Channel 4 current affairs programme Dispatches is considering another investigation into fundraising, following allegations in the national press that 92-year-old Olive Cooke was "hounded to death" by charities.

Dispatches investigated misconduct among telephone fundraisers in a programme in August 2014, and said it found evidence of too much pressure being put on donors. At the time many within the sector strongly defended their right to ask.

Dispatches is considering returning to the topic to assess whether the charity sector puts too much pressure on elderly people, representatives of the programme told Civil Society News earlier this week.

The programme is currently investigating pressures on elderly people for an episode which will air in the summer. It is conducting preliminary research into the effect that repeated telephone and direct mail fundraising requests have on the elderly and vulnerable.

The previous Dispatches investigation sent reporters undercover to work in fundraising companies such as Pell & Bales and NTT, and found that they were told to lie to donors to solicit donations, and that staff put pressure on vulnerable people.

Ian MacQuillin, head of fundraising think tank Rogare, described it at the time as “a hatchet job masquerading as investigative journalism”, but also said that charities must do more to answer the criticisms. Dispatches insisted its reporters behaved impeccably and did not start the investigation with any preconceptions.

The programme-makers said at the time that they had found examples of elderly and vulnerable people, including a man with Alzheimer’s, being targeted by fundraisers from other agencies.

Olive Cooke (pictured) is believed to have committed suicide on 6 May. Her body was found in the Avon Gorge. She had previously given an interview to a local newspaper saying she was overwhelmed with letters from charities, and had received more than 260 in a month. This led to front-page headlines in national newspapers claiming charities had “hounded her to death”.

The Fundraising Standards Board has launched an investigation at the personal request of David Cameron, the Prime Minister.