New regulation aims to enable the public to donate with confidence
Failing to comply with tough new fundraising regulations introduced this week could cost charities thousands of pounds in fines.
The Fundraising Preference Service (FPS) launches on Thursday in a bid to clamp down on persistent requests for donations.
It will regulate UK registered charities while those registered solely in Scotland unaffected by the legislation.
Failure to fall in line with the new guidelines could result in charities being fined up to £25,000 by the information commissioner.
The head of the regulator, Michael Grade, said: “From this Thursday you will have the power to control the flow of communications that you receive from charities thanks to the Fundraising Preference Service.
“Developed and operated by the Fundraising Regulator, which I chair, it will enable you to block direct marketing communications from particular charities.
“In practice, this will mean that you will be able to go online or pick up a phone and name charities from which you no longer want to receive post, phone, text or email marketing communications.”
Charities reported to the regulator will be issued with suppression orders giving them 28 days to stop contacting the complainant with unsolicited messages.
Should they continue, the charities could be reported to the information commissioner’s office, which has the power to prosecute under the Data Protection Act 1998 and issue fines if there has been a breach.
