Regulator announces decisions on Fundraising Preference Service

The Fundraising Preference Service will enable people to opt out of communications from a particular charity or charities, the Fundraising Regulator has announced.

Announcing its decision on the form of the FPS, the regulator said the service is to be launched spring or early summer next year.

Opt outs will apply to all forms of communication with a named individual, including email, text, telephone and addressed mail.

The service will be IT-based, but have telephone support for those who need it. The regulator will notify named charities of people who have opted out of communication and monitor compliance through a largely automated system.

FPS opt-out will have the statutory force of a Data Protection Act Section 11 notice to cease direct marketing. The service will also involve signposting to the Telephone and Mail Preference Services.

Lord Grade, chair of the Fundraising Regulator, said the FPS meets the aspirations for the service set out in the review of fundraising regulator that reported in September 2015.

“We will want to focus in particular on the needs of vulnerable donors and the support they require to opt out from unwanted contacts,” Grade said. “There is a growing realisation in the sector that appropriate consents need to be put in place and that the wish to opt-out must be respected. We are committed to helping the sector work to the standards expected by the public.”

The Institute of Fundraising welcomed the regulator’s approach to the service. Chief executive Peter Lewis said the institute believes the FPS will work for the public, donors, charities and beneficiaries.

Lewis was particularly pleased the regulator has included some of the institute’s recommendations for the service.

“Our members will be reassured by the development of a more sophisticated and donor-focused approach than the original single reset button, which would have stopped fundraising approaches for all charities and in doing so could have cut off supporters from causes they care about and led to millions of pounds in lost donations,” Lewis said.

Access the regulator’s final report on the FPS here.