Privacy Policy

Spana Privacy Statement

At SPANA, we take your privacy seriously. We know how important it is to you that we protect your personal information and we are committed to guarding your confidentiality and respecting your choices at all times.

We know you place your trust in SPANA and we work hard to keep that trust, every day. So we have reviewed all our processes for how we collect, use, share, secure and store personal data, reflecting our commitment to ensuring we always follow the very best practice. Our processes are detailed in SPANA’s Data Protection Policy and Data Storage and Retention Policy.

We will only mail supporter appeals to individuals and organisations who have demonstrated an active interest in the charity. These individuals and organisations will have donated within the last four years or will have demonstrated a long term interest in the charity (through such activity as pledging a gift in their Will).

Occasionally for charity appeals we may obtain postal lists of potential supporters from external companies. We will only mail individuals and organisations who we believe might be interested in hearing from SPANA and have been given the opportunity to opt-out of charity mailings. We will also only deal with reputable companies that take privacy and data protection as seriously as we do.

We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they will fully adhere to our Data Protection Policy and cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it.  They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us.  They will hold securely and retain it for the period we instruct.

All our mailings will always give an option for the supporter or potential supporter to opt out of SPANA marketing and communications; and we will never send appeals to anyone who has opted out.

We will only make fundraising appeals by email or phone to supporters who have asked to receive calls and emails from us. Each call or email will include an opportunity for a supporter to opt out of future communications. We will never call or email anyone who has asked not be contacted in this way.

We will only collect the name, address, email address, telephone numbers and communication preferences of individuals and organisations who are happy to give us this information. The information we collect helps us to give you the best possible experience with SPANA, from sending updates on the animals you’re helping to alerting you to urgent appeals. To help us provide the best possible experience, we may use data research, analysis and profiling techniques to maximise the impact and cost effectiveness of our fundraising activities by tailoring appeals to the specific individual. We may also use these techniques to find potential new supporters that exhibit similar social demographics and interests to our existing supporters.

We will never sell or trade your personal information to anyone. Where we use information for fundraising purposes, it will only be shared where necessary and with appropriately trained SPANA staff, volunteers and contractors.

SPANA also works hard to put in place robust security measures to protect stored data, whether it is held in paper files or on our computer systems. We will only keep your data for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or for as long as we are legally required to keep it.

You can ask us at any time to provide you with a copy of the information we hold about you, including where and how we obtained it, why we are keeping it and what we are using it for. This is called a ‘subject access request’ and you can make one by contacting SPANA’s Data Protection Officer using the details below. All requests will be dealt with within 30 days of receipt.

You also have a right to decide on the information you would like to receive from us – you can stop receiving direct marketing and communications about the vital work we do for working animals by using the details below. All requests will be dealt with within 28 days of receipt.

If you would like to know more about our commitment to your privacy, you can get in touch with our Supporter Engagement team or read our privacy FAQ.

To get in touch:

Write to us: SPANA, PO Box 79509, London EC4P 4ND
Email us: hello@spana.org
Call us: +44 (0)20 7831 3999

We appreciate the opportunity your feedback gives us to learn and improve.

Last updated: 31 March 2022

Frequently asked questions about SPANA's privacy policy

What is SPANA?

SPANA – the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad – is a registered charity (charity number 209015) and a company limited by guarantee (company number 558085). SPANA’s registered office is 2nd Floor, 55 Ludgate Hill, London EC4M 7JW.

SPANA has sister organisations in other countries, including Australia and Morocco. Our privacy statement relates to information which is obtained by the UK registered charity. If you provide any personal data to any of our sister organisations you will do so subject to the laws and regulations applicable in their country.

What information does SPANA collect?

As well as title, name, address, phone number(s), email address and any other contact details you may wish to supply, we record information about any donation you have made to the charity, your communication with the charity and your personal communications preferences. We also may ask you to tell us how you heard about us or why you have chosen to donate; that and any other information we gather about you will help us fundraise more efficiently and effectively and tailor the marketing communications we send you. If you are setting up a Direct Debit mandate or making a donation or purchase, we will record your credit/debit card information or bank account details as required to make the transaction and meet legal requirements.

If at any time you would like to change the way we communicate with you, or would like to stop receiving communications altogether, please let us know. You can contact us via 020 7831 3999 or hello@spana.org.

What we do with your data and what we don’t do

We shall process the data you supply in order to give you the information you have requested, or to take the donation you have given.

We will never sell or trade your personal data to anyone. Where we use information for fundraising or marketing purposes, it will only be shared where necessary and with appropriately trained SPANA staff, volunteers and contractors.

How will you contact us?

We will contact you via email, phone, mail or SMS, depending on your stated communication preferences:

If you have given your consent we will communicate with you via email about our activities and we may ask you for (further) financial support. You can remove your name from SPANA’s email lists at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link within the email.

