Supporter privacy notice

At Prisoners’ Education Trust (PET) we value our supporters. It is only with your interest in our work and your financial support that we can make a difference to thousands of people in prison each year.

In order to track donations made to PET or manage requests for further information, we need to process information about you.

Where your data comes from

When you make a donation or purchase tickets for an event, PET collects and stores the information you provide to:

• Process your donation* and undertake relevant administration (for example to send a thank you letter, or for Gift Aid processing).
• To process tickets requests, and to undertake events administration (for example to let you know if an event start time has changed, or to confirm accessibility requirements).
• Where appropriate send a report 11-12 months later to tell you about the impact of your gift.

* This could be through the post, over the telephone, online (via PET’s website, Just Giving, The Big Give and Farewill), via Charities Aid Foundation, Stewardship or by bank transfer.

The data we use

Through the processes outlined above, we will note the following information:

• Name and contact details (postal address, email address, telephone number)
• Amount of donation, reason for giving and method used.
• Consents given for further contact.

Occasionally we find it helpful to note relationships between you and other contacts we have in our database. This helps us better to manage our relationship with you.

How we will use your data

We will only send you further marketing materials (event invitations or newsletters) if you give consent when making your donation. We will contact you a maximum of six times a year via postal mailings, unless you have consented to contact via email, in which case you will receive our e-news alongside other fundraising appeals and updates, sent via Mailchimp, our e-mailing platform. We only use telephone numbers if we have a query regarding your donation, though if you consent to further contact via telephone we may occasionally call you regarding a specific appeal or fundraising initiative (a maximum of twice a year).

After four years we will ask you to refresh your consent. At any point during these four years you can withdraw your consent by contacting our Fundraising team, calling 020 3752 5680, or by selecting ‘opt out’ on any PET response form. Just before the end of the four year period we will contact you once to ask if you would like to renew your consent.

How we store your data

If you make a donation to PET or provide your details for us to send you PET information, your contact information and that of any gift given will be:

• Added to our fundraising database, currently Beacon, which is remotely hosted on Amazon’s AWS closed network secure servers based in the UK, and only accessible to select PET staff with a password and multi factor authentication.
• Added to our finance system, currently Quickbooks, remotely hosted on secure servers, and only accessible to select PET staff with a password and multi factor authentication.
• Stored in our paper files (where paperwork has been received), which are kept in a locked cabinet in PET’s offices, which are secure and alarmed.

Understanding our donors

Our work is only made possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters – so it’s vital that our fundraising efforts are as effective as they can be. By developing a better understanding of our supporters we can tailor and target our fundraising events and communications to those most likely to be interested in them.

Occasionally we undertake internal analysis of our donor database, to understand more about those who support us. This will include an analysis of the size and nature of donations given to PET, and an analysis of where our supporters are geographically. Occasionally we may undertake focus groups or supporter surveys, in which participation is voluntary.

We occasionally share data with other organisations (currently Milestone Research) to help us identify people who may be able to support us with a larger gifts using information you have given us and publicly available records. We conduct this on the basis of Legitimate Interest, when an organization uses personal data in a way that the data subject would expect, the processing has a clear benefit and is not intrusive or harmful. If you would prefer us not to use your data in this way, please contact our Fundraising team.

How long we will keep your data

We will retain your information for up to seven years (six years plus the current year) from the most recent contact. You can request that your data be deleted at any time, though some restrictions apply. Contact our Fundraising team or give us a call on 020 3752 5680 if you would like your data removed from our system (visit the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website to find out more.)

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, contact our Fundraising team or give us a call on 020 3752 5680.

Last updated: August 2024