Telephone fundraising

The donations you give go towards providing lifelong care for every donkey in the UK that has suffered from abuse or neglect, as well as funding our international work. Our telephone campaigns are an important part of our fundraising activity. They help us raise vital funds that improve the lives of donkeys the world over and give us the precious opportunity to have conversations with those who make this possible: our supporters.

We’ll only call you if you’ve given consent for telephone contact. We might call to thank you, to find out if we can claim Gift Aid on your donations, to ask if you’d like to refresh your telephone consent, to offer the opportunity to give a little more in a Direct Debit contribution, or – if you’ve generously donated a cash gift – to offer you the option of signing up to a Direct Debit.

Yes, we work closely with a professional telephone fundraising agency called Ethicall, who call on our behalf. Working with an agency allows us to contact thousands of our supporters in a short space of time at a low cost, which makes this a very cost-effective way of fundraising.

We make sure all our agency fundraisers are trained to be as knowledgeable as possible and understand the work that we do.

We also go to great lengths to ensure that the fundraisers are professional ambassadors for The Donkey Sanctuary. We are proud of the quality of their calls, and the enthusiasm they demonstrate for the needs of donkeys.

Any personal information collected will be handled in accordance with all current applicable Data Protection Legislation. For further details, please see our privacy notice.

Yes, our professional fundraisers are paid a wage to fundraise on our behalf. They are always paid a set hourly rate, and do not work on a commission model. Ethicall does this to ensure that the telephone fundraisers are motivated by our cause and not by the monetary incentives.

Giving by Direct Debit is the most effective way of donating regularly and requires supporters to provide us with the same bank details that are always found on a cheque (sort code and account number). These details can only be used to pay money into your account, or to set up a Direct Debit, which can only be done by authorised organisations.

If you set up a Direct Debit with us, you will receive written confirmation. This will include a copy of the Direct Debit Guarantee and our contact details. You will then get a cooling off period of ten working days to cancel your Direct Debit, or you can cancel your Direct Debit with us at any time by contacting your bank.

All information is handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

If you do not wish to be called or you have other questions or comments about our telephone campaigns, simply let the caller know, email [email protected] or call 01395 578222. We’d love to hear from you!

All of our fundraisers fully understand the importance of not being too pushy on the telephone. If a donor says they are too busy to talk, the fundraiser will end the call or arrange a more convenient time to call back. They will also note if you do not want to be contacted in a telephone appeal again in the future.

Our fundraisers are also trained to end the call if it becomes apparent that the person they are calling is going through a difficult time, or if they are not happy to continue with the call.

We aim to ensure that all our calls are positive experiences for our supporters and accept that we may not always get things right. If you have been disappointed by your experience of The Donkey Sanctuary, please get in touch. We really value your feedback and welcome the opportunity to respond and improve.

Please telephone us on 01395 578222, or you can send an email to [email protected]

or write to us at:

The Complaints Co-ordinator
The Donkey Sanctuary
Slade House Farm
Sidmouth
Devon
EX10 0NU

If you would like to find out more, please read our complaints policy.