Charity data is set to be more hygenic in 2018 than it’s ever been before, according to a new report.

Wilmington Millennium’s latest direct marketing benchmarking report, which is based on a study among the UK’s leading data bureaux, shows that for the first time, every business that took part believes data hygiene will be a priority for charities and are expecting a significant uplift in data management and cleansing.

Two years ago, when charity marketing hit rock bottom, industry confidence was significantly lower with only 68 per cent of bureaux intimating that data cleansing would be important for the third sector.

Under best practice, it is recommended that data is screened on a ‘regular’ basis to keep it up to date; yet DMA research shows that in 2015 only 35 per cent of charities said that this was the case.

With GDPR expected to impact charities in May this year, this figure is expected to reach 75 per cent by June.

Commenting on the findings, Willmington Millenium product director Karen Pritchard said: “With GDPR just around the corner, it is unsurprising that interest in data hygiene has taken an upturn.

“Charities are taking their responsibility to their customer data even more seriously and as part of this they are taking measures to keep their data as clean and as up to date as possible. This is incredibly positive news for charities.

“Whilst many predicted that the triumvirate of Olive Cooke, the ICO’s hard-line stance on appending and GDPR would sound the death knell for direct mail in this sector; but it could potentially be quite the opposite.

“Volumes will ultimately fall and stay down; but strong relationships with donors will be forged on solid foundations, resulting in a much more responsible and sustainable approach to fundraising.”

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