Charity fined £200,000 after hacker vulnerability

The British Pregnancy Advice Service has been fined £200,000 after a serious breach of the Data Protection Act revealed thousands of people’s details to a malicious hacker.

An ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) investigation found the charity didn’t realise its own website was storing the names, address, date of birth and telephone number of people who asked for a call back for advice on pregnancy issues. The personal data wasn’t stored securely and a vulnerability in the website’s code allowed the hacker to access the system and locate the information.

The hacker threatened to publish the names of the individuals whose details he had accessed, though that was prevented after the information was recovered by the police following an injunction obtained by the BPAS.

David Smith, deputy commissioner and director of data protection at the ICO, says:

“Data protection is critical and getting it right requires vigilance. The British Pregnancy Advice Service didn’t realise their website was storing this information, didn’t realise how long it was being retained for and didn’t realise the website wasn’t being kept sufficiently secure.

“But ignorance is no excuse. It is especially unforgiveable when the organisation is handing information as sensitive as that held by the BPAS. Data controllers must take active steps to ensure that the personal data they are responsible for is kept safe.

“There’s a simple message here: treat the personal information you are holding with respect. This includes making sure you know just what information you are holding and that it’s subject to up to date and effective security measures.”

The investigation found that as well as failing to keep the personal information secure, the BPAS had also breached the Data Protection Act by keeping the call back details for five years longer than was necessary for its purposes.

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Welcome for charity data breach fine

The heavy fine of £200,000 from the Information Commissioner's Office for a really bad security breach by the British Pregnancy Advice Service has received approbation from within the IT security industry.

Tim Keanini, chief technical officer of network security firm Lancope, says:"First and foremost, we painfully see how the security of systems is everyone’s problem. No matter what the organisational chart reads, no matter if you are a full time employee or contractor, or where you sit in a complex supply chain, everyone in the ecosystem must be diligent, and a weakness in one area in this connected world becomes everyone’s problem."

"I’m excited to see a fine associated with this event because it unfortunately the only way to change organisations’ behaviour. If the fine is too low, it will be cheaper to just get breached and pay the fines, so the amount is an important factor."

"If this were not a hacktivist, it would have been likely that this charity would not have known of the stolen data until it was identified for sale on some black market."

Says Keanini: "While the insecure storage of the data was a poor design, the security of the public website system itself is more important because even if there were no data being stored, attackers would have compromised the system and turned it into a "watering-hole" attack whereby malware would be stored on it and users of the system would have been compromised in the same manner with data stolen and, even worse, malware installed on their client machine to then steal even more credentials and data from other sites (ecommerce, e-business, e-government, financial, etc)."

Joel Barnes, senior system engineer at software security company Tripwire, says: "As a charity in the UK, they are likely to be constrained on security budget and far more focus has been put on the service they deliver than the security of the data behind it. From an initial standpoint, this looks like they may have outsourced their website and assumed that the provider would deal with the security issues.

"As such, there was either a failure in due diligence in assessing the third party, or a lack of maturity and time to assess a home grown solution.  Either way, this shows the importance of embedding security into the business planning process and allowing them to have a say in decisions that are made."

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Sponsoring someone is key reason for online giving

Around one in five UK consumers who have donated online sponsor friends without registering the cause they are supporting, according to The Psychology of Online Giving, a study by software and services firm Blackbaud based on research from YouGov. The figure rises to 25% among 25 to 34 year-olds. The study sought to better understand people’s motivations for donating online and their expectations after they donate.

“Charities need to ensure that supporters remember their brand and cause, not the platform by which they donate,” says Jerome Moisan, Blackbaud Europe’s managing director. “The donation is important, but building long term relationships with supporters is equally so. Charities have the opportunity to use online giving to connect with a supporter, and people have clearly indicated their willingness to get information about a cause after sponsoring someone online.”

According to the research, people are most motivated to donate online to support a friend or family member (27%) or in response to a campaign for a particular cause (23%). Another reason given for donating online was a personal connection to a cause (19%), whilst one in ten admitted to donating online to boost their own sense of self-worth. Just 1% of respondents said that had donated online because they liked a celebrity who was associated with a particular cause.

Around half (49%) of respondents said that when they donate money online, they like to have easy access to further information about that cause.

40% of UK consumers said that online giving either is, or will one day be their main way of donating to a cause. This rises to 53% amongst 18 to 24 year-olds and 63% amongst 25 to 34 year-olds, highlighting the growing importance of online as a donation channel.

