The Fundraising Regulator has just released their 4th annual complaints report, looking at complaints received by the Fundraising Regulator, and complaints reported to charities.
A total of 836 complaints were made to the Regulator, 13% up on the previous years but still a very low level considering the number of fundraising interactions. The three most complained about methods were:
- charity bags (again)
- online fundraising
- face-to-face fundraising
and the themes were
- providing misleading information
- applying undue pressure
- poor complaints handling
18,569 complaints were reported and the top methods were addressed mail, door-to-door fundraising and outdoor events.
The Fundraising Regulator has identified the highest risk activities (based on the most complaints proportionate to the number of activities) as:
- Volunteer fundraising
- Street fundraising
- Social activities
and in all three cases it can be challenging to present clear and consistent messages.
So what can we learn from this? Well, I recommend that you check your policies, procedures, training, IT systems and monitoring & evaluation, starting with the highest risk activities first. If you would like to chat through how to do that, why not use a free 20-minute insight call, which you can book here.