Cancer Research UK responds to Fundraising Preference Service announcement

Cancer Research UK responds to the news that the Fundraising Preference Service will enable people to opt out of charity communications.

Ed Aspel, executive director of fundraising and marketing at Cancer Research UK, said: “We fully support the introduction of the Fundraising Preference Service. Trust in the sector has fallen over the last two years, so we feel it’s important to support this move and let people decide which charities they want to hear from, and how.

“Putting our supporters’ wishes first is incredibly important to us, which is why on 1 July we became one of the first charities to only contact supporters who have given unambiguous and explicit permission for the charity to contact them for marketing activity.  This move to opt in means that no one will hear from us about any of our marketing activity unless they have specifically asked to. 

“We’re working closely with the Institute of Fundraising and the RNLI, who have also moved to opt in, to share our learnings, and help other charities make the move if they believe it’s the right thing for them.

“We’re doing this because we believe it’s the right thing to do. We want to communicate with our supporters in the way they want to hear from us, and believe giving people a positive experience will help re-build trust, and bring us closer to our ambitions as a charity.”