Commitment to Standards in Fundraising Practice

St. Francis Hospice is fully committed to achieving the standards delineated in the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising.

The Statement exists to:

• Improve fundraising practice.

• Promote high levels of accountability and transparency by organisations fundraising from the public.

• Provide clarity and assurances to donors and prospective donors about the organisations they support.

  St. Francis Hospice has considered the Statement and believes it meets the standards it sets out.

  St. Francis Hospice’s report on its fundraising is available in our most recent annual report.

  We welcome your feedback on our performance; see “Feedback & Complaints” below.

   

  Resolution Regarding the Statement

  The Board of Directors of St. Francis Hospice resolves to adopt the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising and confirms that St. Francis Hospice is committed to complying with the Statement and will endeavor to:

  Adhere to the core principles of respect, honesty and openness by:

• Respecting the rights, dignity and privacy of supporters, clients and beneficiaries

• Answering reasonable questions about fundraising activity and fundraising costs honestly

• Making information about our purpose, activities and governance available to the public

  Demonstrate its commitment to donors by:

• Agreeing and making known a Donor’s Charter consistent with the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising containing commitments regarding the causes for which the charity is fundraising, the use of donations and disclosures regarding the status and authority of those soliciting donations

• Operating a complaints and feedback procedure

  Ensure high standard of fundraising practice by:

• Ensuring fundraisers are committed to the highest standards of good practice by providing information and training on the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising

• Ensuring that fundraising activities are respectful, honest, open and legal and that images and messages are chosen and used in accordance with the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising

• Having a policy in place regarding the management of volunteer fundraisers

  Be financially accountable by:

• Publishing an annual report and statement of annual accounts, which includes a statement on compliance with the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising

• Making sure that there are appropriate internal financial and management controls in place

  Making sure that all donations are recorded and that records comply with data protection legislation

   

  Donor Charter

  Since 1989 St. Francis Hospice has provided a service of specialist palliative care to people in North Dublin as well as support for their families and friends.  There are no charges for services provided by St. Francis Hospice. The service is based on a Christian philosophy, which recognises the need to treat each person with dignity, respect and compassion, irrespective of their cultural or religious background.

• Our pledge is to treat all our donors with respect, care, honesty and openness, in accordance with our mission statement.

• We commit to being accountable and transparent in our fundraising activities.

• Our fundraisers and volunteers will observe the highest professional standards at all times.

• We will send a prompt acknowledgement of donations.

• We will inform our donors about the services and developments and the work of St. Francis Hospice that donations help to support.

• We undertake to utilize donations for the purpose for which they were given.

• We will respect the right to privacy of our donors and will comply with the laws relating to fundraising and the use of personal data.

• We will keep administration and fundraising costs to a minimum.

• Donations to St. Francis Hospice will be handled responsibly and to the greatest advantage of the beneficiary.

• Where applicable, tax relief on donations will be claimed.

• We will ensure that funds raised in response to an appeal will be used effectively to meet the critical needs of those they were raised for.

• We will prepare externally audited accounts. These accounts are available from our Finance Office at St. Francis Hospice Raheny, for inspection at any time. We will also prepare an annual report summarising our programme activities and financial results.

• We will seek to maximise the value of public donations by applying for funding from official funding bodies e.g. the Government, the European Union, as appropriate.

• Any queries and complaints will be dealt with courteously and as efficiently as possible.

• We will remove your name from our database on your request.

• Our database will not be shared with any other organisation.

• In our fundraising activities, we will endeavour to adhere to best industry practice.

   

  Feedback & Complaints

  The Fundraising Department in St. Francis Hospice aims to comply with the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising, as published by the Irish Charities Tax Reform Group.

  We are committed to ensuring that all our communications and dealings with the general public and our supporters are of the highest possible standard. We listen and respond to the views of the general public and our supporters so that we can continue to improve.

  We welcome both positive and negative feedback.  Therefore we aim to ensure that:

• It is as easy as possible to make complaints.

• We treat as a complaint any clear expression of dissatisfaction with our operations that call for a response.

• We treat a complaint seriously, whether it is made by telephone, letter, fax, email or in person.

• We deal with complaints quickly and politely.

• We respond accordingly – for example, with an explanation or an apology when we have got things wrong, and with information on any action taken.

• We learn from complaints, use them to improve and monitor them for our Board.

  If you have a complaint
  If you have a complaint about any aspect of our work, you can contact, in writing or by telephone. Please let us know how you would like us to respond, providing relevant contact details.  Write to:

  Dee Kinnane

  Fundraising/Projects Manager

  St. Francis Hospice

  Station Road

  Raheny, Dublin 5.

  Tel no: 01 -8327535
  Email: info@sfh.ie

  We are open five days a week, Monday – Friday, 9.00am to 5pm.

  What happens next?

  If you complain in person or over the phone, we will try to resolve the issue there and then.  Similarly, if you complain by email or in writing, we will always acknowledge your complaint within seven days and do everything we can to resolve it within 21 days. If this is not possible, we will explain why and provide a new deadline.

  What if the complaint is not resolved?

  If you are not happy with our response, you may get in touch again by writing to the Chief Executive at the address above, who will ensure that your appeal is considered at Board level and will respond within two weeks of this consideration by Board members.