For more than eight decades, nonprofit ChildFund International has been serving the needs of children around the world. "We are totally child-focused," explains Sassan Parandeh, the organization's global treasurer and director of risk management. "Child protection is one very important aspect of what we do, but we have different programming in various countries, depending on the local needs. For instance, clean water and sanitation are pressing needs for children in some areas, whereas in others, the priority is early childhood development or HIV/AIDS education and prevention."

ChildFund operates in 24 under-resourced countries, funded by governments, foundations, and individual donors. In Parandeh's mind, the organization's business model makes risk management absolutely crucial: ChildFund can continue to operate only if it keeps donors' funds and information secure.

"Many companies can experience a data breach, and their customers will still need them," he says. "By contrast, contributions to an organization like ChildFund are entirely a matter of choice. If we were to make a security mistake that tarnished our reputation—say, by losing donors' PII [personally identifiable information]—that would be incredibly destructive to us. If people don't trust us to manage their data correctly, they will give their charitable donations to another organization. That is why we have always made sure to run a very sophisticated corporate treasury department."