Telephone fundraising

From time to time, we call our supporters. Find out more about how and why we use telephone fundraising.

Who will call you?

We’re not able to make these calls ourselves, so we use a professional telephone fundraising agency. We’ve gone through a thorough process to find the right partner.

QTS is a UK-based agency that specialises in charity fundraising. They’re a diverse bunch who are passionate about raising money for people with complex disabilities, and they’re trained to communicate with our supporters in a clear and positive way.

When you miss a call from QTS on behalf of Sense, if you call back the number you will hear an automated message telling you who called.

At what times will you be called?

Our agency only calls between 10am to 8.30pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 5.30pm on Saturdays.

They will never call you on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday or Easter Monday.

How many calls are made to each supporter?

If a QTS fundraiser calls but doesn’t get through to you, they’ll make four attempts to call you. They’ll make sure to leave a couple of shifts before each call attempt (unless you’ve asked them to call back at a specific time).

Why do Sense run telephone fundraising campaigns?

We arrange these calls because we’ve found that many supporters like to hear more about our work and the people they’re helping. We’re also able to raise more vital funds this way.

We don’t use telemarketing to make cold calls. The agency calls our existing donors, who know about Sense’s work and are already supporting us.

If we receive a complaint about contact being made in this way, we make sure that the person who complains is not called again.

What to do if you don’t want us to call you

If you’d rather not be contacted by phone, please contact our supporter services team to update your preferences.

Alternatively, if you do receive a call from the number above, you can just let the caller know that you don’t want to hear from Sense by phone again in the future.

Our agency will respect your wishes and will stop calling when you ask.

How we keep your details safe

Protecting your data is of the highest importance to both Sense and our agency. We only use secure and encrypted methods of transfer and the agency does not store your data longer than the campaign on which you’ve been called. Everything is protected by contracts and data protocol agreements.

How much does Sense pay its telephone fundraising agency?

We only pay our agency for completed calls, which means they need to speak to the named supporter and record an outcome. These costs vary depending on the type of call being made.

If you’d like to know more about this, please contact our supporter services team who can provide a breakdown. But rest assured that telephone fundraising allows us to raise more money to help people who have complex disabilities.

How are our fundraisers trained?

Every fundraiser that calls on behalf of Sense has been briefed and trained by us. Our agency also offers ongoing training and support, and we hold regular debriefs with fundraisers too.

Do we record calls?

Every call is recorded. This allows us to monitor these calls every week, and listen to any concerns you might raise. We give our fundraisers ongoing feedback and support. This is to make sure that you have the best possible experience as a supporter. If you ever come to us with feedback, we can access those recordings to listen to the call.

Please be aware that we only store call recordings for one year.