We at Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF UK) are committed to being open and honest in all our dealings with our Supporters. Sometimes, however, we can get it wrong. 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 this case, the investigation and resolution of complaints which cannot be settled at a local level will be carried out by the Fundraising Standard Board (FRSB).
1. Definition of a complaint
The FRSB will deal with all complaints that are concerned with a 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, in this case MAF UK, but is not satisfied with the answer received.
2. Complaints made by telephone
We will gather the facts using open questions. If we are knowledgeable about the area of the complaint, we will then try to resolve the complaint over the phone. At the end of the call, we will summarise the details to confirm that we have understood the situation. If you are satisfied with our action that is the end of the matter; we will note your contact details and the nature of your complaint, and we will note the complaint in the report which is submitted annually to the Fundraising Standards Board.
If you are not satisfied, 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. After that, we will proceed as detailed in the section 6 below.
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 when we have insufficient details to take the complaint forward.
4. Our procedures
We will establish the area of our operation that the complaint involves. Having first consulted with relevant staff, we will make contact with the MAF UK Complaints Co-ordinator, 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 hold an assessment meeting with the MAF UK Complaints Co-ordinator (or another person appointed in the absence of the Complaints Co-ordinator) and the MAF UK staff concerned. We will include suppliers, if they have been implicated.
The assessment meeting should set out the nature of the complaint and determine any action that needs to be taken. If the complaint is about fundraising, we will make a note on whether it is about an alleged breach of the Institute of Fundraising’s Codes of Fundraising Practice and/or the FRSB Fundraising Promise. The FRSB will need this information if the complaint is referred to them. The outcome of the meeting will typically produce one of two options:
- The complaint is justified. We will then write to you to apologise, to let you know that the complaint has been used to improve on our fundraising activities in the future, and how this will be done. We will also instigate action to prevent any recurrence of the problem.
- 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 been 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, with a copy to the FRSB, outlining the situation.
6. In the event that the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction.
In the event that you are not happy with our response, you should contact the FRSB within two months. We, in turn, will ensure that all correspondence is on file and can be made available to the FRSB if the complaint is pursued further.
If you are still dissatisfied, you can ask the Board of Directors of the FRSB to look again at your complaint. Their decision will be made within 60 days and will be final. Mission Aviation Fellowship UK agrees to abide by decisions made by the FRSB Board.
7. Contact details