National charities have pledged to overhaul their own fundraising rules after public outrage at a number of high profile cases of harassment.
The heads of 17 of the UK’s biggest charities apologised yesterday for having failed to live up to the high standards expected of them and said that they were shocked at recent revelations about donors’ information being passed on and donors being hounded by requests for money.
They said that an opt-in system would be introduced, in which people would have agree to their details being passed on to other parties, rather than having to opt out. An independent watchdog will be set up to impose fines on charities that breach rules, as opposed to naming and shaming, which is the only option