However, 45% of respondents admitted they had never donated online, meaning charities need to adopt a multi-channel approach to fundraising, according to Blackbaud. The firm's 2013 State of the Not For Profit Industry Report (SONI) report revealed that 86% of the charities in the UK and Ireland surveyed now accept online donations. On average, charities in the UK and Ireland reported seeing 15% of all individual donations come via online channels.

The analysis of online giving showed that 17% of people who have donated online have done so via a smartphone or tablet PC - this figure rising to around a quarter for people ages 18 to 44. 15% of respondents reveal they made a donation via Facebook or Twitter, but again, this rises significantly to 23% in 25 to 44 year-olds. 59% of those who donated online have done so directly via a charity’s website.

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Plan early for Christmas fundraising

Christmas 2014 may be just too far in the future to even think about but charities would do well to put it high up on their planning schedules for fundraising because people are becoming more generous when donating to their favourite causes at Christmas, according to analysis from Blackbaud, with the average online donation made in December 2013 rising by 14% since 2010.

After analysing its customers’ December online fundraising pages between 2010 and 2013, the software and services firm reveals that the average online gift in 2013 was £64.10 compared to £56.27 in 2010.

There was also a significant increase in the proportion of a charity's total annual online donations received in November and December. In 2010 these months on average accounted for 31.7% of a charity's total annual online donations – the average figure rose to 39% of the annual total in 2013.

“The festive spirit is alive and kicking when it comes to making online donations to a supporter's favourite cause at Christmas. People in the UK have become progressively more generous over the four years’ analysis,” says Elliot Gowans of Blackbaud. “Tapping into this mood of giving is vital for charities. Their fundraising campaigns should be planned and structured accordingly, to ensure they make the most of their supporters’ Christmas generosity.”

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Donation platform supports over 8,300 charities

Virgin Money Giving, the not for profit service from Virgin Money, has seen a 27% growth in the number of charities registered to use the online service. It is now supporting over 8,300 UK charity partners.

Donations to charities in 2013 made through Virgin Money Giving grew by over 11% year-on-year to over £80.5 million (including Gift Aid). This was achieved despite continuing pressure on overall levels of giving in the UK, illustrating the increasing popularity of online giving in general. The platform has helped fundraisers to raise almost £250 million (including Gift Aid) between its launch in late 2009 and the end of December 2013.

During 2013 over 2.1 million donations to charity were processed through Virgin Money Giving. The launch of a mobile-optimised version of the website in early 2013 helped to increase both the volume and value of donations made through mobile devices, with 30% of the site's traffic now coming from mobile devices. Importantly, this uplift in mobile donations has not been at the expense of Gift Aid collection, with Gift Aid penetration rates in the mobile channel equal to those seen in other channels.

Virgin Money Giving charges 2% on donations, and does not make any charge for the collection of Gift Aid and there is no monthly fee for charities. As a result of the not for profit business model and level of fees, Virgin Money Giving claims it has delivered an extra £7.5 million to charities compared to its closest competitor.

Virgin Money Giving recorded a pre-tax loss of £629,000 in 2013. These losses and those of earlier years continue to be absorbed by Virgin Money Holdings (UK). If Virgin Money Giving makes a profit in future years, this will be used to enhance services or to reduce fees.

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New strategy for international animal welfare charity

The Donkey Sanctuary has launched an ambitious organisational strategy, which includes a new vision, and far-reaching goals for its UK and worldwide projects over the next five years and beyond. The new strategy is led by the charity’s vision for "a world where donkeys and mules live free from suffering and their contribution to humanity is fully valued’. It seeks to continue the legacy left by the founder, Dr Elisabeth Svendsen, whilst bringing demanding goals to fruition, such as increasing its global reach from 27 to 40 countries by 2018.

CEO David Cook says: “During the last 45 years, The Donkey Sanctuary has made a profound difference to the lives of donkeys and people all over the world. More than 16,500 donkeys have been given a sanctuary for life in the UK, Ireland and Europe, millions of donkeys supporting some of the world’s poorest communities have been helped through free veterinary and education interventions, and donkey assisted therapy has enhanced the lives of thousands of children with additional needs.

“As well as continuing our current work to rescue and give sanctuary to donkeys in need, over the next five years and beyond, we will tackle more emerging donkey welfare issues such as problems surrounding the production of donkey meat and milk products, and live animal transport. We will also expand our projects into at least ten more countries worldwide; building relationships with humanitarian aid organisations to improve international understanding of the vital role that donkeys play in alleviating human poverty and suffering in the poorest and most disaster prone parts of the world.

"With an estimated 50 million donkeys and mules in the world, there is still so much to do. Through our values of compassion, collaboration and creativity, we aim to double our reach to two million animals every year. Our vision is to reach them all.”

