Fundraising body joins forces with DMA to campaign against Electoral Roll ban

LONDON - Charity body the Institute of Fundraising is joining forces with the Direct Marketing Association to campaign against the abolition of the edited Electoral Roll.

Electoral Roll: government "understands charities' needs for Roll data"
Electoral Roll: government "understands charities' needs for Roll data"

The two bodies will argue that scrapping access to the edited Roll will damage charities' fundraising and their ability to comply with the Data Protection Act.

The government has promised to consult on a recommendation to abolish the edited Roll, a proposal put forward in last year’s Data Sharing Report commissioned by the Ministry of Justice amid concerns about the sale of personal details.

Conservative peer Lord Norton of Louth has withdrawn an amendment to the Political Parties and Elections Bill that would have abolished the edited register, pending the consultation.

Justice minister Lord Bach said that while the Government understood concerns about data privacy, the potential impact on charities of a Electoral Roll ban must not be overlooked.

"Direct mail is a significant form of recruitment for them, and they would face poorer-quality lists and lower response rates if they were unable to verify addresses," Lord Bach said in a House of Lords debate on the subject.

The IoF said it will gather feedback from members and conduct a cost-benefit analysis of charites’ use of the Roll for data cleaning purposes. It will argue that the alternative would be the use of more expensive compiled sources of data.

Opt-out levels from the Roll vary from region to region but the overall opt out rate is 42%.

Topics

Market Reports

Get unprecedented new-business intelligence with access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s new Advertising Intelligence Market Reports.

Find out more

Enjoying ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s content?

 Get unlimited access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s premium content for your whole company with a corporate licence.

Upgrade access

Looking for a new job?

Get the latest creative jobs in advertising, media, marketing and digital delivered directly to your inbox each day.

Create an alert now

Partner content