Fundraising Regulator Unveils Changes To The UK Fundraising Preference Service Following Independent Review

• Published date: 30 May 2022
• Subject Matter: orporate/Commercial Law, Charities & Non-Profits
• Law Firm: Withers LLP
• Author: Mr Chris Priestley and Hannah Brearley

The Fundraising Regulator has responded to the nine recommendations for improving the Fundraising Preference Service ('FPS'), made following an independent review in 2020.

The FPS is a service operated by the Fundraising Regulator that allows members of the public to stop direct marketing communications from any registered charity in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, by making a 'suppression request'. It has operated since July 2017, following significant media coverage of concerning fundraising practice which impacted particularly on vulnerable members of society.

The Fundraising Regulator commissioned Action Planning, a specialist consultancy for charities and non-profit organisations, to conduct an independent review of the FPS in 2020. The review looked at whether the FPS meets its original purpose, the value and quality of the service, any recommendations for improving the service, and how the FPS works in conjunction with other statutory protections (such as GDPR and the Data Protection Act (2018).

The review set out nine recommendations for improving the FPS, and the Fundraising Regulator has recently released information on what actions have been taken to meet these recommendations, which we have summarised below.

In general, the repose has been to update, or add information to, the Fundraising Regulator's website.

Reduce the cost of the service

• The Fundraising Regulator has streamlined the online process resulting in a 42.5% saving on the FPS budget.
• Review of the FPS remains a priority for the Fundraising Regulator, and the value for money of the FPS will be reassessed in 2025.

Ensure that suppression requests made on someone else's behalf are consistently managed, and consider implementing a feedback mechanism for charities as to why suppression requests are made

• Charity users of the FPS can now see where a request has been made on behalf of someone else and can also see where that third-party may be a vulnerable person. This can help charities deal with the request appropriately.
• The Fundraising Regulator has also introduced a way for third parties to submit a FPS request on behalf of someone who has died (which also tells the relevant charity that the person has died allowing them to process the data appropriately).
• The review made the recommendation that an optional 'free type' text box could be included in the FPS form so that users of the service can explain why the request has been made, allowing charities to evaluate their...