Over the next five years the charity’s aims include: doubling the number of donkeys within reach of the charity’s care from one million to two million; doubling the number of donkeys re-homed through the charity’s foster scheme from 1,500 to 3,000; increasing the number of donkey assisted therapy projects for children and adults with additional needs from nine to 31 by developing mobile units and through partnerships; increasing the active volunteer workforce from 600 to 1,000.

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Cancer charity in partnership with restaurant brand

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research has entered into a six month fundraising partnership with family restaurant brand Frankie & Benny’s, the aim being to raise at least £150,000 between now and July, with a programme of fundraising activity throughout the chain's 240 restaurants.

A series of free breakfasts has kicked off the partnership, with diners donating money to Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research instead of paying for their breakfast. Other activities include a “kids eat free” weekend and a pizza designing competition, where the winning pizzas will be sold in all Frankie & Benny’s restaurants with £1 from each pizza sold going to the charity.

Also, a team from the restaurant chain will take part in the charity’s London to Paris bike ride in June, cycling more than 300 miles in aid of blood cancer.

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Foundation gives more money to mental health

Mental health charity Tyneside Mind is preparing to expand its services once again with help from Northern Rock Foundation. A grant of £78,400 will enable the charity to open a new centre in central Newcastle and employ a development officer to link with other organisations in the city. Northern Rock Foundation has provided regular funding for Tyneside Mind since 1998, helping found centres in both North and South Tyneside.

The grant is one of ten grants totalling £850,000 awarded by Northern Rock Foundation. Other grants are supporting charities dealing with a wide range of health and social needs such as dementia, domestic violence and sexual exploitation.

Louise Telford, who manages the foundation’s grant programme supporting mental health development, says: “Tyneside Mind is seeing increasing demand for its services and this expansion of its work in Newcastle will ensure that people with mental health problems will now be able to find help and support when they
need it.

“The foundation has supported a number of Mind organisations across the North East and is pleased that there now is a strong network of services in place across the region.”

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Healthcare company rolls out £500,000 grants programme

The charitable trust of Bradford-based cash plan provider Sovereign Health Care is making a series of donations to charities in the city and surrounding areas totalling £500,000 during 2014. The first donations, totalling £50,000, have been announced with 26 charities benefiting, the largest being £7,500 given to Prostate Cancer UK.  The donation will help pay for the charity's new community support service in Yorkshire and the North-East.

Sarah Kucukmetin, Prostate Cancer UK's community nurse specialist for the region, says: “The Sovereign charitable trust has been supporting our work since 2002, with donations totalling over £80,000, which is wonderful. Their latest funding is vital, as it will ultimately mean we can help more men in the region who desperately need our support.”  

25 other charities are also seeing their funds increased with awards from the charitable trust ranging from £650 to £5,000. They include Deafblind UK which is being granted £5,000.

Sovereign Health Care does not have shareholders and any surplus it makes is reinvested in the business or given by Gift Aid to the charitable trust, which distributes the money.  Jo Habib of Sovereign Health Care Charitable Trust says: “We’re proud to have donated over £4m to good causes in the last seven years. We support either local organisations improving the health and well-being of people in Bradford and the surrounding area or national, health-related charities providing a clear benefit to people in the district."

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Midland care farm calls in fundraising experts

Gloverspiece Minifarm, part of Care Farming West Midlands, which provides therapeutic care and education to people with mental health and learning disabilities, through the love of farm animals,>has appointed professional fundraising firm Raisemore to generate £50,000 annually from donations and support.

The farm, led by volunteers, is an 11 acre canal-side property which is home to a variety of rescued animals. Once rehabilitated the animals become the core offer of animal therapy and education for clients, including school and nursery children, older people, young offenders, groups or individuals with mental health issues, learning and Raisemore's brief is to produce money from new donors via direct mail campaigns, a trust fund application strategy, legacy giving and online fundraising campaigns.

In addition the Raisemore team will help grow an online presence for the charity through social media and the development of a much stronger and wider reaching email database of supporters.

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Increased borrowing sign of charity confidence

The charity sector may be beginning to emerge from the recession, according to figures from Charity Bank. The bank received record levels of loan enquiries by value in January 2014. The number of enquiries has also increased year-on-year for the past five consecutive months.

In January 2014 the bank had loan enquiries totalling more than £33m. This is not only the highest for any single month since the bank started recording the monthly value of enquiries in 2006, but it is almost as much as January 2013 and 2012 combined - £34m, or £15m and £19m respectively.

Carolyn Sims of Charity Bank says: “I believe that what these figures are telling us is charities and other social purpose organisations are regaining the confidence to borrow. The biggest source of loan enquiries is organisations looking to buy property, which is a clear indicator of expected growth."

