# Fundraising Regulator names 59 charities in breach of FPS

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/03/04/fundraising-regulator-names-59-charities-in-breach-of-fps/
- Published: 2019-03-04T09:00:25+00:00
- Author: Melanie May

**For the first time, the Fundraising Regulator has named the charities it is taking
action against for breaching the Fundraising Preference Service.**

 

It has [named 59 charities](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/code-breach-fundraising-preference-service),
including Diabetes Research Association, Hope Africa, Meningitis Help, Art for Their
Sake, and The Brentwood & District Age Concern. 

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

 

The 59 charities are those that, as of 1 March 2019, had not logged on to the Fundraising
Preference Service charity portal to access requests from the public to stop communication.
Dates of first FPS requests range from 06 July 2017 to 12 December 2018.

 

Charities are required to comply with the [FPS](https://www.fundraisingpreference.org.uk/)
under the Code of Fundraising Practice and the Data Protection Act 2018. All 59 
charities have been referred to the [Information Commissioner’s Office](https://ico.org.uk/)
after ignoring requests made by members of the public not to receive direct marketing
from them. Today (4 March) the Fundraising Regulator has issued regulatory notices
against these charities for their failure to comply.

 

Around 8,300 people have submitted over 25,000 requests since the 2017 launch of
the FPS. When a request is made to stop communication from a charity, the service
automatically emails each charity’s nominated contact. This will be a specific person
listed on the Charity Commission’s register of charities.

 

The email says that someone from the charity must log in to the FPS online charity
portal to collect a ‘suppression request’. Charities have had 28 days to act on 
the request and stop contacting the individual. All of the organisations that have
been named have failed to do so. However, as of [1 March](http://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/more-from-us/news/important-change-fps),
charities now need to act within 21 days.

 

Repeated attempts have been made to contact each charity to explain why they had
ignored requests from members of the public to stop contact, and the Chief Executives
of each charity also received a final warning explaining that a failure to act on
a suppression request made through the FPS may be a breach of the Data Protection
Act 2018.

 

Gerald Oppenheim, Chief Executive, Fundraising Regulator, said:

 

> “The FPS is an important tool in helping to rebuild trust between members of the
> public, particularly those who are vulnerable, and the charity sector. Charities
> that fail to respect requests made by the public to stop unwanted communication
> risk damaging the good work done by the rest of the sector.
> “Some charities may think they have valid reasons for not accessing the suppression
> request. Despite this, they are still in breach of the Code and possibly in breach
> of the Data Protection Act, because the request is an individual’s wish to stop
> receiving direct marketing.”

 

Stephen Eckersley, ICO’s Director of Investigations, said:

 

> “Charities that ignore the Fundraising Preference Service run the real risk of
> causing distress and offence to people who just don’t want to receive their marketing
> communications.
> “The ICO has written to these charities to remind them they must act lawfully 
> and responsibly in protecting people’s personal data, and in how they communicate
> with them. Our advice for charities is clear: they must not contact people registered
> on the FPS and, where we see this happening, we will investigate and take enforcement
> action where necessary.”

![Loading](https://fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/page-views-count/ajax-loader-
2x.gif)