Regulator may name and shame the charities that pester the public

CHARITIES that pester members of the public for donations could be named and shamed by a new regulator which is launching a clampdown tomorrow.

A new hotline, run by the Fundraising Regulator, allows members of the public to demand that charities stop sending them fundraising messages by phone, text or email.

If charities ignore these “suppression notices” they will be reported to the watchdog, which has the power to fine them tens of thousands of pounds.

The Telegraph has learned that the regulator could name and shame charities that are issued with suppression notices in its annual report. This would allow donors to study rankings of the most-complained-about charities.

Lord Grade, the chairman of the Fundraising Regulator, and a former chairman of both the BBC and ITV, said faith in charities had been “sorely tested” by some bombarding vulnerable donors with demands for cash.

He said the new scheme allowed people to “go online through our website or through a charity’s website and you can send a message that you do not want to hear from any charities, or you only want to hear from charities you select”.

Lord Grade’s remarks received a mixed reaction in the charity sector.

Sir Stuart Etherington, the chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said: “All the major charities have taken a hard look at how they handle donors’ personal information and I think we’re seeing some positive changes.”

But Sir Stephen Bubb, a former head of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, dismissed the remark that “too many charities are proving to be laggards” in upping their game. He said: “Lord Grade provides no evidence for this overblown claim.”