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Hospice seeks better donor information through software

Claire House Children’s Hospice is using IT from Tableau Software to help see and understand its data. The hospice looks after 160 families, providing respite and end-of-life care for children and young adults with life limiting medical conditions. The charity hopes to get a better sense of its donor data so it can increase contributions.

Located on the Wirral Peninsula, Claire House helps families from across Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, West Lancashire and the Isle of Man to provide a home-from-home environment. Although it’s located in North West England, the charity has already appreciated through analysing its data via the software that its donors come from all over the UK.

“We’ve just started to analyse our data in Tableau, but we’ve already come across some interesting findings about our donors,” says Janet Abraham, Donor Development Manager at Claire House. “Our transactional data shows us that people from all walks of life are supporting us and they’re contributing in different ways. Some may be monthly or one-time contributors while businesses might support us as their charity of the year. Mapping it out helps us to improve our engagement and ultimately our impact in our communities.”

Claire House has plans to analyse data beyond its transactional information in the future. With the new software, it hopes to better understand its impact in particular areas and ultimately provide more resources and services for families.

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Two-way text messages for crime charity

Victim Support has deployed SMS messaging technology from Boomerang to provide faster and more efficient two-way communications with the people it helps. By integrating with Victim Support’s Microsoft Dynamics CRM system, Boomerang is providing a streamlined process for contacting victims, reducing the amount of time spent manually maintaining records, and increasing the number of victims contacted following a crime.

Boomerang’s "threading" technology enables Victim Support to automatically send a template text message from its Microsoft Dynamics case management system to a victim of a crime, asking whether or not they would like support services. The technology then allows victims to text back "yes" or "no"; the response of which is again automatically fed back into Dynamics, triggering the next stage in the internal process. If a "no" response is received, the victim’s details will be cleared from Victim Support’s records and if "yes", the victim will be called to offer support.

Iain McCaskey, information resources manager at Victim Support, says: “We chose to implement Boomerang as we believe using SMS will enable us to get a better and more timely response from victims, particularly for our younger victims, who are more experienced with text messages and online technology.”

Prior to implementing the new technology, Victim Support piloted texting victims – a very labour intensive process that involved re-typing the original text message and entering details into a case management system manually. Alternatively, the charity would send out letters to individual victims asking them whether or not they required its services and the appropriate way to get in touch.

Moving forward, Victim Support has, in partnership with Boomerang, identified a number of other applications for the technology, including managing communications with potential donors and volunteers. The charity is also considering a volunteer safeguarding pilot, which will involve an alert system, allowing volunteers to check in and check out with the office via SMS, to ensure their safety.

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Charity launches employee assistance programme

Trade charity Hospitality Action has formally launched its employee assistance programme, designed to support the 3m people working across the UK's catering and hospitality industry by providing expert help and assistance to those in crisis or need.

The scheme, which has been gradually rolling out since April 2013, has already attracted some of the biggest names in the industry, with Whitbread the latest signatory, seeing the owner of Costa Coffee and Premier Inn join the likes of Red Carnation Hotels, CH & Co, Ed’s Easy Diners, Calcot Manor and the Vineyard at Stockcross, amongst others.

More than 70,000 employees from 30 companies are now able to access specialist and confidential advice 24/7, 365 days a year. In the first 10 months of the programme, more than 1,500 hospitality people have benefited from the EAP’s specialist advice, expertise and support.

The EAP (employee assistance programme) service is a proactive, fully supported, totally confidential scheme that includes: advice and help sheets; web chat and telephone helpline, 24/7, 365 days a year; personal counselling; legal information and guidance; financial planning and debt advice; addiction support for alcohol, drugs, gambling or other addiction issues; hardship grants; a confidential whistleblowing service; critical incident debriefing; mediation.

Patrick Dempsey, managing director of Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, says: “Hospitality Action’s EAP has been developed by hospitality industry experts to suit the needs of employees within our demanding industry. At Whitbread we carried out a trial of the scheme with 4,000 of our employees, across all our brands, and experienced a high level of employee usage with very positive feedback from management and staff regarding the service and advice given.

"I am delighted that we have now adopted the programme across the whole of the Whitbread estate, more than 40,000 employees, and we are extremely happy with the service it provides. Businesses which subscribe to the scheme will also be supporting the hospitality industry's charity enabling it to continue with its vital work."

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Prisoners charity launches third training restaurant

The Clink Charity, which seeks to place ex-offenders in the hospitality industry following training, has opened The Clink Restaurant at HMP Brixton – the charity’s third training restaurant.  The restaurant is part of a wider resettlement programme taking place at HMP Brixton to drive prisoner rehabilitation through education across a range of disciplines with the charity specifically focusing on hospitality.

