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In preparation for new data protection regulations that are coming into force in May, we have been reviewing the data we hold about our donors, supporters, partners and grant applicants, and updating our data policies and processes.

At our February Board meeting, OCF’s trustees approved a revised Data Privacy Notice that outlines our approach to holding data and communicating with individuals. In particular, in order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), we are moving to an ‘opt-in’ communication policy. This means that we will only send marketing communications to those that have stated that they are happy for us to do so via their preferred channels. For selected groups of individuals (grant applicants, fundholders, staff, volunteers and Reciprocate members) we will also use ‘Legitimate Interests’ for communications about core activities specifically relevant to them.

Over the coming weeks we will be contacting all our other supporters to confirm that they are happy to receive news and updates from us by opting in using our online form. This is the opportunity for them to control which communications they receive, and we are committed to making sure we share information that is of interest, using the method they prefer. On occasion it may be that an individual receives this request from us more than once, because we do want to stay in touch – so please do bear with us!

In addition, we are completing an audit of the historic paper records we hold, and refreshing our processes for securely holding electronic data. Staff have all received thorough data protection training from leading local company Databasix, and have been supported by our UK-wide network of community foundations.

OCF’s Chief Executive and Data Protection Officer Jayne Woodley comments: “I am delighted that for the past 12 months the whole OCF team has embraced GDPR as a chance to enhance our data security. It builds on our recent success in gaining independently assessed Quality Accreditation. We see this as fundamental good governance, and an integral part of being a professional, trustworthy organisation.”

View our new Data Privacy Notice      Opt in to communications