Caring for your data
How we identify and build profiles of potential donors, supporters and partners and increase our support
At St George’s, philanthropy has been at the heart of our Trust for more than 250 years. The hospital was established by a group of philanthropists led by Sir Henry Hoare circa 1776 and charitable funds have been in existence to support St George’s ever since. Our work is only made possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters. Supporters come to us in a variety of ways, some are inspired to take part in challenge events or donate to their friends taking part; others are inspired to donate after attending a fundraising event or meeting with someone from the charity; some are introduced to us by friends and colleagues who are passionate about our work; others have directly benefitted from the care they have received at the hospital and have kindly come forward to support our fundraising ambitions.
As a fundraising organisation, we believe it is in St George’s Hospital Charity’s legitimate interest to:
- identify and communicate with potential supporters, donors, corporate partners, charitable trusts and foundations who might have an interest in the work of the SGHC and its mission
- assess the likelihood of increased levels of support from existing supporters
- seek support from potential and existing supporters
- engage our network of senior volunteers in fundraising to help develop stronger relationships with existing supporters and reaching out to potential new supporters
- Assess the financial and reputational risk of significant philanthropic support to ensure it is in line with our values and mission and to fulfil regulatory requirements.
As a fundraising organisation with limited resources, it is essential that we are as efficient in our fundraising efforts as we can be. We can only do that by developing a better understanding of our supporters and we achieve this in a number of ways:
- By researching supporters and potential supporters using publicly available sources (see below for further detail), we can tailor and target our fundraising events and communications to those most likely to be interested in them. This allows us to be more efficient and cost-effective with our resources, and also reduces the risk of someone receiving information that they might find irrelevant, intrusive or even distressing.
- By working with carefully selected third parties (see below) to enhance and analyse data we hold and augment using publicly available information to build a personal profile of interests, preferences, and assess financial ability and willingness to make a significant donation and what areas of support would be most relevant and of interest.
- By working with our volunteer fundraisers to identify who might be interested in supporting our work through their connections, with clear parameters and terms of reference to ensure the data is minimal and relevant for the purpose and securely shared.
This research helps us to understand more about you as an individual, and identify other potential supporters who are most likely to be interested in our work, so we can focus conversations we have with you about fundraising and volunteering in the most effective way, and ensure that we provide you with a positive experience as a donor or potential donor which is appropriate for you.
We recognise, however, that there are important regulatory requirements protecting people’s privacy and so we want to be as clear and transparent as possible so you are comfortable with the way we use and care for your data. Here we’d like to highlight how we process and protect the information of supporters like you.
What information we collect
We may hold information relating to you or potential supporters from a number of sources. We use this information to research your potential to be a significant donor or volunteer fundraiser for SGHC and collect additional details relating to employment and any philanthropic activity. We may also estimate gift capacity, based on visible assets, publicly disclosed earnings, shareholdings and property values, history of charitable giving and how connected you are to the charity in order to improve our understanding of our supporters, inform our fundraising strategy and target our communications more effectively.
Some of the information will be from information that you provide to us through correspondence and your supporter relationship. Most records contain:
- Your name, personal identifiers (e.g. date of birth)
- Your contact details
- Your communication preferences
- Details about your family household for communication purposes (e.g. marital status, name of partner or spouse)
- Personal data provided by you for a specific purpose (e.g. disability and dietary preferences for event management purposes)
- Details of your interactions with the charity, including:
- Attendance at and participation in SGHC events
- Contact with us or our partners
- Your relationship with other senior volunteers or supporters of SGHC
- Your donation and other support history, such as volunteering, letting us know you have left a gift in your will
- Where you have given express permission to share your details with fundraising, your experience as a beneficiary of our service
We may also record, based on information provided by you, publicly available information or information from our partners (see below) such as:
- financial information relating to you and your family, including:
- your history of donations made to the Charity
- your ability and willingness to make donations, including our assessment of your income and whether particular donations or funding appeals may be of interest to you
- your philanthropy and other giving, including donations to other organisations and other support that you provide (e.g. details of volunteering roles)
We may also record, based on information provided by you, publicly available information or information from our partners (see below) such as:
- financial information relating to you and your family, including:
- your history of donations made to the Charity
- your ability and willingness to make donations, including our assessment of your income and whether particular donations or funding appeals may be of interest to you
- your philanthropy and other giving, including donations to other organisations and other support that you provide (e.g. details of volunteering roles)
- your professional background and other life achievements
- your connection with members of staff, Trustees, or volunteer fundraisers
- conversations and interactions we have had with you where it is relevant to your relationship with us.
