DMA welcomes new charity commitments

The DMA welcomes the new stance and commitment to responsible marketing as listed in an open letter to the Sunday Times by 17 major charities. The proposals mirror the approach we advocate in the DMA Code.

Customers should always be at the heart of an organisation’s marketing, whether they are a charity or any other business. We have called for this type of change, and the industry should welcome this commitment from the charities.

The letter is explicit: nobody should feel pressurised into giving, and the vulnerable should be protected. This last point we are particularly happy to endorse, as we recently released our guides for dealing with vulnerable consumers. These guides are freely available, and we would urge any business to follow them as part of their marketing.

“Recent negative press reports have put some charitable practices under the spotlight. As the charities acknowledge in their letter, some of these practices have failed to live up to the highest standards,” said the chief executive of DMA Group, Chris Combemale.

“Many of the new proposals are in line with our own DMA Code, and we believe that these changes will do a great deal to rebuild trust between the public and the charities, whose work is so important,” he says. “Open and transparent communication drives trust and in turn, sustainable business growth.”

In particular:

• There will be specific opt-ins for all third party data sales, and the font sizes will be consistent – there will be no small print. This is significant because it means consumers will know exactly what they are signing up to, and understand better what happens to their information should they agree to third party data sales.
• Those charities that use telemarketing must now clearly display their phone number. Some had chosen to withhold their Calling Line Identity (CLI) number, which makes them less accountable. Displaying the CLI while telemarketing is clearly the right way to reach your customers.
• A new Code of Fundraising Practice will be written, and a new regulator established to replace the FRSB which will have the power to investigate and fine charities that breach the new code.

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