Complaints & Fundraising
Complaints Policy
Approved by the Board on: 19th November 2025
Next review due: 1st November 2026 ​
Applies to: Members of the public, supporters, donors, beneficiaries, partners,
volunteers and members
Status: The Living Experiment Society is a Community Benefit Society (CBS), with registered number 9418, operating on principles of Franciscan economics, sustainability
and community benefit.
1. Purpose
The Living Experiment Society (“the Society”) is committed to high standards of conduct in everything we do, including how we raise funds to pursue our community benefit purposes.
We recognise that sometimes things may go wrong.
When they do, we want to know, so that we can:
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• Put matters right where possible;
• Learn from our mistakes
• Improve our services, our governance and our fundraising.
This policy explains:​
• How you can raise a complaint;
• How we will handle it
• How you can escalate your concerns, including to the Fundraising Regulator
where the complaint relates to our fundraising.
2. Scope
This policy covers:​
• Complaints about our services, activities or behaviour
• Fundraising complaints, meaning any complaint about the way we or anyone
fundraising on our behalf asks for, receives or uses donations.
A complaint is treated as a fundraising complaint when it is about, for example:
• Requests for donations (letters, emails, social media, phone calls, events,
face-to-face fundraising, online fundraising)
• How we have used or described donations;
• How a third-party fundraising on our behalf has behaved; or
• Any alleged breach of the Code of Fundraising Practice.
This policy does not cover:
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• Employment or HR disputes (covered by our staff procedures)
• Internal grievances raised by employees or volunteers
(covered by separate grievance/whistleblowing procedures
• Matters which are purely legal disputes, or which are already the subject of legal action.
3. What is a complaint?
For the purposes of this policy, a complaint is: Any expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about actions taken or a lack of action by The Living Experiment Society or anyone acting for us. If we are unsure whether you are making a complaint or simply
raising a concern, we will usually treat it as a complaint to ensure it is handled properly.
4. Our commitments ​
When handling complaints, the Society will:
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• Make our complaints process clear and accessible, including on our
website and on request in other formats; ​
• Treat you politely, fairly and respectfully at all times
• Acknowledge your complaint promptly and give you
realistic timescales for our response
• Investigate thoroughly and impartially, seeking to understand
what happened and what outcome you are looking for
• Respond as quickly as reasonably possible, avoiding unnecessary delay
• Explain our decisions and any actions we will take
• Use complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve, in line with our
Franciscan-economics ethos of accountability, stewardship and care for
people and planet. Where your complaint relates to fundraising,
we will also comply with the Code of Fundraising Practice and,
if we cannot resolve matters to your satisfaction,
we will signpost you to the Fundraising Regulator.
5. How to make a complaint ​
You can make a complaint in any of the following ways:
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• By email: info@livingexperiment.org​
• In writing, to:
Complaints
The Living Experiment Society
Plantation House
Brighton Road
Woodmancote
East Sussex BN5 9ST​
• In person: By speaking to a member of staff, a volunteer coordinator
or a trustee at our premises or events.
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If you need information in an alternative format, language or accessible version, please let us know and we will do our best to help. We encourage you to raise your complaint as soon as possible after the issue arises. For fundraising complaints, if you later wish to refer the matter to the Fundraising Regulator, they normally expect you to contact them within
two months of our final response.
6. Informal resolution ​
Where appropriate, we will try to resolve your complaint informally at the first
point of contact, for example by:
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• Offering a quick explanation or apology
• Correcting an error or misunderstanding
• Taking immediate steps to address a concern.
If you are not satisfied with this, or if the matter is serious or complex,
we will follow our formal complaints process below.
7. Formal complaints process
Stage 1 – Initial investigation
1. Acknowledgement
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We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days of receiving it.
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We will confirm our understanding of your concerns, the outcome you are
seeking, and how we will handle your complaint.
2. Investigation
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Your complaint will normally be investigated by a member of our Advisory Board, who is not directly involved in the matter complained of, where possible.
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We may contact you to gather further information or evidence.
3. Response
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We aim to provide a full written response within twenty working days
of acknowledging your complaint.
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If we cannot meet this timescale, we will explain why and let you know when
you can expect a full reply.
