Clean Data, Clear Impact: Why Charities Thrive on Accuracy

Donor data is one of the most valuable assets a charity holds. Managed well, it can prevent supporter churn, boost revenue, sharpen analytics, and help organisations thrive even in leaner times. But keeping that data clean is an ongoing challenge - one every nonprofit must prioritise. Research shows that 91% of organisations struggle with data quality, and with donor records degrading at around 2% per month, as much as a quarter of your database can become inaccurate in a single year if left unchecked.

The benefits of cleansing data are well documented - from fundraising efficiency to compliance and cost savings. But for charities, the story doesn’t end there. The real power of clean data lies in its human impact: the way it strengthens relationships, builds trust, and connects supporters to the causes they care about.

That’s why we’re sharing five fresh angles on charity data cleansing. Each one shows how better data can do more than save money - it can transform the way you engage with supporters. After all, if you already have a supporter database, you’ve done the hard work of building those connections. Now it’s time to capitalise on them. Let’s explore the areas where data cleansing can help charities beyond the obvious.

The Donor Experience

Donations are the lifeblood of any charity - but behind every donation is a person who wants to feel respected and valued. That’s where clean data comes in. You might be wondering, what does data have to do with donor love? Well, everything.

Because when data goes bad, so does the experience. Instead of building emotional trust that lasts all year, poor data can chip away at it. Here’s how:

Duplicate messages: Donors receive the same letter twice.
Name slip‑ups: Being misnamed (or worse, left nameless) in a thank‑you note.
Ignored preferences: Still being contacted after opting out.

Individually, these might sound like small mistakes. But in today’s world, where everyone’s inbox and mailbox are overflowing, they add up fast. And instead of feeling appreciated, supporters feel overlooked. Clean data is the difference between “just another message” and “this charity really knows me.”

The Volunteer Connection

Volunteers are the heartbeat of a charity. They’re not just helping out - they’re driving fundraising, building relationships, and often doing the heavy lifting that keeps everything moving. Yet, volunteer data is one of the most overlooked parts of a charity’s database.

Think about it: clean data doesn’t just help you track donations; it helps you reconnect with past volunteers who might become future donors, and it ensures current volunteers are properly recognised, thanked, and re‑engaged. Because just like donors, volunteers want to feel special, appreciated, and energised to keep giving their time.

After all, they’re the boots on the ground - forging connections with new supporters, inspiring potential donors, and even standing shoulder‑to‑shoulder with the people your charity is there to support. When you get their data right, you’re not just organising names in a system… you’re showing volunteers that they matter, and that their contribution is seen.

The Legacy Giving

What could be more meaningful than leaving a gift in a Will? For many UK charities, legacy income isn’t just important - it’s transformational. In fact, it’s often reported as the largest single source of voluntary income, contributing billions each year. Surveys suggest that legacies can make up anywhere from 10% to 60% of a charity’s voluntary income.

That’s why clean data matters so much here. Outdated records don’t just mean missed mailings - they mean missed opportunities to nurture relationships with the very supporters who might one day choose to leave a legacy. Without accurate data, charities risk:

Missing chances to steward older supporters who may be considering gifts in wills.
Losing touch with this critical donor segment at the exact moment when connection matters most.
Not being front of mind to spark the idea for a new supporter to leave a legacy gift.

Legacy giving is deeply personal. It’s about trust, respect, and lasting impact. Clean data ensures charities stay connected, show genuine care, and remain part of the conversation when supporters are making one of the most meaningful decisions of their lives.

The Environmental Impact

Think for a moment about the sheer scale of supporters a charity can have - sometimes running into the millions. Now picture a big marketing campaign, with thousands of letters flying out the door. If your records include duplicates, outdated contacts, or even deceased supporters, that’s a mountain of wasted mail. And wasted mail doesn’t just drain budgets - it drains the planet too.

Clean data changes the story. By reducing wasted mailings, charities can save tens of thousands of pounds and dramatically improve campaign ROI. But the benefits don’t stop at the balance sheet:

Wasted mailings = wasted paper, ink, and transport emissions.
Data cleansing becomes part of your sustainability strategy - cutting carbon footprint while saving money.

It’s a win‑win. You protect your budget, you protect your reputation, and you protect the environment. In a world where supporters care deeply about sustainability, showing that your charity takes this seriously can be just as powerful as the campaign itself.

And finally…

The Supporter Journey Mapping

Every supporter is on a journey with your charity - one that, hopefully, lasts for years. Through thick and thin, they’ll be there to back the cause they care about most. But here’s the question: do you really have the visibility to see that journey unfold?

