The Fundraising Regulator has reported an increase in the number of charities failing to access people’s requests to be removed from their marketing databases.
The regulator runs the fundraising preference service (FPS), which allows individuals to request charities registered in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to stop sending them direct marketing communications.
As of 1 November, 48 requests had not been accessed by 34 charities, compared with 35 requests by 22 charities as of 1 August.
The increase is mainly due to more charities receiving an FPS request for the first time, the regulator said, while it can take longer for new charities to collect suppression requests.
It also said recent changes to the FPS, including increasing the number of suppressions that can be made in a single online transaction from three to 10, led to more charities being suppressed.
Regulator: Charities must act on FPS requests
The regulator said that so far, more than 2,808 charities have set themselves up on the FPS charity portal.
A spokesperson said: “FPS acts as an important backstop for the sector by helping members of the public to manage direct marketing communications and end contact with charities they no longer want to hear from, which is particularly important for vulnerable individuals.
“It’s vital that charities take the simple steps to act on FPS requests within 21 days of being notified so they comply with the Code of Fundraising Practice and data protection law.”
Its latest annual report shows that 2,436 unique users made 3,467 FPS requests in 2021-22, resulting in a total of 6,603 suppressions (10% increase on the previous year), with 811 charities having at least one suppression (8% increase).
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