Complaints policy

The Talent Fund and its charitable brands and restricted funds take complaints seriously. We are committed to resolving any issue in a timely, transparent and impartial way.

Data

Please note if you use our complaints procedure, you are agreeing that The Talent Fund, and its charitable brands and restricted funds use any personal information you send us for purposes connected with your complaint. We will only give your personal information to other people and organisations if you have given us permission to do so.

Anonymity

We can usually only investigate complaints where the identity of the complainant is known so that it is possible to go back and verify information if needed. Where an anonymous complaint is received of a serious nature, The Talent Fund may consider investigating if there is enough information to guide further enquiries.

Process

Complaints can be emailed to info@thetalentfund.org

We will respond to a complaint within 14 days of receiving it. Please note we may be unable to investigate and resolve complaints if they refer to an incident more than three months in the past. If a complaint requires further investigation, we will send an interim report and advise you of our findings within 30 days.

If you are not happy with our response, please let us know as soon as possible. Your complaint will be referred to a more senior member of staff and/or Trustee who will carry out a review and let you know the outcome within 30 days.

If you remain dissatisfied with our response you can contact the Charity Commission (opens new window) for advice on 0845 300 0218 or the Fundraising Regulator (opens new window)

For reference, The Talent Fund is a registered charity number 1185346

The Talent Fund may decide to pass a complaint to regulatory or legal authorities (e.g. the Charity Commission or the police) in the UK if there is a reasonable basis to suspect that an organisation or individual have acted illegally.

Donor care commitment

The Talent Fund is committed to making giving purposeful and fun. We offer a bespoke and tailored approach, helping donors give anonymously or supporting them to maximise their assets for social good.

In all our work:

We are clear, honest and open

We do what we say we are going to do, when we say we’ll do it, and we endeavour to keep things simple and easy.

We are respectful

We respect our donors’ rights and privacy. We’ll never sell their data, and we respect the work and pressures of our grantee partners and the communities they serve.

We have high standards

We adhere to the Code of Fundraising Practice (opens a new window), comply with the law as it applies to charities and fundraising, and challenge ourselves to be an understanding and considerate grant maker.

Refund policy

The Talent Fund is committed to making giving purposeful, fun and easy. However, we recognise there could be circumstances where mistakes have been made.

As a registered charity, we are subject to regulation by the Charity Commission for England and Wales under The Charities Act 2011. We also follow the Fundraising Code and standards as laid out by the Fundraising Regulator. Trustees also adhere to other legislation relating to financial fraud and money laundering.

As a rule, Charities are not permitted to refund any donations. However, there may be exceptional circumstances (for example, please refer to vulnerable persons policy).

Any request for a refund should be made in writing to the Treasurer, c/o info@thetalentfund.org who will review the request, taking advice from The Talent Fund’s Board of Trustees and/or Charity Commission, and further legal advice, if needed.

The Talent Fund is committed to making charitable giving a positive experience. We will treat all refund requests with the utmost importance and endeavour to respond within 14 days. However, we recognise the process may require advice from external agencies and response times may be out of our control. We will keep you updated as appropriate.

Privacy notice for Text to Donate

Your information (mobile number and donation amount) will be collected by Fonix Mobile plc on behalf of The Talent Fund (a registered charity number 1185346 which operates several different charitable brands and restricted funds) and will only be used for processing your donation, providing receipts, managing refunds and failed donations as necessary and to help analyse our income.

It will not be used for any other purposes.

Our lawful basis for this processing is that it is in our legitimate interests. Any additional information provided as part of the Gift Aid declaration (first name or initial, surname, address and postcode) will only be used for the purpose of claiming Gift Aid.

Your data will only be used by The Talent Fund and our charitable brands and restricted funds and will not be passed onto any third parties, other than HMRC.

For further information please see The Talent Fund’s Privacy Policy.

