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Trust & independence

Why do charities send me so much post and email?

In short: Because contacting existing supporters is far cheaper than finding new ones, so charities keep asking. You can stop it: tell the charity directly, use the Fundraising Preference Service to stop contact from a named charity, or register with the Mailing Preference Service for unaddressed mail.

Data from CharityCompare editorial, last updated .

Charities must have a lawful basis to contact you and must honour your preferences under UK data protection rules. If they are not doing so, you have three escalating options:

  1. Ask the charity to stop, or to reduce contact to once a year. Most have a preference centre.
  2. Fundraising Preference Service — a free service that requires a named charity to stop contacting you within 28 days.
  3. Information Commissioner’s Office — if a charity keeps contacting you after you have objected, this is a data-protection matter.

Volume of post is not a sign of a badly run charity in itself, but the cost does show up in the accounts under fundraising expenditure — which you can check on any profile.

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