Tell a charity to stop asking.

1. Ask the charity directly

You can tell any charity to stop using your details to send you appeals. The ICO calls this the right to object. It covers advertising or marketing targeted at you specifically, by any form of communication, and the ICO says organisations cannot refuse if you object to this.

• Contact the charity itself. The ICO says you can make the request verbally or in writing at any time, and recommends following up a verbal request in writing so you can prove what you asked for.
• Say plainly what you want stopped, for example fundraising letters and phone calls.
• The ICO says organisations need to deal with and respond to an objection within one calendar month.
• The charity does not have to erase everything it holds. The ICO says it is likely to put you on a suppression list, so it does not mistakenly send you marketing again.

2. Use the Fundraising Preference Service

The Fundraising Preference Service, or FPS, is a free service run by the Fundraising Regulator. You name the charities you no longer want to hear from, and those charities access your details through the FPS so they can take you off their direct marketing lists. It can stop fundraising asks sent by addressed letters, emails, phone calls and text messages. You can choose these separately or choose all of them.

It applies to charities registered in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. The FPS says people living in Scotland can use it to stop communications from charities registered in England, Wales or Northern Ireland that fundraise in Scotland. For charities registered only in Scotland, it points to the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel.

1. Open the FPS website

   Choose whether the request is for yourself, someone else or someone who has died. You do not need a username or password.

2. Name the charities

   You can select up to 10 charities in any one visit to the website. For more than 10, submit a new request.

3. Enter the contact details

   The FPS asks for your contact details so the charities can find you on their databases and take you off their direct marketing lists. It also asks for an email address or phone number, so it can send you a reference code.

4. Keep the reference code

   You will need it to follow up. A request cannot be changed once it has been submitted, so check the details before you send it.

If you are unable to complete the request online, the FPS helpline is 0300 3033 517. By phone you can stop contact from up to 20 charities.

3. What the FPS does not stop

The FPS lists these limits itself:

• People who come to your door to fundraise, and people fundraising on the street.
• Charity bags delivered to your address.
• Mail that does not have your name on it and is addressed to “a householder”.
• Contact that is not a fundraising ask, such as administering an existing gift or standing order, fulfilling a ticket or retail purchase, or a membership or magazine subscription. Speak to the charity directly about these.
• Direct debit donations you have already agreed to. To stop these, contact the charity directly.
• Organisations that are not registered charities, such as commercial companies.

For general advertising post and leaflets, see the post guide. If you later want to hear from a charity again, the FPS says to contact that charity directly and give your consent.

4. How long it takes, and what to do if it carries on

The FPS says it may take up to 21 days for a charity to stop contacting you, because many charities plan their communications in advance.

1. Wait 21 days

   Count from the date of your FPS request. Keep anything that arrives after that, with the date.

2. Make a follow up request

   If fundraising asks continue more than 21 days after your request, use the follow up page on the FPS website and enter your reference code. The FPS sends a further notification to the charity. If you cannot find your code, you can ask for a reminder on the same page.

3. Complain to the Fundraising Regulator

   If contact continues after the follow up request, you can complain about the charity to the Fundraising Regulator. Its service is free. It says the easiest way is its online complaints form.

The Regulator asks that you first complain to the organisation itself, and says you should usually give it four weeks to respond. You can bring the complaint to the Regulator if you are unhappy with the response or do not hear back within four weeks.

When you complain, the Regulator asks for the name of the organisation, when the incident took place, a brief summary of what happened, your name and how you would like to be contacted, copies of any fundraising materials, any other evidence, and details of the charity’s response and why you were not happy with it.

If you have difficulties completing the form, the Regulator gives these other routes: email complaints@fundraisingregulator.org.uk, call 0300 999 3407 (Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 4.30pm), or write to Fundraising Regulator, 50 Featherstone Street, London, EC1Y 8RT.

Related guides

• A lighter letterbox. Reduce addressed marketing, unaddressed leaflets and the data that puts your home on mailing lists.
• Marketing sent to someone who has died. Two free services can reduce the marketing post and charity appeals still arriving in their name, though neither stops everything.
• When they keep contacting you anyway. Who to complain to about marketing that carries on after you have said no, what to have ready and what happens afterwards.