Our Stage 1 response will set out:
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• What we have understood your complaint to be
• The steps we have taken to investigate
• Our findings and conclusions
• Any apology or remedy we are offering
• Information on how to escalate the complaint if you remain dissatisfied.
Stage 2 – Review by the Board (or delegated panel)
If you are unhappy with the Stage 1 outcome, you may request a Stage 2 review
within twenty working days of our Stage 1 response.
1. Requesting a review ​
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Please explain why you remain dissatisfied and what you would like us to reconsider.
2. Who reviews your complaint
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A Stage 2 review will normally be conducted by a member of our board who
were not involved at Stage 1.
Where appropriate, the Board may appoint an independent person to
support or conduct the review. ​
3. Outcome​
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We aim to provide a Stage 2 outcome within twenty working days of
acknowledging your escalation.
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We will write to you setting out our final decision and the reasons for it,
and any further actions we will take. The Stage 2 decision is the final stage
of the Society’s internal complaints process.
8. Fundraising complaints and the Fundraising Regulator
The Living Experiment Society is committed to the Code of Fundraising Practice and to fundraising which is honest, open, respectful and accountable. If your complaint relates to our fundraising activities and, after completing our internal process, you remain dissatisfied, you can refer your complaint to the Fundraising Regulator.
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The Fundraising Regulator asks that:
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• You raise your concerns with the organisation first
• You contact them within two months of receiving our final response.
You can contact the Fundraising Regulator by:
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• Online form: via the “Make a complaint” section on their website
• Email: complaints@fundraisingregulator.org.uk
• Phone: 0300 999 3407 (Monday–Friday, 9.30am–4.30pm)
• Post: Fundraising Regulator, 50 Featherstone Street, London EC1Y 8RT
Further information about what the Fundraising Regulator can and cannot
investigate is available on their website.
9. Complaints about third-party fundraisers
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If your complaint relates to a third-party organisation or individual fundraising
on behalf of The Living Experiment Society:
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• Please contact us in the first instance using the methods in Section 5
• We will treat your complaint as if it were about our own fundraising and will
investigate both the actions of the third party and our oversight of them
• Where appropriate, we will require the third party to cooperate with our
investigation and to follow this policy
• We will let you know what steps we have taken to address your concerns and,
if necessary, to improve future practice. If the matter remains unresolved,
you may still refer your complaint to the Fundraising Regulator
as set out in Section 8.
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10. Confidentiality and data protection ​
We will handle complaints confidentially and in line with data protection law
and our Privacy Notice:
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• We will only share information about your complaint with those who
need to know, to investigate and respond
• We will keep a record of your complaint, correspondence and the outcome for
six years in accordance with our Data Protection Policy and retention schedule
• You have rights over your personal data; details are set out in our Privacy Notice,
available on request and on our website.
11. Staff and volunteer concerns about fundraising practice ​
Staff and volunteers who have concerns about our fundraising practice, or about serious wrongdoing more generally, can raise them through our
Whistleblowing and Speaking Up Policy, which explains:
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• The types of issues that can be raised
(for example, suspected fraud, safeguarding concerns, serious breaches
of the Code of Fundraising Practice, or environmental harm)
• How to raise a concern
• How we will protect people from victimisation or harassment
• How we will respond and provide feedback.
12. Unreasonable or vexatious complaints ​
We aim to treat all complainants respectfully and fairly, and we expect the same
courtesy in return. In rare cases where a complainant behaves unreasonably
(for example, by making repeated, unfounded or abusive complaints), we may:
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• Limit further contact to a single point of contact or a single channel (e.g. in writing only)
• Set boundaries on the times or frequency of communications;
• Decline to consider further complaints on the same issue.
Any such decision will be approved by the board and communicated clearly and in writing to the complainant.
13. Learning from complaints ​
We value complaints as an opportunity to improve both our community activities
(such as the micro-farm, café-bakery and educational programmes)
and our governance and fundraising.
We will therefore:
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• Record all formal complaints, including fundraising complaints, in a central log;
• Report regularly to the Board on the number and type of complaints,
themes, outcomes and learning
• Use this information to improve our services, our fundraising practice and
our accountability to the community.
14. Policy review ​
This policy will be reviewed at least every twelve months, or sooner if required by:
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• Changes in legislation or regulation
• Updates to the Code of Fundraising Practice
• Guidance from the Fundraising Regulator.
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