FRSB telephone fundraising summit finds four issues needing clarification
Howard Lake | 8 December 2009 | News
The telephone fundraising summit hosted on 27 November by the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB) agreed on four aspects that needed greater clarification.
The summit was called following uncertainty and debate in the fundraising sector about when fundraisers are permitted to call existing supporters (particularly those signed up to the TPS), what permissions and notification are required at which stage of the charity-donor relationship, and confirmation of what is construed as an administrative as opposed to a marketing call.
The four areas that were discussed and actions agreed upon were:
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* The Data Protection Good Practice Note for charities, available in PDF from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), states that charities can continue to call existing supporters who have subsequently signed up to the TPS “for the time being”. The implication is that the charity’s existing relationship with a supporter would allow them to contact them.
It was agreed that the ICO will be asked to confirm what is acceptable.
* The Institute of Fundraising’s Telephone Fundraising Code refers to donors with whom charities have a “warm” relationship. Fundraisers have expressed uncertainty about what constituted a warm relationship and, during the summit, it was recommended that a definition should be included within the Code.
The Institute of Fundraising is to discuss this proposal with their Standards Committee.
* The Data Protection Good Practice Note for charities from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) includes ./guidance about gaining permission from the public for future contact by the organisation and notification of how the charity might use their personal data. It was agreed that fundraisers need clarification about exactly what permissions and notifications are required at which stage of the donor-charity relationship in order to make subsequent marketing calls.
The ICO will be asked to confirm what permissions and notifications are required.
* The Privacy and Electronics Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 covers marketing calls (which includes charity fundraising). This has been the subject of considerable debate within the sector in terms of what constitutes a marketing call, as opposed to an administrative call for fundraisers.
It was agreed that greater clarity should be given to aid fundraisers make this distinction. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will be asked to provide a fuller interpretation of the ./guidance.
Colin Lloyd, Chair of the Fundraising Standards Board and The Telephone Preference Service, and Chair of the Summit, said: “Since the telephone fundraising Code and ICO ./guidance for charities were first introduced, the standard and sophistication of telephone fundraising has risen substantially.
“But it is clear that there are varying interpretations within the fundraising community as to how the ./guidance should be applied in practice. This extra step is essential if we are to ensure that fundraisers can be 100% clear about what constitutes best practice in telephone fundraising, in order to adhere to the same high standards.”
The telephone fundraising summit was attended by regulatory, professional bodies and other involved parties including the FRSB, Institute of Fundraising, Telephone Preference Service (TPS), Direct Marketing Association (DMA), two leading telephone fundraising suppliers (Relationship Marketing and Pell & Bales), three charities (British Red Cross, Kidney Research UK and British Heart Foundation), Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA), Reynolds Busby Lee (a customer care and direct marketing agency)and charity law specialists Bates Wells & Braithwaite.
The Fundraising Standards Board and Institute of Fundraising are now collaborating on a response to the ICO that will highlight areas of legislation and best practice in telephone fundraising that require greater clarity, seeking approval for the various recommendations highlighted above.
The ICO response will be fed back to the Institute of Fundraising’s Standards Committee for consideration within the telephone fundraising code or supporting ./guidance.
It is intended that a sector event will be held to discuss these areas of uncertainty and provide confirmation of the latest ./guidance.
www.frsb.org.uk
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.