Without clean data, it’s almost impossible to track a supporter’s path, from their very first donation to regular giving, to long‑term engagement. You risk losing sight of who they are, how they’ve interacted with you, and what keeps them connected.

Data cleansing changes that. It gives you the clarity to:

Spot patterns of engagement and understand what keeps supporters loyal.
Segment effectively, so communications feel personal and relevant.
Reduce donor churn by nurturing relationships that have been built up over the years.

When you can map the supporter journey with confidence, you’re not just crunching numbers - you’re telling the story of how someone’s connection to your cause grows deeper over time. And that story is the foundation of lasting trust, loyalty, and impact.

Conclusion: Clean Data, Real Impact

So, there you have it - five fresh ways to look at charity data cleansing beyond the usual talk of compliance and cost savings. From donor experience to volunteer connection, from legacy giving to environmental impact, and finally, supporter journey mapping - each angle shows that clean data isn’t just about tidy spreadsheets. It’s about people, trust, and the stories that keep your charity alive.

When your data is clean, donors feel valued, volunteers feel recognised, legacies are nurtured, campaigns are greener, and supporter journeys are visible from start to finish. That’s not just operational efficiency - that’s emotional connection.

And here’s the best part: if you already have a supporter database, you’ve done the hardest work. You’ve built the relationships. Now it’s about capitalising on them - making sure every record reflects the respect and care your charity stands for.

Start the year as you mean to go on - with clean, reliable data. Contact our team today to discover how we can help your organisation thrive.

Data Cleansing

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About Fetchify

Fetchify’s address lookup and data validation platforms cover more than 250 countries, and increases customer conversion with the fastest, most accurate customer data capture. Fetchify’s flagship products – Address Auto Complete and Postcode Lookup – reduce friction at the checkout, and also significantly increase the number of successful deliveries. Founded in 2008, Fetchify processes millions of data transactions every day for clients ranging from startups to established high-street names, and offers a full suite of data validation tools, including phone, email and bank, too.

Smarter Data Cleansing Decisions for Smarter Data

By Fiona Paton • December 3, 2025

New Year. New Approach. The countdown to 2026 is on, and if you want to hit the ground running, it’s time to think about the one thing that can make or break your year: your data. We’ve all heard the saying “start as you mean to go on.” Well, if that start involves messy, inaccurate data, you’re already tripping before you’ve left the starting gates. Clean, accurate customer data is the foundation for everything: smarter campaigns, smoother deliveries, and sales that actually reflect the effort you put in. Without it, you’re fighting uphill from day one. The truth? Bad data isn’t harmless. Every failed delivery, bounced email, or wrong phone number chips away at your bottom line. In the UK alone, dirty data drains an eye‑watering £900 billion a year from businesses. And with 1 in 5 records typically incorrect, each one costs around £81 annually in wasted spend, lost opportunities, or compliance risks. Why it matters? Still need convincing? Here are the stats that show why clean data is non‑negotiable: Confidence in every customer record : Royal Mail PAF makes 3,000–5,000 updates a day - over 1 million a year. Compliance and reduced risk : UK GDPR requires customer data to be accurate and up to date. Get it wrong, and you risk fines of up to £17.5M or 4% of global turnover. Lower delivery failure and service costs : UK businesses lose £1.6 billion a year to undelivered parcels. At £125 per parcel, even small errors add up fast. Protect marketing ROI : 50% of customers walk after a single failed delivery, and 80% won’t come back at all. The Challenge That’s why starting 2026 with a data cleanse isn’t just smart - it’s essential. Clean data means clear visibility, fewer delivery failures, better targeting, and reduced compliance risk - without the operational headache. By tackling bad data upfront, you give yourself the perfect launchpad for growth, instead of joining the many organisations that end up spending 10–30% of their revenue fixing problems after the fact. So here’s the challenge: make 2026 the year you stop letting bad data hold you back. Cleanse it, validate it, and set yourself up for campaigns that connect, deliveries that delight, and results that truly count. The message is clear: dirty data costs growth, trust, and opportunity. By cleansing upfront, you protect your ROI, strengthen compliance, and give yourself the platform to launch a year of real momentum.