If you have supplied us with your postal address and shown your positive support for the charity (perhaps by donating or pledging a gift in your Will), or if you have given permission to a third party for your details to be shared with other organisations including charities, we may mail you updates on our work, fundraising appeals and newsletters. You can opt out at any time, by completing and returning the form we send you, calling us on 020 7831 3999 or emailing hello@spana.org.

If you have given your consent to receive telephone calls and have provided your telephone number to us, we may occasionally ring you to ask for your financial support, update you on our work, discuss administrative matters relating to your donation or check you are happy with the communications you are receiving from us. You can opt out from phone calls at any time, by emailing hello@spana.org. or calling 020 7831 3999.

If you have donated to us via SMS and not opted out, we will contact you about future appeals and may need to contact you regarding the administration of your donation. You can opt out by following the instructions within the SMS, or contacting us via 020 7831 3999.

If we need to contact you to fulfill your wishes or any legal requirements, for example to gain or confirm any information we need to complete a donation, we will do so on administrative grounds.

If you want to update your personal data and preferences for communications from us please write to us at SPANA, PO Box 79509, London EC4P 4ND, email us at hello@spana.org. or call 020 7831 3999 to speak to our friendly Supporter Engagement team.

What happens when I call SPANA?

When you call SPANA we collect Calling Line Identification (CL1) information. We use this information to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our supporter care, but we will not capture your telephone number unless you give us permission to do so.

People who email us

Any email sent to SPANA, including any attachments, may be monitored and used by us for reasons of security and for monitoring compliance with office policy. Email monitoring or blocking software may also be used.

SPANA use a matching function within our CRM to match an email address with a record. This is to give us a full communication history to better understand your interactions with us and improve our supporter care.

What is SPANA’s legal basis for processing supporter data?

SPANA’s Data Protection Policy, Privacy Statement and Data Storage and Retention Policy were all designed to ensure the charity’s compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (EC Directive)(Amendment) 2011.

We rely on legitimate interest as the legal basis for undertaking outbound postal direct marketing. This allows us to send outbound postal direct marketing to supporters who have donated within the prior 48 months and have not opted out from receiving postal direct marketing; to supporters who have demonstrated a deeper level of support, through such activity as pledging a legacy gift, and have not opted out from receiving postal direct marketing; and to potential supporters who are on postal lists from external companies and who have been notified at the point of data collection or through the list owners’ privacy policy that their information will be shared with charities unless they opt out.

For all email and telephone outbound direct marketing, we use positive consent as the legal basis to undertake this activity. We maintain a record of this consent and its source.

How long will you store my data?

We will only keep your data for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or for as long as we are legally required to keep it. We will generally remove personal information from our records seven years after the end of the financial year that it was last used.

Are supporters under a statutory or contractual obligation to provide the personal data?

When it is necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject, we will ask you to give us any required information needed to fulfil your request. While there is no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this data, we will not be able to fulfill the supporter’s request if they do not provide it.

What data research, analysis and profiling to you conduct?

We may use research, profiling and screening techniques to create a profile that matches a supporter’s interests and preferences, so that we can contact you with information and automated donation prompts that are relevant to you. This allows us to ensure our communications are relevant and timely. Please contact us if you would prefer that we did not use your data in these ways.

Who is your Data Protection Officer?

Our Director of Global Fundraising, Marketing and Communications, David Bassom, currently serves as our Data Protection Officer. David can be contacted via hello@spana.org or  +44 (0)20 7831 3999.

Your right of access to your information

You can ask us at any time to provide you with a copy of the information we hold about you, including where and how we obtained it, why we are keeping it and what we are using it for. This is called a ‘subject access request’ and you can make one by contacting SPANA’s Data Protection Officer using the details above. All requests will usually be dealt with within 30 days of receipt, subject to the scale and scope of the request.

You can also request that any inaccuracies are corrected and, in certain circumstances, request that SPANA should stop processing your personal information, arrange for it to be transferred or erased.

You have a right to decide on the information you would like to receive from us – and you can stop receiving direct marketing and communications about the vital work we do for working animals by using the details below. All requests will be dealt with within 28 days of receipt.

If you would like to pursue any of the other rights or if you would like to know more about our commitment to your privacy, you can get in touch with our Supporter Engagement team or read the rest of our privacy FAQ.

What if I’m unhappy with how my data is processed?

If you are unhappy with the way your data is being processed, and we have been unable to satisfactorily resolve your concern, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): visit www.ico.org.uk or call 0303 123 113

Changes to this policy

If we update our Privacy Statement, Data Protection Policy or our Data Storage and Retention Policy, we shall post changes on this page so you are always aware of how SPANA uses your personal information.