# Institute of Fundraising raises questions in its ‘first take’ on Regulator’s Code proposals

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/10/11/institute-fundraising-raises-questions-first-take-regulators-code-proposals/
- Published: 2017-10-11T08:45:43+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**The Institute of Fundraising has given its ‘first take’ on the Fundraising Regulator’s
Code consultation, highlighting a number of areas as requiring clarification as 
well as those it expects to be welcomed by charities.**

In the piece on the [Institute of Fundraising’s site](https://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/blog/the-regulators-new-code-consultation-a-first-take/),
Head of Policy & Research Daniel Fluskey identifies these areas as requiring clarification:

 * **The proposal that organisations MUST ‘keep up to date with and have regard 
   to relevant guidance from ICO’.** Fluskey calls for clear standards so charities
   know what is expected of them and says: “It would be useful to know what ‘have
   regard to’ means – is that the same as ‘follow the guidance’? Would charities
   be in breach of the Code if they could show that they were up to date and had‘
   regard to’ the guidance, but chose a different approach which they thought was
   legally compliant?”
 * **Proposal 5.5.7, which states that ‘organisations MUST\* explain how their contact
   data was obtained and what their legitimate interest is.** He says: “We need 
   to know more about what this change means, what would count as a sufficient ‘
   explanation’, what form that should take, or where/how it should appear,” stating
   that “to explain and recount a whole legitimate interest balancing exercise in
   a communication would be disproportionate and clunky, potentially disrupting 
   an engaging fundraising communication and existing relationship with an individual.”
 * **The change proposed on how fundraisers work with the Mailing Preference Service(
   MPS).** He says: “The proposal would mean that unless individuals have provided
   consent to that charity, no direct marketing mailings can be sent”, excluding
   legitimate interest as a lawful basis, and describes it as “a fundamental shift
   of the goalposts as to what was in the Code before, and indeed, significantly
   changes what the MPS service (run by the DMA) was set up to do.” He believes 
   this proposal requires a rethink and as such will be closely looked at by the
   IoF.

Changes expected to be broadly welcomed by fundraisers include the introduction 
of new requirements in the Code to ensure that everyone is clear on what their responsibilities
will be from 25^(th) May 2018, changing and renaming sections of the Code to give
one section on the legal aspects of ‘if/how’ charities can communicate with donors,
and one section on the content of those communications, and the inclusion of both‘
consent’ and ‘legitimate interest’ as valid grounds for processing personal data
for fundraising purposes, and specifically for direct marketing.

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The [consultation](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/code-of-fundraising-practice/consultations/code-consultation-october-2017/)
is open for feedback until 8 December, and the IoF is also inviting comments from
members on [po****@**************************rg.uk](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/10/11/institute-fundraising-raises-questions-first-take-regulators-code-proposals/po****@**************************rg.uk).

 * **[IoF highlights ‘fundamental shift of goalposts’ on MPS in draft response to Code consultation](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/11/03/iof-highlights-fundamental-shift-goalposts-mps-draft-response-code-consultation/)**(
   3 November 2017)
 * **[IoF sees sixth cohort of fundraisers graduate](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/11/20/iof-sees-sixth-cohort-fundraisers-graduate/)**(
   20 November 2017)
 * **[Fundraising Regulator issues guidance on complaints handling following Code change](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/05/09/fundraising-regulator-issues-guidance-complaints-handling-following-code-change/)**(
   9 May 2018)

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