About this procedure

The Elizabeth Foundation (registered charity number 293835) is committed to delivering a high quality, accessible services to our beneficiaries and to those who support our work. We are a member of the Fundraising Regulator (FR) and take good conduct in fundraising very seriously. This “Fundraising Complaints Procedure” explains the procedure for making a complaint if you are dissatisfied with any aspect of The Elizabeth Foundation’s fundraising methods.

What is a “complaint”?

If you are not happy with something related to The Elizabeth Foundation’s fundraising methods, you could consider making a complaint to us.

When you do this, we will make sure we clearly understand your complaint, and then we will consider whether we have breached any of the key principles or behaviours of the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice (the full text of this can be found on the Fundraising Regulator's website).

Because The Elizabeth Foundation is a member of both the Fundraising Regulator and the Institute of Fundraising, we have agreed to abide by the principles and behaviours of the Fundraising Code and if we have not done so then you may be justified in making a complaint.

As explained below, if you have given us a chance to hear and respond to your complaint but you are still not satisfied, you may contact the Fundraising Regulator and discuss it with them. However, please note that if you have not discussed the matter with us at all, the Fundraising Regulator will ask you to do that first before they consider whether to deal with your complaint themselves.

What should I do if I have a complaint about fundraising by The Elizabeth Foundation?

We are keen to hear from anyone who believes we have fallen short of the standards we set ourselves.

Any fundraising complains will be handled in the first instance by Mr John Atherton, our Finance Director. You can make a complaint in different ways:

  • telephone 023 9237 2735 or visit our family centre in person and ask for Mr John Atherton
  • email: [email protected]
  • write to: Mr John Atherton, The Elizabeth Foundation, Southwick Hill Road, Cosham, Hampshire, PO6 3LL

Before you contact us you may wish to make some notes for yourself about the matter so that you are clear about all relevant information.

Gather together any paperwork that might relate to your complaint, so that you can keep it safe. If you do write (or email) to us, keep a copy of your letter/email and make sure it has a date on it. If you make a telephone call to us, you should write down the date you made the call and if possible, who you spoke to. You may also like to look at the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Practice (see above) – but don’t worry, because we will also consider these when you contact us.

Please be aware that we will need your name, address, telephone number (and email if you wish) along with full details of the complaint to deal with the matter robustly. It will probably not be possible for us (or the Fundraising Regulator) to deal with your complaint effectively if you cannot provide this information.

What will happen when I tell The Elizabeth Foundation about my fundraising complaint?

  1. Stage 1: We will acknowledge and provide a response within 14 working days of receiving it:
    • We expect to be able to resolve most complaints within that timeframe, but if we need to conduct a more in-depth investigation, we will aim to provide you with a full response within 20 working days.
    • If we are unable to meet that deadline due to exceptional circumstances, we will let you know why and when you can expect a response.
  2. Stage 2: If you are not happy with the decision you receive from John Atherton, you will be given the opportunity to raise the issue with The Elizabeth Foundation's Chair of Trustees (currently Mr Tom Holloway) who will investigate and respond, normally within 20 working days.
  3. Stage 3: If you remain dissatisfied with the decision you receive you have the right to refer your complaint to the Fundraising Regulator (FR)

Responding to your complaint

We will carry out full research of the matter, and speak to all relevant staff, volunteers or suppliers as necessary. Following this, we will be able to decide whether we agree with your complaint (this means “your complaint is upheld”) or, we do not agree (this means “your complaint is not justified”). In either case, we will write to you:

  • if your complaint is upheld: we will write to you to apologise and to let you know that we agree with your concern. We will tell you what we have done to improve our future fundraising activities.
  • if we think your complaint is not justified: we will write to you to thank you for taking the trouble to contact us. We will also explain the reasons why we do not agree with your concern, and why we will not be making any changes to our fundraising practices.  At this time we will also provide you with contact details for our Chair of Trustees.

If you are not happy with our response

If you are not happy with the response of the charity or its Chair of Trustees, we will explain to you that you have the option of contacting the Fundraising Regulator.

If you want to do this, you must do it within 2 months of receiving our response letter. When they receive your complaint, the Fundraising Regulator will get in touch with us to find out how we have dealt with your concerns up to that point; for this reason we will maintain accurate records of your complaint and the action taken to resolve it and make sure we have your correct contact details.

Contact details for the Fundraising Regulator:

Conclusion

We very much hope that you will never feel the need to raise a concern or make a complaint about fundraising at The Elizabeth Foundation.

However, if you do find yourself in this position, we hope that these details of our procedures for handling your complaint give you reassurance that your concern will be dealt with properly and with politeness at all times.

 

Policy last reviewed: August 2022

If you have a complaint

If you have a complaint about any of our fundraising activities please follow the steps outline in the Fundraising Complaints Procedure on this page. If you have any comments, feedback or complaints about any of our other activities please contact us

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