It is within the Museum's legitimate interests to hold and analyse your data to continue to improve our understanding of our target audiences and supporters. This is so we can provide world-class, transformative, visitor-focused experiences, customer service and educational engagement, and effective and appropriate supporter engagement.
Visitor analytics data is collected on an anonymous basis wherever possible, or pseudonymised so that individuals cannot be readily identified. This includes monitoring visitor numbers and tracking movement of people and collections of individuals around the Museum. (For more information see sections on cookies and Wi-Fi.)
We carry out customer analytics to improve our understanding of our target audiences. We do this by analysing your commercial transactions (e.g. ticket and retail purchases) and activities (e.g. email interaction with the Museum, such as which emails you open and how often, use of Museum Wi-Fi including via cookies and similar technologies). This helps us target our marketing more efficiently, understand what topics you are interested in, and personalise and improve your experience if you have consented to receive marketing from us, by providing the most relevant and timely content.
You can object to our carrying out this kind of activity for marketing purposes by emailing dataprotection@nhm.ac.uk, and we will review our basis for doing so in your case. Please note that objecting to this activity will mean that you are automatically unsubscribed from marketing.
Supporter research
As a recognised charity we seek to maximise our income from fundraising in order to achieve our aims and objectives. This support is vital in helping us continue our pioneering scientific research, education and conservation. In order to make our fundraising activities as effective as possible we therefore undertake supporter research in order to appropriately engage with high value donors.
Supporter research involves building up a holistic summary of an individual, their interests, suitability and likelihood they will donate and is fundamental to the ability to generate income through fundraising. Therefore, we may collect personal information to research potential supporters that have been identified through publicly available sources, personal referrals, recommendations from existing supporters, through their existing involvement with the Museum and occasionally from fully contracted independent researchers who work with us when we do not have the in-house capacity required.
In addition to information that our supporters provide to us, we may use data collected from publicly available quantitative and qualitative information to assess an individual’s inclination to provide financial and non-financial support and their areas of philanthropic interest, to enable the formulation of an approach which the individual finds attractive.
This may include:
- Financial information (including whether particular donations or funding appeals may be of interest)
- philanthropy and other giving (including donations to other organisations)
- other support (for example, details of volunteering roles)
- career highlights and other life achievements
- a photograph of you
- and information about areas of interest and extra-curricular activities.
We use targeted internet searches and may search the following websites where relevant in order to obtain and maintain the accuracy of the data listed above:
- Archives from media outlets and archived press releases
- company websites
- Higher education institution websites
- business-related resources including Companies House, One Source, BoardEx and Fame
- Charity Commission and other internet sources for non-profits
- LinkedIn, to check business details
- public records databases
- published rich lists.
We will not collect special category data without explicit consent from individuals, except in some specific instances, for example to record dietary or mobility requirements for attendance of an event.
We review this information using manual processes to gain a holistic understanding of potential supporters’ ability and willingness to make donations and also to determine which particular donations or funding appeals may be of interest to them.
This research helps us understand the background of the people who support us, and enables us to contact you in the most appropriate way, with the most relevant information. You can object to our carrying out this kind of activity for fundraising purposes by emailing development@nhm.ac.uk, and we will review our basis for doing so in your case.
Our teams foster long term relationships with our existing and potential donors. However, we are committed to only keeping data on individuals with whom we have an active relationship. We therefore remove all non essential data captured if the existing or potential donor has not interacted with us in the previous three years, or if we no longer plan to engage with the individual as a supporter in the future. In specific situations approved on a case-by-case basis, we may occasionally decide to re-engage with these contacts should supporter research or the individual themselves offer strong evidence that they would be receptive to hearing from us and we determine after careful consideration that the processing is lawful and within the individual’s reasonable expectations.
We rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis for processing data on our potential supporters. We have entered an ambitious period of change for the Museum, as we embark on our new strategy to 2031. Over the next decade, we will secure the future of our collection, deepen engagement with multiple audiences, and revolutionise the study of natural history. Supporter research enables us to deliver successful fundraising initiatives and unleash the Museum’s potential to help create a future where people and the planet thrive.
Due diligence research
Properly screened and fully contracted independent professional researchers may carry out due diligence on individuals before we seek or accept major donations to ensure compliance with legislation, financial rules, international agreements and guidance from statutory bodies and to protect us from reputational risk, as required. These legal and regulatory obligations mean that if you object to analysis of your data for the supporter research purposes detailed above, we may still conduct some due diligence research that is required in order for us to accept donations from you.