The Fundraising Standards Board has upheld a complaint about a fundraising call made by telephone fundraising agency NTT Fundraising on behalf of Dogs Trust.

Announcing its decision, the FRSB said the complainant objected to receiving the fundraising call as he was registered with the Telephone Preference Service and did not recall giving permission for the charity to contact him.

The FRSB said the complainant’s details had been obtained from a third party data supplier, which had carried out two 'lifestyle' marketing survey calls.

At the end of the second survey call the complainant was given an automated list of the organisations his details would be passed to, the FRSB said, but he was not given the opportunity to opt out of contact from those organisations.

His contact data was then supplied for the charity to use in its telephone fundraising campaign conducted by NTT Fundraising.

The FRSB ruled that although NTT Fundraising and Dogs Trust believed permission for future calls had been secured, any permission given was not sufficient to override TPS regulations.

Permission was insufficient because the complainant had not been asked to provide informed or specific consent to future fundraising calls from those organisations, the FRSB said.

“As such, the regulator found NTT Fundraising and the data supplier in breach of the Institute of Fundraising’s Code of Fundraising Practice (clause 8.2.3(b). The FRSB also found Dogs Trust had breached the Code by failing to have sufficient oversight of the marketing leads that were secured for its donor acquisition campaign,” the FRSB said in a statement.

The case has been referred to the Information Commissioner’s Office to determine whether breaches of the Data Protection Act or Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations have occurred.

The FRSB ruled that the parties had not breached the Code in relation to misleading people on how their information would be used, and requiring organisations to ensure parties acting on their behalf comply with data protection regulations.

Since the complaint was raised in September 2015, Dogs Trust has indicated that it will no longer make fundraising calls to individual contacts secured through lifestyle marketing surveys unless the individual had given consent in response to a question specifically naming the charity, the FRSB said.

Dogs Trust said that this was an isolated incident, but one the charity takes very seriously.

“Measures have already been put in place to ensure we not only continue to meet donor expectations, but also comply with all best-practice guidance notes as they are published,” Dogs Trust said in a statement. “The extremely low level of complaints that we receive demonstrate that the overwhelming majority of activity we undertake meets with our wonderful supporters’ expectations.”

NTT has achieved TPS Assured certification and regularly audits data contacts received from third parties. However, the FRSB has recommended the agency reviews all current agreements and scripts in use by third party suppliers to ensure consent is compliant with the Code.

In a statement, NTT said the FRSB had recognised that this was an isolated case.

The regulatory environment has “shifted significantly” since this complaint arose, NTT said, and this individual case was considered to be within legal definitions provided to the data sector at that time.

“However, it did sit outside NTT Fundraising’s best practice guidelines and we stopped working with the data supplier for this reason,” NTT said. “The FRSB recognised that marketing surveys, when done correctly, are an invaluable opportunity for charities to engage with the public. When it comes to prospective charity supporters NTT will continue to ensure every detail of information entering our organisation complies with regulations and is handled in a way which reflects our own and our charity client’s high values.”

FRSB chair Andrew Hind said it is essential that organisations secure appropriate levels of consent for any charity fundraising calls, particularly when it comes to contacting people registered with the TPS.

“Charities working with third parties must do all they can to ensure that those third parties comply with the Code and secure the necessary permissions for any fundraising calls that will be carried out in the charity’s name,” he said.

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