversible aggregation, removal of direct and indirect identifiers, minimum cohort sizes, and small-cell suppression; (b) notify opted-in organizations of the launch and the method; and (c) update these terms and the DPA so the live capability is described as current processing. An organization's consent recorded now does not authorize anything beyond this.

3. What we will never do

Relae will not expose any individual Donor's data or any individual organization's data through benchmarks, and will never sell or broker individual Donor Data. Benchmarks are outputs, not a data marketplace.

4. Ownership

If the cooperative launches, Relae will own the anonymized aggregate benchmark datasets and insights, which, being anonymized, will not be any single organization's personal information. Ownership will not extend to any Customer's underlying Donor Data.

5. Withdrawal

An organization may withdraw its consent at any time. Before launch, withdrawal simply removes the recorded consent. After launch, withdrawal stops the organization's future data from being contributed; anonymized data already aggregated into published benchmarks cannot be disaggregated, and this consequence will be re-disclosed at launch.