FUNDRAISING COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

ARC is committed to the highest standards of honesty, accountability and transparency in fundraising. We are members of the Fundraising Standards Board self-regulatory scheme and make the Fundraising Promise and the six pledges contained within it.

We hope that this commitment by us will ensure that you are entirely happy with the way that we raise funds and seek donations. However, should you have any cause for concern, this Complaints Procedure sets out how we will aim to resolve your complaint against us and, if we do not do so to your complete satisfaction, how you can take it to the Fundraising Standards Board for resolution.

1 ARC’S FUNDRAISING PROMISE

We are members of the Fundraising Standards Board self-regulatory scheme. The Fundraising Standards Board works to ensure that organisations raising money from the public do so honestly and properly. As members of the scheme, we follow the Institute of Fundraising's Codes of Fundraising Practice and comply with the key principles embodied in the Codes and in this Promise.

1.1 We are committed to high standards

We do all we can to ensure that fundraisers, volunteers and partner charities working with us to raise funds comply with the Codes and with this Promise

We comply with the law including those that apply to data protection,public collections, lotteries and gambling, health and safety and the environment

1.2 We are honest and open

We tell the truth and do not exaggerate

We do what we say we are going to

We answer all reasonable questions about our fundraising activities and costs. Please contact us or visit our website if you require further details: www.alexandrarosecharities.org.uk

1.3 We are clear

We are clear about who we are, what we do and how your gift is used

We have a promotional agreement with a commercial company, we make clear how much of the purchase price we receive

We give a clear explanation of how you can make a gift and amend a regular commitment

1.4 We are respectful

We respect the rights, dignities and privacy of our supporters and beneficiaries

We will not put undue pressure on you to make a gift and if you do not want to give or wish to cease giving, we will respect your decision

If you tell us that you don’t want us to contact you in a particular way we will not do so

1.5 We are fair and reasonable

We take care not to use any images or words that cause unjustifiable distress or offence

We take care not to cause unreasonable nuisance or disruption

1.6 We are accountable

If you are unhappy with anything we’ve done whilst fundraising, you can contact us to make a complaint

We have a complaint procedure, a copy of which is available on request. If we cannot resolve your complaint, we accept the authority of the Fundraising Standards Board to make a final adjudication

2 SUMMARY OF OUR APPROACH

We will always handle complaints with honesty, communicate well and acknowledge the situation.

We will remain objective at all times.

At the end of any telephone call from you, as a complainant, we will always summarise the situation to confirm that that we have understood your complaint.

We will always aim to resolve complaints as quickly as possible.

We will take acknowledge all complaints within 14 days

We will advise the complainant of the outcome of any investigation within 30 days

We will investigate any complaint within three months of any incident

We will ensure that complainants are aware of the procedure to refer the complaint to the FRSB and of the 2 months time period in which to contact them

3 COMPLAINT PROCESS

You may make a complaint to us in person, by telephone, or in writing, by either post or e-mail. The complaint should be made as quickly as possible after the event. This is particularly important if the complaint is connected with a charitable collection or similar form of face-to-face fundraising.

3.1 Complaints made in Person or by Telephone

We will:

Listen to you, keep calm and not argue

Gather the facts using open questions

At the end of the meeting or call, summarise the conversation to confirm to the complainant that we have understood the situation

If the member of staff you are speaking to is knowledgeable about the area of the complaint, then they will try to resolve the complaint at that time

If you are satisfied, then we will go to 3.3, below

If you are dissatisfied, then we will also:

Take your contact details and acknowledge your complaint in writing within 14 days, including a summary of your meeting/telephone conversation and confirm that the complaint will be dealt with within 30 days

We will then go to 3.3, below

3.2 Complaints made in Writing by Post or E-mail

We will:

Acknowledge the complaint in writing within 14 days, confirming that we will seek to resolve the complaint within 30 working days

At this stage, we will only contact you further where we have insufficient details to take the complaint forward

3.3 Update our Complaints File

We will:

Enter the details of your complaint onto ARC’s Complaints File, which is held in the format provided by the Fundraising Standards Board

If you are satisfied, then this is the end of the process

If you are dissatisfied, then go to 3.4, below

3.4 Resolving the Complaint

1. We will establish the area of our operation the complaint involves. Having first consulted with relevant members of staff, we will make contact with the appropriate person and gather any relevant information regarding the materials and/or circumstances of the case.

2. If a third party is involved (for example a partner charity), then we will also speak to them to gather any information about the circumstances of the complaint.

3. We will take care to record all the important points and file these with the case

4. Having gathered all the relevant information, we will need to seek a meeting with the  relevant person with authority for the area concerned. We will include a representative of the partner charity, if they have been implicated, at this meeting.

5. This assessment meeting will set out the nature of the complaint and determine what action needs to be taken. We will record whether it is about an alleged breach of the Institute of Fundraising’s Codes of Fundraising Practice and/or the Fundraising Standards Board Fundraising Promise, as the FRSB will need this information if the complaint is referred to them.

6. The outcome of the meeting will typically produce one of two options: The complaint is justified. We will write to you to apologise and let you know how the complaint has been used to improve on your future fundraising activities. We will also take action to prevent any recurrence of the problem. The complaint is not justified. You will write to you to explain that while we take complaints very seriously, in this case you will not be changing our fundraising practices and give a reason for our position.

7. In exceptional circumstances, we may need more time than 30 days to gather all the information (for example, if a key member of staff is on annual leave or sick). If this happens, we will contact you in writing with a copy to the Fundraising Standards Board, outlining the situation.

8. When we write to you, we will make it clear that if you are not happy with your response, then you should contact the Fundraising Standards Board within two months of receiving our response.

9. We will make sure that all correspondence is on file and that this can be made available to the Fundraising Standards Board if the complaint is pursued further.

10. The Complaints File will be updated with the outcome

3.5 Reporting to the Fundraising Standards Board

A record of the number and nature of all the complaints we receive about our fundraising activity will be made as part of our annual return to the Fundraising Standards Board.

4 CONTACTING ARC

ARC takes complaints about any aspects of its work very seriously indeed and will always respond quickly to any issues raised by individuals or organisations. Please contact the National Director, by telephone (01252 726 171, in writing (ARC 5 Mead Lane, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DY) or e-mail (mstock@alexandrarose.org.uk )

The Fundraising Standards Board can be contacted at Hampton House, 20 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TJ or by telephone on 0845 402 5442.