Data protection changes that will make charity fundraising easier

The Government recently announced “a new direction” for Data protection in the UK in a plan published following its recent consultation on this topic.

The good news for small and medium sized charities and social enterprises is that the overall direction of travel is towards simplification of the regime while maintaining data rights and high standards in protecting privacy. In effect this means relaxation of some “overly restrictive” requirements in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that have been particularly burdensome for small organisations and fundraisers in particular.

The devil will, of course, be in the detail but the signs are hopefully that things could get a little easier for fundraisers and charities in general.

For example, the Government proposes to extend more clearly to charities the right currently enjoyed by businesses to contact individuals who they have been in touch with during a previous sale or transaction to market similar or related products/services, provided they were given the opportunity to opt out when they provided their details. Allowing the use of this so called “soft opt in” should make fundraising from individuals easier, but let’s see the detail before celebrating too much!

Wider reforms are also foreshadowed in the Government’s plan, including in areas such as campaigning, volunteering, HR and how service users data can be used. So we all need to keep an eye out for more announcements on this topic.

Of course, a new Data Protection Bill is needed to make all this possible, so it’ll be a couple of years at least, but fingers crossed things will get a little easier once the new laws come in.

If you would like to discuss further the implications for your organisation please contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk.