THE WILBERFORCE SOCIETY
Data protection statement
This statement explains how The Wilberforce Society (“we” and “our”) handles and uses the
personal data we collect about our members and our past, current and future supporters (“you”
and “your”). Developing a better understanding of our members and supporters allows us to keep
in touch with you, in order to keep you apprised of our activities and developments, to provide
services to you, and to identify ways in which you can support us, through donations or other
forms of financial and non-financial support.
We are committed to protecting your personal information and being transparent about what
information we hold.
Personal data that we hold
We may hold information relating to you from a number of sources. A significant proportion of the
information we hold is that which you provide to us (for example, you may give us information by
filling in forms on our website, or by corresponding with us by telephone, email or otherwise).
Most records contain:
● details of your education (e.g. your University and College, the courses you have
completed, dates of study)
● unique personal identifiers and biographical information (e.g. student number)
● your contact details (and we update these whenever you let us know that they have
changed)
● details of your interactions with us, including:
o your membership and achievements with us
o your attendance at our events
o other contact with us or our partners (as listed below)
o details of benefits and services provided to you
o your relationships with other members or supporters
● personal data provided by you for a specific purpose (e.g. disability and dietary
preferences for event management purposes)
● your communication preferences, to help us provide tailored and relevant communications
We also record, where applicable, based on information which you provide to us and, in some
cases, publicly available information and information from our partners (as listed below):
● financial information relating to you and your family, including:
o your history of donations made to us
o 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
o your philanthropy and other giving, including donations to other organisations and
other support that you provide (e.g. details of volunteering roles)
● your career highlights and other life achievements
● information about your areas of interest and extra-curricular activities
We augment the data we hold with data from our partners (as listed below) and publicly available
data.
We use targeted internet searches and may search the following websites (either directly or using
search engines), where relevant in order to obtain and maintain the accuracy of the data listed
above:
● Public sources for individuals:
o Sunday Times Rich List
o Other rich lists, including Forbes Magazine’s international rich lists
o Property websites
o The Queen’s Honours Lists
o National change of address services
o LinkedIn, to check business details
● Press sources, for negative press for due diligence purposes
How we use your data
Your data is used by us for a number of interdependent purposes in support of alumni relations,
supporter communications and fundraising. These include:
● sending you publications (e.g. newsletters and updates about our activities)
● conducting surveys, including research on when and whether particular donations or
funding appeals may be of interest to you
● providing services
● sending you tailored proposals, appeals and requests for donations
● sending you details of volunteering opportunities
● inviting you to our events
● wealth analysis and research in order to improve our understanding of our members and
supporters, inform our fundraising strategy and target our communications more effectively
● internal record keeping, including the management of any feedback or complaints
● administrative purposes (e.g. in order to process a donation you have made or to
administer an event you have registered for or attended)
Before seeking or accepting major donations we are required to conduct due diligence, including
reviewing publicly available personal data relating to the donor's criminal convictions and
offences.
Communications to you may be sent by post, telephone or electronic means (principally by email),
depending on the contact details we hold, the consent that you have provided, and the
preferences expressed by you about the types of communications you wish to receive.
If you have concerns or queries about any of these purposes, or how we communicate with you,
please contact us using the details listed below.
We may use automated or manual analyses to link data together to help us identify your potential
for supporting us, to provide you with an improved experience, to send you communications which
are relevant and timely, to identify volunteering opportunities or opportunities for providing support
which may be of interest to you, and to avoid approaching you with opportunities which are not of
interest. All of this enables us to raise more funds, sooner, and more cost-effectively, in support of
our strategic objectives. We always seek to ensure that any opportunities we present are aligned
with your interests, based on the research we conduct.
We will always respect a request by you to stop processing your personal data, and in addition
your statutory rights are set out below.
When we share your data with others (our partners)
We share the above categories of data with the University and the Colleges to provide you with a
coordinated approach. Any transmission of data to or from the University and Colleges is
managed through agreed processes which comply with relevant data protection legislation. The
University and each College has its own data protection statement and procedures.
Additionally, we share the above categories of data on a considered and confidential basis, where
appropriate, with:
● third parties engaged by us to provide fundraising related services, such as:
o companies that provide us with data about alumni and supporters
o consultants advising us on individuals’ capacity to donate
o other contractors providing services to you on our behalf or services to us
● selected companies who provide products and services that we endorse
How we protect your data
We ensure we have appropriate data sharing arrangements in place before sharing your personal
data.
We do not sell your personal data to third parties under any circumstances.
We also facilitate communication between individual members, but in doing so we do not release
personal contact details without prior permission.
Any transfers of your data overseas (outside of the European Economic Area), as set out above,
are protected either by an 'adequacy decision' by the European Commission (declaring the
recipient country as a 'safe' territory for personal data) or by standard contractual clauses adopted
by the European Commission (which give obligations for the recipient to safeguard the data).
Further information about the measures we use to protect data when being transferred
internationally is available from us (via the contact details are set out below).
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/
Further information
The legal basis for processing your personal data for the interdependent purposes set out above
is that it is necessary for the pursuit of our legitimate interests. We always handle your personal
data securely and minimise its use, and there is no overriding prejudice to you by using your
personal information for these purposes. In addition, there is no statutory or contractual
requirement for you to provide us with any personal data.
The controller for your personal data is The Wilberforce Society, and we can be contacted
at chairman@wilberforcesociety.co.uk.
Please contact us if you have any concerns or questions about the above information or you wish
to ask us not to process your personal data for particular purposes. Where you have specific
requests relating to how we manage your data, we will endeavour to resolve these, but please
note that there may be circumstances where we cannot comply with specific requests.
We will retain your data indefinitely in support of your lifelong relationship with us or until you
request us to do otherwise. We will publish 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, membership details, 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).