In partnership with Her Majesty’s Prison Service, there will be a total of 10 training facilities and projects in operation across the prison estate by 2017. The Clink Restaurant at HMP Brixton will train up to 28 prisoners at a time in both cooking and front of house service, working in a true-to-life environment, under the guidance of experienced trainers to achieve nationally recognised City & Guilds qualifications.

With the sole aim of reducing prisoner reoffending, The Clink Charity mentors each graduate weekly for a further six to 12 months, once training is completed and prisoners are released, supporting them in finding full time employment. Continued mentoring is crucial to the ongoing rehabilitation of prisoners in the UK with The Clink Restaurant at HMP High Down achieving a reoffending rate of just 12.5% in 2011 compared to the national average of 47%.

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IN BRIEF

BIG DONATION FOR CHLDREN'S EXERCISE. Chemical company boss Jim Ratcliffe has set up the Go Run For Fun Foundation with a £1.5m donation over three years. As over 50% of primary school children are not getting enough exercise, the new foundation aims to get as many 5 to 10 year-olds running as possible. Ratcliffe says: Go Run For Fun will be the leading advocate of children's running in the UK. It will work with parents, schools and communities to help kids get fit and have fun running." He is looking for support from other companies and organisations, as well as individuals.

ASPIRING ENTREPRENEURS. Materials handling company Briggs Equipment is donating £25,000 each year between now and 2018 to The Prince's Trust and will become a patron of the charity. It will also be taking part in major projects each year, starting with mentoring and coaching a team of seven new sales development executives in the Million Makers competition for aspiring entrepreneurs. The seven will also be trained up for work in the company.

ENGINEERING APPRENTICESHIPS. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has launched an engineering apprenticeship programme specifically for its new all-weather lifeboat centre in Poole, Dorset where all-weather lifeboat production and maintenance have been brought in-house for the first time. It will offer six new places year on year, leading to a 24-strong apprenticeship programme annually by 2018, doubling the numbers for this start year. Although the RNLI has been running an apprenticeship programme for 15 years, this new programme is the first step in establishing a wider apprenticeship, training and work experience programme for the whole charity, with future skills taught including mechanical, electronic and electrical engineering, and composite laminating.

EQUINE THERAPY ANNIVERSARY PUSH. The Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre - which provides equine therapy for 350 children with disabilities and special needs who ride its 19 ponies - is kick starting its 25th anniversary celebrations with the launch of a £250,000 appeal. Sister Mary Joy, who runs the charity, says: "The centre itself costs £180,000 a year to stay afloat but the project is truly a labour of love which bears fruit in the form of watching our youngsters continue to grow and develop their skills and confidence week after week."

NORTH EAST SOCIAL INVESTMENT FUND. Northern Rock Foundation and Big Society Capital are to create a £11.5m social investment fund for the North East of England to support the development and expansion of voluntary and community organisations and social enterprises. This will be the first regional fund of its kind to be set up with Big Society Capital support. Big Society Capital has committed in principle to invest £4.5m initially in the fund and Northern Rock Foundation has committed in principle to invest £3m. A North East Social Investment Company will be set up to champion the development of social investment in the region and to oversee the running of the fund during its life, supported by a further £1.5m contribution from the Foundation.

FREE LOAN OF VEHICLES. WellChild, which helps seriously ill children and their families across the UK, has taken delivery of a brand new Mitsubishi Outlander and a Mitsubishi ASX, thanks to a dealership based in the Meteor Business Park, Cheltenham Road East, Staverton, run by CCR Mitsubishi. The charity will have the vehicles for a year and both parties are keen for the relationship to continue after that.

LOCAL CHARITY SELECTED. West London charity Full of Life, which supports over 500 families with disabled children and young adults, has been selected by Saphire Systems as its new partner charity to raise funds for in 2014. Saphire's corporate social responsibility programme plays an important role within the company, and support of a chosen charity is central to much of that activity. Over £11,000 has been raised for chosen charities in previous years.

APPOINTMENTS. Health and social care charity coalition National Voices has recruited former lawyer Hilary Newiss as chair and accountant Jean Appleyard as treasurer. Jeremy Hughes and Mike Mercer have stepped down at the end of their terms of office. Sport for development charity Sported Foundation has appointed Chris Grant as chief executive. He was vice chairman of the International Inspiration Foundation and the lead facilitator on UK Sport's Elite Coach Development Programme. Westway Development Trust has appointed Angela McConville as chief executive. She was formerly chief executive at Vital Regeneration, a charity which she helped found.