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March 23, 2017 By Helen Brown 1 Comment

Well chuffed

You’ve heard me and several others talking about what’s happening on the UK fundraising/prospect research scene right now. Two charities have already been assessed hefty fines, and 11 other UK charities are currently under investigation for their fundraising activities including their prospect research/wealth screening activities.

It’s the wealth screenings that are the big deal part of it for us. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Career development, Fundraising Ethics, International prospect research, News, Non-profit trends, Wealth screenings Tagged With: Adrian Beney, Andrew Thomas, Daniel Fluskey, Factary, Helen Hays, Ian Inman, ICO, Laura Owen, Nicola Williams, Researchers in Fundraising

February 23, 2017 By Helen Brown Leave a Comment

New Order

Town Hall Albert Square Manchester. Photo by Stacey MacNaught: http://blogsession.co.uk/

Twenty years ago this coming June, a nightclub called The Haçienda closed in Manchester, England. For nearly 15 years, but mostly in the mid-to-late ‘80s, the Haçienda was the place to see, be seen, and dance to great music. Madonna took the crowd on holiday and The Smiths showed what a difference it did make in music history. Income from record sales from co-owners New Order helped keep the club afloat during the recessionary years. [Read more…]

Filed Under: International prospect research, News, Non-profit trends Tagged With: Charity Commission, Civil Society, Daniel Fluskey, Elizabeth Denham, Fundraising Regulator, Hugh Radojev, ICO, Information Commissioner's Office, Institute of Fundraising, prospect research, Rogare, uk

January 19, 2017 By Helen Brown 6 Comments

Disentangling facts and values in the UK’s wealth screening controversy

This week we are honored to welcome guest contributor, Ian MacQuillin, founder and director of Rogare, the fundraising think tank at Plymouth University’s Hartsook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a serious change threatens to alter the landscape for fundraising and prospect research in the UK. I’m not succumbing to hyperbole when I say that very soon wealth screenings and possibly even prospect research could be greatly curtailed or eliminated altogether. Unless awareness is raised and the momentum shift is altered, the impact on the charity landscape will be devastating. I am grateful that Ian agreed to share not only what’s happening in the UK, but also how these changes could impact us in North America. I hope you will join me in sharing this article socially to help educate our peers. ~Helen

Abbaye de la Sauve Majeure – Ulysses, by Ophelia2 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

It’s possible that during the course of 2017, using Google to research a potential donor will be declared illegal by Britain’s data protection regulator. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Fundraising Ethics, International prospect research, News, Non-profit trends, Wealth screenings Tagged With: Data Protection Act, Ian MacQuillin, ICO, Information Commissioner's Office, prospect research, Rogare, wealth screenings

December 22, 2016 By Helen Brown 2 Comments

A Passion Play, or How To Fix Your Lousy Wealth Screening Results

By English: Petty Officer 2nd Class Arcenio Gonzalez Jr., U.S. Navy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

An awful lot has been happening regarding wealth screenings in the UK, and to quote a wise mentor, “Dark times lie ahead of us…” It’s a big deal, and everyone in fundraising (and especially prospect researchers) needs to know about this.

What’s going on, briefly? The British Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) levied substantial fines against two large and well-respected British charities, publicly berated and shamed them for – amongst other things – conducting wealth screenings and prospect research. It’s a very worrisome time in the UK for our colleagues right now, and the fundraising community over here should take note – and provide moral support.

More on this developing story will be found here on the Intelligent Edge, but in the meantime, please take a moment to visit the Further Reading section at the end of this post to get yourself caught up on the ICO ruling and the UK fundraising community’s reaction to it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Non-profit trends, Researching Individuals, Wealth screenings Tagged With: data protection, ICO, Information Commissioner's Office, prospect research, wealth screenings

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