The North of England Zoological Society (NEZS) is a registered conservation and education charity (No. 306077) with the mission of preventing extinction. NEZS is the organisation that runs Chester Zoo. We fundraise to generate the funds needed to make great conservation impact across the globe and to prevent vulnerable species from extinction.
Chester Zoo is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and we use the Code of Fundraising Practice to shape how we conduct fundraising and how we communicate with our donors.
Chester Zoo relies on generous donations from supporters – like you – who's support enables us to continue our vital conservation and research work, and to allow us to continue dramatically improving the future of endangered species. We are so grateful for every one of our supporters and want to say a huge thank you to you for your support.
We are dedicated to making our fundraising a fair, responsible and rewarding experience for all of our valued supporters, and we are committed to building and maintaining trust. We want people to feel connected to our conservation work – both at our Chester hub and across the globe - and truly understand the incredible impact their donations can make. We seek to do this through communications, events and conversations with our wonderful supporters.
If ever you have any questions or concerns about our fundraising practises, or any aspect of our work, please email fundraising@chesterzoo.org or call 01244 650 229 and ask to speak to the Fundraising team. You can also find out more about how our charity raises and spends funds in our annual report and account.
Our charity promises not to undertake any fundraising that may be deemed intrusive or will apply any undue pressure. When supporting our work, you can be confident that our fundraising is legal, honest and respectful. And we only work with third party fundraising organisations that share our values and practices, such as Just Giving, Enthuse, the Big Give and Octopus Legacy.
As the UK’s leading conservation zoo, and as a charity that relies on the generosity of its supporters, here is our promise to you...
We will commit to high standards:
We will adhere to the Fundraising Code of Practice.
We will monitor fundraisers, volunteers and third parties working with us to raise funds, to ensure that they comply with the Code of Fundraising Practice and with this Promise.
We will comply with the law as it applies to charities and fundraising.
We will display the Fundraising Regulator badge on our fundraising material to show we are committed to good practice.
We will be clear, honest and open:
We will tell the truth and we will not exaggerate.
We will do what we say we are going to do with donations we receive.
We will be clear about who we are and what we do.
We will give a clear explanation of how you can make a gift and change a regular donation.
Where we ask a third party to fundraise on our behalf, we will make this relationship and the financial arrangement transparent.
We will be able to explain our fundraising costs and show how they are in the best interests of our cause if challenged.
We will ensure our complaints process is clear and easily accessible.
We will provide clear and evidence based reasons for our decisions on complaints.
We will be respectful:
We will respect your rights and privacy.
We will not put undue pressure on you to make a gift. If you do not want to give or wish to cease giving, we will respect your decision.
We will have a procedure for dealing with people in vulnerable circumstances and it will be available on request.
Where the law requires, we will get your consent before we contact you to fundraise.
If you tell us that you don’t want us to contact you in a particular way we will not do so. We will work with the Telephone, Mail and Fundraising Preference Services to ensure that those who choose not to receive specific types of communication don’t have to.
We will be fair and reasonable:
We will treat donors and the public fairly, showing sensitivity and adapting our approach depending on your needs.
We will take care not to use any images or words that intentionally cause distress or anxiety.
We will take care not to cause nuisance or disruption to the public.
We will be accountable and responsible:
We will manage our resources responsibly and consider the impact of our fundraising on our donors, supporters and the wider public.
If you are unhappy with anything we’ve done whilst fundraising, you can contact us to make a complaint. We will listen to feedback and respond appropriately to compliments and criticism we receive.
We will have a complaints procedure, a copy of which will be available on our website or available on request.
Our complaints procedure will let you know how to contact the Fundraising Regulator in the event that you feel our response is unsatisfactory.
We will monitor and record the number of complaints we receive each year and share this data with the Fundraising Regulator on request.
If you have made a donation via our website, or via a contactless donation point, and would like to obtain a refund, please contact us directly either by emailing fundraising@chesterzoo.org or calling 01244 650 229 and asking to speak to the Fundraising team. We will require details including your name, how you made the donation and an approximate time.