How we use your data
We may use your personal information to:
- invite you to meetings and events that you may be interested in attending
- send information about projects you may be interested in supporting
- update you on the impact your support is making to ensure that we can have a more informed conversation with you
In order to make the best use of the charity’s resources and to maintain the accuracy of the data listed above, we may undertake in-house research about you or other individuals who may have an affinity to our cause, but with whom we are not already in touch, from publicly available sources.
We only use reputable sources, where someone would expect their information may be read by the public. We avoid any data that we believe has not been lawfully or ethically obtained, and we do not use information sources which have not been made public.
Some examples of the types of resources (freely available or via a paid for subscription) used in the course of research, includes, but is not limited to;
- Public Registers; including Companies House, US Securities and Exchange Commission for US companies, Electoral Commission (Political Donations), Electoral Roll (Open Register), FCA (Financial Services Register), Charity Commission, Honours Lists, The Law Society, Land Registry, Sanctions lists.
- Trade & Industry References or UK Reference Volumes; including Professional directories, Who’s Who, Debrett’s People of Today, Debrett’s Peerage, City of London Livery Company information, fundsonline.org.uk; 360 GrantNav, Ethical Consumer, Corporate Watch.
- Print and Broadcast Media; including national and local newspapers (such as The Financial Times, The Evening Standard, The Telegraph, The Times and Sunday Times, City AM), Forbes, Crunchbase, magazines, rich lists.
- Internet; including general web searches, company and charity websites, online-only articles, information you have made available via public social media (such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, virtual giving pages).
In line with Charity Commission requirements and to meet money laundering regulations, we follow a due diligence process to assess the financial soundness, credibility, reputation and ethical principles of donors who have made, or are likely to make, a significant donation to SGHC. As part of this process we will conduct research using the methods referenced above.
When we share your data with other (Third Parties)
We may use trusted third parties, where data processing agreements are in place, to help us with our research and to ensure we maintain data accuracy. This may include asking the third party to analyse personal data we have, such as donations made to SGHC, and to collate additional publicly available data to create a profile of your interests and preferences to assess whether particular donations or funding appeals may be of interest to you. We may also use this data to analyse and make an assessment of your ability and willingness to provide financial support (sometimes referred to as wealth screening, which in some cases automates some of this work, but decisions are never made solely on these results. The information is used to inform the careful considerations that are made in tailoring appropriate and relevant communications).
We may work with trusted third party partners to undertake projects to identify supporters who have passed away or to update preferences such as mailing and telephone preferences, allowing us to supress communications accordingly.
If you are attending a meeting or event, we may need to share some basic information about you with staff, Trustees or volunteer fundraisers who are helping us to fundraise on a voluntary basis. It is only shared with those who need to know the information for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, when they need to know it.
You will always have the right to opt out of this processing. If you would prefer us not to use your data in this way, please email us at giving@stgeorges.nhs.uk or call us on 020 8725 4522.
How we protect your data
We are committed to looking after your data carefully and we store your personal data on our secure systems and minimise its use.
We ensure we have appropriate data processing agreements, or terms of reference, in place before sharing your personal data.
We do not sell your personal data to third parties under any circumstances.
Your rights
You have the right to:
· ask us for access to, or rectification or erasure of your data
· restrict processing (pending correction or deletion)
· object to communications or direct marketing
· ask for the transfer of your data electronically to a third party (data portability)
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
If you want to change whether or how you hear from us, or have any questions about the data we hold or how we long we hold it, please contact us at giving@stgeorges.nhs.uk
Further Information
We will retain your data indefinitely in support of your lifelong relationship with St George's Hospital Charity or until you request us to do otherwise.
We will publish on our website any changes we make to this data protection statement and notify you by other communication channels where appropriate.
Where you exercise your right to erasure, we will continue to maintain a core set of personal data (name, unique identification number and date of birth) to ensure we do not contact you inadvertently in future. We may also need to retain some financial records about you for statutory purposes (e.g. Gift Aid, anti-fraud and accounting matters).