FundRaising Standards Board

Advice & Regulation

• The Standards
  • The Codes of Fundraising Practice
  • The Fundraising Promise
  • Self-regulation
  • Influencing the Standards
• Complaints
  • Identifying a Complaint
  • Our Process
  • Adjudications
  • Annual Return
• Supporter Care
• The FRSB Tick
  • Public Confidence
  • Using the Tick
  • Download the Tick
  • Promoting Your Membership
• Your Membership
  • What It Means
  • Getting Started
  • Communicating your membership
  • The Advisory Forum

Our Process

Our role

We want our members to handle complaints efficiently and effectively. That’s why we give them a manual to help them.

Sometimes though some complaints will be referred to us. In order to be clear about which complaints we will investigate (at Stages 2 and 3 of our complaints process), we have provided the following definition:

“The Fundraising Standards Board will investigate all complaints that are concerned with a potential breach of the Institute of Fundraising’s Codes of Fundraising Practice or a breach of the Fundraising Promise, provided that the complainant has first directed the complaint to the charity concerned but is not satisfied with the answer received.”

What we won't deal with

We only deal with complaints that are about bad fundraising practice.

We will not deal with:

• Complaints about the services a charity provides
• Administration and staff costs
• Administration or processing errors
• Retail issues
• How the charity is spending its money

Your complaints record

Your complaints process should show how a member of the public can make a complaint. Your complaints co-ordinator should keep a record of the complaint, which should include:

• A copy of the complaint
• Details of the Code or section of the Fundraising Promise it is believed has been breached
• The date you received the complaint
• A copy of all the communications in connection with the complaint
• Details of the investigation you’ve undertaken into the complaint

If we receive a complaint at stage 2 of the complaints process, we will ask you for this information.

Timings

Your complaints co-ordinator must acknowledge in writing a complaint about fundraising within 14 days of taking the complaint.

You will also need to tell the complainant of the outcome of your investigation within 30 days of you receiving the complaint. In addition, if they aren’t happy with the outcome of your investigation, you must tell them they can refer the complaint to us within two months of your response.

If a member of the public asks how to make a complaint about your fundraising, you should provide them with a copy of your complaints procedure and the Fundraising Promise or, if they have access to the internet, with details where to find it on your website. All of this must be done within 14 days.

How the process works

Stage 1: The member charity trys to resolve the complaint

The complaint is received by the member charity and they try to resolve it. This can include the complaint being escalated to different members of staff within the charity if necessary, as per their internal complaints procedure. If we receive a complaint at this stage, (ie.before the complaint has been through the charity's internal complaints procedure), we will refer the complaint back to the charity.

Stage 2: The Fundraising Standards Board trys to resolve the complaint

The complaint has been through the charity's internal complaints procedure and the complainant still isn’t happy and requires a further response. The complainant has contacted us within a two month time period after receiving the response from the charity. Once we have received the complaint, we will contact the member charity concerned to let them know and to get background information about the complaint. We will investigate the complaint and try to resolve it with all parties concerned within 30 days. If the complainant still isn’t happy, they can ask the FRSB Board to adjudicate (Stage 3).

Stage 3: The FRSB Board upholds or rejects a complaint

The complaint is referred to the FRSB Board for adjudication. They will review the complaint and report their conclusion within 60 days. The Board has the discretion to specify that either no further action is appropriate or to censure the charity and prescribe one or more sanctions.

Our full process is available to download in pdf format.