From this information we can either cancel the payment (if it’s still pending) or provide a refund. You have up to a week to change your mind regarding your donation, although we will look at refund requests on a case-by-case basis.
A refund for a cheque donation will not take place until the cheque has cleared and the money has appeared in our account. If you wish to cancel a direct debit at any time please notify us at fundraising@chesterzoo.org and contact your own bank separately to confirm the cancellation.
Visit the Fundraising section of the Chester Zoo website to find more about how we fundraise, what we fundraise for and how you can get involved. You’ll also find out how you can get in touch with us if you have ideas, comments or complaints about our fundraising that you’d like to tell us about.
We recognise there could be times when we make mistakes, and if this happens we want to hear about it, because we take complaints, concerns or worries very seriously. Our charity promises to listen, record and learn from every complaint in a timely and respectful manner. We’re always grateful to hear your feedback and ideas about how we can do things better - and ultimately provide you and all our valued supporters with exceptional service.
If you would like to make a complaint to Chester Zoo’s fundraising team, you can contact us using any of these options:
Phone - You can call us on 01244 650 229 (Our phone lines are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm). Outside of these hours you can always leave us a message and a contact number and one of us will return your call the next working day.
Email - You can email us at: fundraising@chesterzoo.org
Post – You can write to us at:
Fundraising Team
Chester Zoo
Upton-by-Chester
Chester
CH2 1LH
Please include your name, address and contact telephone number in your email or letter so that we can get back in touch with you easily. We will usually respond to you via the same method unless you instruct us otherwise and you will always get to speak to a real person. If you email us and don’t hear back, double check your junk or spam folder just in case we’ve ended up in there.
Your details will not be used any other way other than to contact you about your complaint. If you are already on our mailing list and wish to be removed, please let us know when you speak to us.
Our team will aim to respond to you within 3 working days, but this may take a little longer during busy times. We will always deal with your complaint as quickly as possible and will be transparent with you if we think it will take longer.
We rarely get complaints about our fundraising but when we do they go straight to the top of our priority list. Depending on the nature of the complaint, we’ll listen carefully to you, make an actions assessment and come back to you with the steps we’re going to take. We invite you to let us know your ideas about how it could be resolved. We will also ask if we can get in contact with you again to share final outcomes and make sure you’re happy with it.
If your complaint isn’t about our fundraising we’ll make sure it goes to the right department. From time to time we receive complaints that do not relate to Chester Zoo, in which case we will try to point you in the direction of an alternative or more appropriate body.
On rare occasions we may choose not to respond to a complaint. These can include if someone unreasonably pursues a complaint that we have already responded to, when a complainant is abusive, prejudiced or offensive in manner and when a complaint is incoherent or illegible.
We cannot respond to anonymous complaints; however we will still make all the necessary investigative enquiries as per our standard complaints process and make suitable improvements.
We really hope that our personal approach and dedication will resolve your complaint in a satisfactory way. If you are not happy with our response, please let us know as soon as possible. Your complaint will be referred to a more senior member of staff, who will carry out a review and let you know the outcome.
We always try to resolve concerns but if you feel that more can be done then the Fundraising Regulator can investigate your complaint. You can forward your complaint within two months of our final response.
Chester Zoo is wholly committed to good fundraising practice and as such we’re signed up with the Fundraising Regulator, an independent body who set and maintain the standards for charitable fundraising.
The role of the Fundraising Regulator is to:
Set and promote the standards for fundraising practice (‘the code’ and associated rulebooks) in consultation with the public, fundraising stakeholders and legislators
Investigate cases where fundraising practices have led to significant public concern
Adjudicate complaints from the public about fundraising practice, where these cannot be resolved by the charities themselves
Operate a fundraising preference service to enable individuals to manage their contact with charities
Where poor fundraising practice is judged to have taken place, recommend best practice guidance and take proportionate remedial action
Visit the Fundraising Regulator website to find out more or to use their online complaints form.
We really hope you enjoy the ways you can get involved in supporting Chester Zoo. If you think we’re doing a great job, we’d love to hear about that too!
And if you have some great ideas of your own about how we can make our fundraising even more successful, email us on fundraising@chesterzoo.org – we’d love to hear from you.
