As it becomes increasingly impossible to disentangle our digital lives from anything else in our world, companies and governments are finding new ways to surveil us in public, hoover up our data, crack down on free expression, and listen in on our private, encrypted conversations. EFF is rising to meet these new challenges and to do so we know we need to reach an even larger audience.   

Our members are the heart and soul of our movement. Not only do you provide the resources we need to carry out our mission, you give us the independence to take positions based on what’s best for users overall, not just what’s preferred by one or two powerful donors.  And you currently give us the weight of over 30,000 voices when our lawyers and activists speak, including in Congress or in the courts.

Now, imagine the power we'll have when that number reaches 100,000. That’s our goal.

To help spread awareness of our mission and bring new supporters of digital rights into the fold, we're trying some new ways of reaching out, and careful, thoughtful advertising is one of them.

Right now, we are testing out advertising in ways that align with our core values. For example:

  • Sharing EFF content through “sponsored” email newsletters. We have vetted a few companies and organizations whose audiences we think will be open to our perspectives. We will provide them with content to include in their newsletters for a fee.
  • Promoting EFF on websites using contextual advertising. This means users see the ad because it aligns with the webpage they are currently reading (about encryption, for instance). We will not use online behavioral advertising, which is based on data collected about your behavior across the web.
  • Advertising on relevant podcasts.

For any of these advertising methods, it is only when you click on the ad and take an action on the EFF page it directs you to that we will know that you even saw or heard that ad.  If you click on one of the ads and then donate, purchase an item in our shop, or sign up for our mailing list, we’ll know you came from the ad. Otherwise, we don't see any information about email recipients or people who interact with our ads but who don’t click and engage with us directly.

In the future, we may use this information to contact you about similar topics. For example, if you click on an advertisement featuring data privacy and then donate to EFF, we may contact you in the future to ask you to help participate in one of our legislative actions on the same topic.

Advertising is just one of the ways we are trying to introduce ourselves to new, like-minded people. We are also:

You can help by introducing EFF to the people you know who share our passion for free speech, privacy and innovation too!

The steps above focus on a new way that EFF is trying to raise money and awareness.  But we have rejected many of the ways that others fundraise, including other nonprofits, because we are serious about and committed to everyone’s privacy.  Our privacy-protecting lines in the sand means we won’t:

  • Buy, sell, or trade donor lists
  • Share our donors’ data with other nonprofits or mailing list brokers
  • Add cookies to serve up ads to you on other websites when you leave ours
  • Use email tracking pixels to surveil how and when you’re looking at messages from EFF.
  • Send your information through “data-append” warehouses to grab information that you didn’t directly give us (like your employer, political affiliation, or the value of your home)

If you want tips on how nonprofits can grow while respecting privacy rights, we’ve got a guide for you.

EFF is a member-supported organization. You aren’t just donors; you are part of our team. That means we will always provide you with transparency when we try something new like advertising, and when we need your help to boost the signal for internet freedom. Right now we’re aiming to grow our membership and we’d love your help.