Complaints Policy
In this policy references to The Converging World, or TCW, or to ‘we’ or ‘us’ are to The Converging World which is a charitable company registered in England and Wales with the registered company number 03010221 and a registered charity number 1043572.
Introduction:
We are committed to being open and honest in all our dealings with our donors, customers and all individuals that come into contact with us. However sometimes even we can get it wrong and it is important that those who give us support in any way have access to an accredited means of making a complaint and that this can be, if necessary, examined by an outside agency. In the case the investigation and resolution of complaints which cannot be settled at a local level it will be carried out by:
Phone Number: (+44) 300 999 3407
Address: Fundraising Regulator 2nd Floor CAN Mezzanine Building 49-51 East Road, London N1 6AH
1)Making a Complaint
In the first instance all complaints should be directed to the complaints co-ordinator at The Converging World. This can be done by:
Telephone: (+44) 7831160514
Email: info@theconvergingworld.org
Post: The Converging World, c/o Everoze, 5th Floor, 30 Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol, United Kingdom, BS1 4HJ
2)Complaints Made by Telephone
We will gather the facts using open questions. At the end of the call we will summarise the conversation to confirm that we have understood the situation. If we are knowledgeable about the area of the complaint, we will then try to resolve the complaint over the phone. If you are satisfied with our action, we will make a note of your complaint and consider the matter closed. If you are not satisfied, then we will proceed as detailed in the section 6 below. In any case we will take your contact details and acknowledge the complaint in writing within 14 days including a summary of your telephone conversation and confirmation that the complaint will be dealt with within 30 days.
3)Complaints Made in Writing by Post or Email
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 further contact with you will only be made where we have insufficient details to take the complaint forward.
4)Our Procedures
We will establish the area of our operation the complaint involves. Having first consulted with relevant staff, we will contact the Chair of the Trustees or other appropriate person to inform them of the situation and gather any relevant information regarding the materials and/or circumstances of the case.
If a third party is involved (for example a supplier), we will also speak to them to gather any information about the circumstances of the complaint. We will take care to record all the important points and file these with the case.
Having gathered all the relevant information, we will meet with the Chair of the Trustees (or another person appointed in the Chair’s absence) and the charity staff concerned, we will include suppliers, if they have been implicated.
The assessment meeting should set out the nature of the complaint and determine what action
needs to be taken. If the complaint is about fundraising then we will make a note on whether it is about an alleged breach of the Institute of Fund-raising’s Codes of Fundraising Practice and/or the Fundraising Regulator Promise which can be found here. The Fundraising Regulator will need this information if the complaint is referred to them. The outcome of the meeting will typically produce one of two options:
a)The complaint is justified. We will then write to you to apologies and let you know that the complaint has been used to improve on our future fundraising activities and how this will be done. We will also instigate action to prevent any recurrence of the problem.
b) The complaint is not justified. We will write to you to explain that we will not be changing our fundraising practices and give clear reason(s) for our position. We will always take complaints very seriously and assure you the investigation will be as thorough as possible. Accurate records will be kept of all the investigations which have carried out.
5)Extension of Information Gathering Period
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 outlining the situation.
6)If the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction
If you are not happy with our reply, you should contact the Fundraising Regulator with 2 months of receiving our response, they aim to acknowledge your complaint within two working days. We in turn will ensure that all correspondence are on file and that these can be made available to the Fundraising Regulator if the complaint is pursued further. The Fundraising Regulator will aim to complete their investigation within 13 weeks of receiving the complaint.
Decisions made by the regulator are final and there is no process of appeal. However, parties to the complaint may request an external review if they can show one or more of the following criteria are met:
a)Where the regulator has refused to reopen an investigation in response to new evidence
b)Where there was a material defect in the process by which our decision was made; and/or
c)Where it is alleged that our decision is manifestly unreasonable and not one we could sensibly have made having regard to all the relevant facts
Requests for review can be sent to the Vice Chair of the Fundraising Regulators board at:
Vice Chair of our board at the Fundraising Regulator,
CAN Mezzanine,
2nd Floor,
49-51 East Rd,
London
N1 6AH.
The request for review must be made within four weeks of the Fundraising Regulators decision and should be in writing outlining the reasons for the review request and providing any evidence which is being relied upon.
7)Contact Details
TCW Contact Details:
Telephone: (+44) 7831160514
Email: info@theconvergingworld.org
Post: The Converging World, c/o Everoze, 5th Floor, 30 Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol, United Kingdom, BS1 4HJ
Phone Number: (+44) 300 999 3407
Address: Fundraising Regulator 2nd Floor CAN Mezzanine Building 49-51 East Road, London N1 6AH
8)Charity Commission:
When your concern relates to:
1.Dishonest handling of funds
2.Misapplication of charitable funds
3.Actions that contravene charity law
4.Actions that threaten to bring The Converging World into disrepute
You should contact the Charity Commission (Charity Regulator for England and Wales)
Telephone: (+44) 3000 66 9197
Email: whistleblowing@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk
Online Form: https://forms.charitycommission.gov.uk/raising-concerns/
Address: Charity Commission for England and Wales (CCEW), PO Box 211, Bootle, L20 7YX