Get a grip or else, charities warned

Charity marketers will be forced to adhere to much tougher rules – including a limit on how many times they can contact donors, a clampdown on hard-sell techniques and changes in the way they use donor data – if the industry regulator gets its way.
In an interim investigation report – sparked by claims that charities are bombarding vulnerable people – the Fundraising Standards Board has set out six new measures which it wants adopted into the Institute of Fundraising’s code of practice. The FRSB has called for the code to be revised to:

Provide greater clarity about the rules for gaining donor consent, which includes the requirement for charities to provide clear and easy ways for individuals to opt out of further communication;
Limit the frequency of charity approaches per year;
Expand current guidance for communicating with older supporters and those in vulnerable circumstances;
Remove the current code reference stating that fundraisers can use ‘reasonable persuasion’;
Make it clear that permission must be granted by an individual before their personal information can be passed on to third parties (a requirement of the Data Protection Act);
Clarify that charities cannot call people that are registered on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), unless the individual has given clear permission to receive calls.

The FRSB has also urged the Institute of Fundraising to make it clear that all clauses of the code are absolute requirements for adherence with best practice standards; a requirement for self-regulation of fundraising.
FRSB chief executive Alistair McLean said: “The public wants greater clarity and more control over how their contact details are being used and the amount of times they will be asked to give.
“Essentially, we want the public to be given more control over the way they are approached by charities and for further safeguards to be put in place when it comes to fundraising requests of the elderly and vulnerable.”
The FRSB will present the interim report to the Institute of Fundraising’s Standards Committee this week. The Standards Committee is responsible for setting the standards for charity fundraising in the UK. The Institute of Fundraising has committed to review its code of fundraising practice and relevant guidance in light of the investigation findings.

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