Terms and Conditions

• As well as the relevant Donation Value, each text message will incur your standard network message charge (based on your service provider rates).
• Text to donate services can only be used from a UK mobile and does not include Channel Islands or Isle of Man mobile networks. If you donate using this service from a UK mobile abroad you may incur additional network charges.
• Where calls to donate are associated with challenges, your donations are independent of the success or failure of the challenge
• Please ensure you spell the Keyword (donation amount) correctly and send your text message to the correct Short Code, however, if we, acting reasonably believe you are trying to donate, we will still take the donation even if you entered the Keyword incorrectly. Alternatively, we may instead send you a message to let you know that your donation has failed. The message we send to you in this instance is not a confirmation message so, whilst you will be charged your standard network message charge, you will not be charged the Donation Value and will not be donating to The Talent Fund/its charitable brands and restricted funds. You will not have been added to any marketing databases if we send you this follow up text unless you have expressly requested to be.
• If your Keyword and Short Code are valid and your text message is received within the specified times and dates, you will be charged the applicable Donation Value via reply confirmation text message(s) and your donation will go to The Talent Fund/its charitable brands and restricted funds with the exception of Vodafone customers, who will be charged the Donation Value directly via their bill). It may take some time for you to receive the confirmation text message. Please wait until you receive it. Unless a cap applies (see below) each valid text you send will result in a charge of the Donation Value plus your standard network message charge, regardless of when you receive your confirmation text message. Any repeat texts will result in repeat donations.
• If you are a UK taxpayer, The Talent Fund can claim an additional 25p in Gift Aid from the Government for every £1 you donate. We’ll send you a follow up text to ask if you want to claim Gift Aid on your donation. If you follow the link in our follow up text, you’ll be taken to our website to complete the Gift Aid declaration – please read it carefully. For us to claim Gift Aid, you must pay UK income or capital gains tax this year (this does not include VAT or council tax) at least equal to the amount reclaimed on all your charitable donations. Find out more about Gift Aid here (opens in new window). We may include a link in the text message, and if you follow the link you will be taken to a website to complete the Gift Aid declaration. Please read the details carefully before submission. You will not automatically be added to any marketing databases if we send you this follow up text.
• There is a daily limit (12.00 am to 11:59 pm) of £50 on text donations to each short code with the same keyword for the same donation amount from the same mobile number, up to a maximum donation amount of £240 per month per mobile number. If you try to donate more than that in a day using the same Keyword and Short Code from the same mobile, you will still be charged your standard network rate, but will not be charged the Donation Value for a confirmation text message and will not be donating to The Talent Fund/its charitable brands or restricted funds. For the avoidance of doubt this maximum is placed on the text messages sent with the same Keyword to the same Short Code. Also note that pre-paid customers who are trying to donate £20, £30 or £40 but have insufficient credit, may only be charged £10, £20 or £30 (as applicable).
• If you would like to contribute a different amount to The Talent Fund/its charitable brands or restricted funds, you can contact us at info@thetalentfund.org Any donations, including donations via text, are non-refundable, other than in limited circumstances.
• All supporters must obtain permission from the bill payer before sending a text message. If you are under 16 years old, you must have your parent or guardian’s permission to send a text donation to us, our charitable brands and restricted funds.
• The Talent Fund, its charitable brands and restricted funds cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any telephone network or line, system, server, provider or otherwise which may result in any text being lost or not properly received.
• The text service is provided by Fonix Mobile plc. If you have any queries regarding the service, please contact Fonix at care@fonix.com(opens in new window) or write to Fonix Mobile plc, 23 Heddon Street, London, W1B 4BQ or call on the following Helpline Number: 0208 114 7001 (Monday to Friday 9:00 – 17:30).
• The Talent Fund reserves the right to change these terms and conditions at any time. Any updates will be posted alongside the Terms and Conditions.
• The governing law is that of England and Wales.

Vulnerable supporters

The Talent Fund believes that giving should be purposeful, fun and a positive experience for all people.

Treating donors fairly means that everyone should have the opportunity to donate if they want to.

People should be treated as individuals and be responded to according to their needs and preferences so they can make an informed decision.

This means that people, even if they are in a vulnerable circumstance, can choose to support a charity and make a donation.

However, there are times when fundraisers shouldn’t ask for a donation or when a donor needs additional care and support to make an informed decision.

We recognise that vulnerability is complex and changeable. At some stage in life, vulnerability can affect any individual.

If an individual lacks the mental capacity to make an informed decision, then they are potentially vulnerable.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 states that this can be defined as an impairment of the functioning of the brain leaving that person unable to make a decision, for example dementia. As the Fundraising Regulator Guidance Treating Donors Fairly (opens new window) states ‘an individual does not have to have any medical, physical, or mental condition to be in a ‘vulnerable circumstance’.

Instead, something could have happened in their life that makes things difficult for them, meaning that it is harder for them to make decisions, or they are experiencing particular stress or anxiety. vulnerability can also be a temporary situation defined by significant life events, such as times of extreme stress and/or anxiety.

Due to its nature, it is not possible to provide a comprehensive set of characteristics but some examples of vulnerability or vulnerable circumstance could include:

• Physical and mental medical conditions
• Disability
• Learning difficulties
• Times of stress or anxiety (for example bereavement)
• Financial vulnerability (where a donation may impact a donor’s capacity to sufficiently care for themselves or leave them in financial hardship
• English not being the donor’s first language
• Influence of drugs/alcohol

If The Talent Fund or its charitable brands and restricted funds has grounds to believe a donor/potential donor is in a vulnerable situation, or lacks the capacity to make an informed decision, then the interaction with the individual should be ended. This should be done in a polite manner which protects their dignity and acknowledges their interest in making a charitable gift.

Adhering to the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice, The Talent Fund and its charitable brands and restricted funds expects all associated personnel to:

• Take reasonable steps to treat a donor fairly, enabling them to make an informed decision about any donation.
• Take into account the needs of any donor who may be in a vulnerable circumstance or require additional care and support to make an informed decision.
• Not exploit the credulity, lack of knowledge, apparent need for care and support or vulnerable circumstance of any donor or potential donor at any point in time.
• Not take a donation if there are reasonable grounds for believing that an individual lacks capacity to make a decision to donate
• Return a donation given by someone who lacked capacity at the time of donating.