Q : Please can we be advised of the Christmas close down dates for this year as I would like to get this planned asap. Can we get confirmation of how many days we will need to use and what dates this will be? 23rd and 24th are a Monday and Tuesday will the field work these dates? Or do we know what’s going to happen?

A: We’re currently working on this and will inform all by the end of March.  Dec 27th, 30th and 31st are mandatory holiday days, with return to work on Jan 2nd.  So, technically, Dec 23rd and 24th are work days.  But we’ll provide some options for FRs before the end of March.

Q : Mental Health First Aid - There is a course available on the subject which consists of 30 questions and you get a certain time to complete it. It is a Nationally certificated level 2 qualification through the NCFE. This course is FREE to anyone living in England only.
It is funded by the SFA which is part of the Education budget. I think that it would be beneficial if Fundraisers, office staff etc get this qualification. I can arrange this through one of my old contacts.

A: Thank you for sending across this suggestion. It is always great to look at new resources and how this can benefit us as a company. Team HR are going to do a review of our Mental Health First Aiders and Responders in the next quarter, so this has timed very well. We will do some further research on the course you have sent over to compare with the previous course we have been using. Thank you!

Q : Do CL review the field discretionary reward structure?
I am aware that competitors such as Excel pay more for their donors. They run little incentives such as if a donor rounds up to £10, they get an extra £5. They also get paid £40 per donor, our max is £30 per donor. Once you hit 40 donors, you are capped and there is no incentive. Would CL ever look at reviewing the reward structure if it's not something that happens usually?

A: We regularly review our reward package to ensure that it is competitive within the industry and believe ours to be better than most if not all of our competitors.  Almost 50% of our PS FRs earn £48-80k and 1/3rd of our H2H FRs earn £45-50k based on actual figures from 2023.  There are also nuances in our scheme that other agencies do not replicate such as the Accumulator for Private Site fundraisers, being paid for approved turnaways, the fixed bonuses when higher targets are met, the annual bonus and repayments of bond every 4 weeks, as well as other benefits such as Medicash (worth up to £900/year), additional holiday entitlement and cash bonuses and incentives. 

All these commitments must be factored into the ‘per donor rate’ that we can pay.  This also must be managed within the agreed price that our clients are willing to pay, and we do not, for example, receive as much of an increase as the increase in the national living wage every year. 

We thank you for your suggestions and we will add these to the next discussion we have regarding the reward structure. (note also that at 40 donors, with the fixed bonus of £200, the per donor rate is in effect £35)

Q : Would CL ever consider enhancing maternity or paternity pay to support working parents?

A: Thank you for your suggestion, it is a subject that we have discussed as part of our overall benefits package and may change in the future.  Currently we operate the statutory requirement which is fair for all our employees.

Thanks for all of your input!