Avoid
facing fines of up to £500,000 by ensuring your charity is meeting the Information
Commissioner’s Office (ICO) regulations.
Charities that call donors registered with the Telephone Preference Service could
face fines of up to £500,000.
The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is the official opt
out register on which people can record their preference not to receive
unsolicited sales or marketing calls. It is a legal requirement that all organisations (including charities,
voluntary organisations and political parties) do not make such calls to
numbers registered on the TPS unless they have consent to do so.
Organisations which have an ongoing relationship with
customers (or in the case of charities - a donor) may well have gathered
consent during the early stages of the relationship and will therefore be
entitled to call even if the number is registered on TPS, unless you have
previously been advised by your donor that they object to you calling them for
marketing purposes.
According to the Information Commissioner's Office,
charities would be in breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications
Regulations unless the donor had specifically consented to such calls.
At a recent telephone fundraising summit hosted by the
Fundraising Standards Board and IoF, the message presented by the ICO was,
“Charities must follow the same rules as everyone else. You must ensure consent
is specific, informed and freely given by the individual. Consent should be
demonstrated by a positive indication of choice.” (Source: www.thirdsector.co.uk)
The ICO representatives said at the summit that it was “best
practice” for fundraisers to adopt an opt-in system for their phone
communications. This permission should be sought in writing to donors not by
telephoning supporters.
Do you know if your donors are registered with the Telephone
Preference Service?
Follow the steps below to ensure your database is up-to-date
- Run your data against the TPS suppression file
- Once you have identified your donors that are registered
with TPS, write to them asking for their consent to continue to contact them
- Update your database
Claim your free, no obligation data audit today. Call
Marketing on 01582 794229 or email Marketing.
