How to make a complaint

We will treat all feedback from members of the public – both positive and negative – with respect and endeavour to deal with any concerns raised about our work promptly and politely and in line with high standards of customer care.

We always love to hear from you, so if you have general feedback, observations or constructive criticism to share with us and don’t know who to contact, please go through ‘contact us’ on our website or ring 01392 299 244 and speak to a receptionist.

We will respond to you within 14 days – in most cases, we will respond a lot sooner.

Where your complaint is serious or significant (i.e. where it involves any concerns of wrongdoing by the charity, its staff or its volunteers and/or breaches of our own policies or practice) and/or where you wish to make a formal complaint, the following process applies.

How to complain

Register the complaint with Devon Wildlife Trust (in writing by post, by email, or by phone) within three months of the incident occurring. We would appreciate it if you could clearly mark/identify your communication as ‘complaint’ so that we know you are making a formal complaint and we can direct, log and handle it properly.

Complaint is made

If we receive your complaint via ‘contact us’ on the website or via Reception, we will acknowledge the complaint in writing within 7 days. If the complaint is sent to an individual staff member, we will respond within 14 days to allow for the possibility of staff absence.

Complaint is investigated 

We will investigate your complaint and tell you of the outcome of the investigation in writing within 28 days of receiving the complaint. If an investigation takes longer, we will let you know in writing when you can expect our response.

Record of the complaint

We will keep a record of the complaint for at least 24 months from the date the complaint was made. We will inform Trustees of any complaints made and the outcome through quarterly Board reports. We will report on the volume and nature of any fundraising complaints to the Fundraising Regulator and within the Trustees Annual Report.

If you are not satisfied with our response

We very much hope that you feel any complaint you have raised has been satisfactorily addressed. However, if you are not satisfied with our response, depending on the nature of your concern, there are a number of regulatory bodies you can escalate your concern to; the Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator for example.  

1. We want all who support Devon Wildlife Trust to give with confidence, knowing that we adhere to the highest fundraising standards. As a member of the Fundraising Regulator, Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) has made a Fundraising Promise to adhere to best practice, honesty, transparency, clarity and accountability in all fundraising activity, enabling you to give with confidence.

If you are unhappy or concerned about any of our fundraising activities, we are keen to hear about it so that we can address any issues as soon as possible and can continue to monitor and improve our practice. Please contact Rachael Fielder-Pine on 01392 279 244 or at rfielderpine@devonwildlifetrust.org in the first instance to discuss any general questions or concerns.

2. If you wish to make a formal complaint about our fundraising practice, please follow the steps outlined in section 2 above, but if you feel the outcome of this process is unsatisfactory, you can escalate your complaint by raising your concerns with the Fundraising Regulator within two months of receiving Devon Wildlife Trust’s final response.