Improving customer onboarding and fraud prevention in financial services with Fetchify

By Fiona Paton • November 24, 2025

The Background A leading financial services provider needed to strengthen the accuracy of customer information during digital onboarding. They handle thousands of new applications every month and rely on fast, frictionless sign-up journeys that still meet strict compliance, risk and verification requirements. Their existing process struggled with poor quality address and bank details, leading to increased manual checks, slower approvals and higher abandonment. Incorrect or incomplete address data was also creating downstream issues for customer communications, account documentation and regulatory reporting. The organisation wanted a solution that could improve data quality at the point of entry, reduce friction in the onboarding journey and support their compliance teams with more accurate source information. The Solution The client selected Fetchify to enhance customer onboarding with accurate, validated address and bank data as soon as a user enters it. Fetchify provided: Global address validation UK enhanced datasets where deeper detail is available Bank account validation to check the sort code and account number accuracy Simple integration into their digital onboarding flow Consistent formatting to support KYC, AML, and compliance checks By validating information early, Fetchify helped streamline the entire customer journey. The Result After implementing Fetchify, the organisation achieved: Reduction in applications failing due to incorrect address or bank details Faster onboarding with fewer manual reviews Greater confidence in customer identity information Better outcomes for compliance and risk teams Improved data quality flowing into internal systems A smoother experience for new customers Why Fetchify? The organisation chose Fetchify because it offered: Reliable global address validation Additional UK data where extra detail helps accuracy Fast and predictable performance A simple, low-effort integration A single platform for address and bank checks Helpful and responsive support A cost structure that fits digital volume growth The Outcome Fetchify now supports the business with ongoing customer onboarding, ensuring address and bank details are accurate before progressing to further checks. This has reduced operational workload, improved customer experience, and strengthened compliance processes across the customer lifecycle.

Man checking out newly arrived shoe stock to add to his online store

Frictionless Footwear: Delivering Checkout Speed and Trust Online

By Fiona Paton • November 17, 2025

How an online shoe store is using data validation tools to provide a speedy, frictionless checkout, reducing failed deliveries and increasing ROI

Photo of fields and countryside with Fetchify traditional, postal and ceremonial counties

The Curious Case of Counties: When Address Accuracy Meets Human Geography

By Fiona Paton • October 27, 2025

Counties are one of those quiet curiosities of UK addressing - the kind of data field that often sparks more debate than you’d expect. Should they be included? Which kind? And do we even need them anymore? As with so many things in data, the answer is: it depends. Three Counties, One Country In the UK, the word “county” doesn’t describe one single thing. It describes at least three - each with its own history, purpose, and quirk: Postal counties were once the backbone of the Royal Mail’s sorting system. They helped machines (and people) get mail to the right place efficiently. But in 1996, Royal Mail officially dropped them, and by 2010, county data was removed from the official address dataset entirely. For the postal system, counties simply no longer exist. Traditional (or historic) counties trace their origins back centuries — the counties of record, land, and local identity. They don’t match today’s administrative borders, but they persist in cultural memory and local pride. To some, these are the real counties of England. Ceremonial counties , meanwhile, are what most modern maps and local authorities recognise today. They loosely align with lieutenancy areas — the basis for everything from local government to BBC weather maps. And just to add another layer, the UK also has metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties used for administration, because nothing in British geography would be complete without a little complexity. So… Do We Still Need Them? For Royal Mail, the answer is simple: no. County names are ignored by modern sorting systems, and they don’t affect delivery. But in the real world of databases, integrations, and overlapping address systems, the answer is less clear-cut. Counties still appear because: Some legacy systems require a county field for validation. Some organisations and couriers still use them for regional routing. And sometimes, humans just like them — they help people orient themselves, especially in places with duplicate town names. It’s a reminder that addresses aren’t just for machines. They’re for people, too — and people often bring context, emotion, and memory into their sense of “place.” The Bigger Picture: One World, Many Formats Counties are just one example of how geography, history, and technology collide in addressing. Every country — sometimes every region — does it differently. Some use regions, provinces, or prefectures. Some rely on hierarchies of towns and municipalities. Others have no subdivisions at all. For global platforms and data validation providers, that diversity creates a fascinating challenge: how do you standardise something that isn’t standard anywhere? It’s the quiet work of address intelligence — understanding not just where something is, but how people describe it. Why This Matters The goal of address accuracy isn’t to erase local identity or force uniformity; it’s to understand and support variation intelligently. Whether you’re sending a parcel, mapping customer data, or building systems that work across borders, knowing how and why these differences exist is part of getting the data right. So next time you’re faced with that little “County” field — think of it not as a relic, but as a reminder. Behind every address is a history, a structure, and a story. And understanding that story is where true data quality begins.