Severn Hospice Fundraising Practices – Frequently Asked Questions
As a local charity we pride ourselves on building close relationships with our supporters; we strive to make sure that we communicate with you in the most appropriate and considerate way.
We always aim for the highest standards in our fundraising and recent press stories about other charities are not representative of how we, at Severn Hospice, go about working with our local community to raise the £9.8 million we need each year to fund the vital care services we provide. We would like to reassure all our supporters that we have never traded the names and addresses of our donors to any third parties.
We will continue to do as we always have done and adhere to all regulations governing fundraising practice and follow any best practice guidelines that are issued to ensure we continue our positive relations with the generous local people who support our cause. We are very proud of the fact that 83p of every £1 donated to Severn Hospice is spent on providing care to our patients and the remaining 17p is used to raise the next £1.
We understand that you may have a few questions about how and when we contact you, so we have listed the most frequently asked questions with answers below. If you have a question that is not answered here, or if you would like to discuss our fundraising practices with a member of our Fundraising Team, please contact us on 01952 221351 or by email fundraising@severnhospice.org.uk
Why have I received marketing mail from Severn Hospice?
We have contacted you because you are, or have recently been, a supporter of Severn Hospice. We are extremely grateful for your support; we contact you for two main reasons, to thank you for helping us in the past, and also in the hope that you will continue to support us. Every year we have to raise approximately £8 million to enable us to continue caring for people locally. We work very hard to build relationships with our supporters and we try to make sure that we communicate with you in the most appropriate and considerate way.
How did you get my details?
We only contact people that have given us their contact details. This is usually because you have supported Severn Hospice in the past, such as: by taking part in one our events and raising sponsorship money for us; donating money to us in memory of a loved one; taking part in our weekly lottery or enhanced raffles; or because you have signed up to Gift Aid in one of our shops.
Can I opt out of future communication from you?
Yes, every time we send you marketing mail we include instructions of what to do if you would like to opt out. Alternatively, you can phone us on 01743 236565 or 01952 221351, or email fundraising@severnhospice.org.uk. If you have signed up to Gift Aid in one of our shops, we are legally obliged by HMRC to contact you to inform you about the amount of additional money your donation made. Please contact us if you would like more information about this.
Do you sell or pass on my contact details?
No we have never sold or traded any of our supporters’ details with third parties.
How often will you contact me?
At the moment, we do just three postal marketing campaigns per year; these include two special prize draw raffles (one in May and one in December) and a mailing in September about our annual Lights of Love campaign. We do not send these letters to everybody on our database. We are very careful about what we send to you and try to make sure that we only send you things that you will be interested in. Some people will receive all three of these mailed campaigns, some of you may only receive one, or even none at all.
Do you use telemarketing companies?
We do use the services of an independent telemarketing professional to recruit members to our lottery. This is a very small company based here in the UK that has worked with us for many years and has a great understanding and empathy for the work we do here at Severn Hospice. If you receive a call from our telemarketing professional and would prefer not to be called in the future, you can ask to be removed from our contact list.
I have asked to be removed from your mailing list, but I am still receiving letters.
We are very sorry if this has happened to you. From time to time, people do ask us to remove them from our contact list and we action this straight away. Usually this is effective immediately and you will no longer receive information from us. Unfortunately, although we do our best, sometimes we do make mistakes. Because of the range of areas in which we operate such as shops, lottery, fundraising events and donations, we have more than one database system and although we try very hard to make sure your details are recorded accurately, occasionally a person may be listed in different ways on these databases, e.g. as Mr James Smith; Jim Smith and Mr J T Smith. Similarly addresses with small variances can be listed twice, so if you should receive unwanted or misaddressed mailings please let us know by returning the addressed page to us so we can correct any errors on our systems.
Do you use door to door canvassers?
We do use an external company which specialises in door to door canvassing to recruit members to our lottery. It is a reputable third party company and all the people working on behalf of Severn Hospice are fully briefed about our hospice and the work we do. We meet each canvasser prior to them going out to represent us and they receive a full induction at our hospice sites. This company adheres to our policy of not canvassing vulnerable people.
