Customer Satisfaction Survey

January 2000

A survey of satisfaction levels with the service provided by the Charity Commission

The Charity Commission has previously undertaken research amongst the general public, it has been some time since we examined how we are viewed by those responsible for running charities.

We therefore commissioned NOP Social and Political to undertake the study, which covers all operational areas of the business as well as provided an overall assessment of standards of service.

For technical queries regarding the NOP poll, contact Dr Carol Goldstone at NOP on: tel : 020 7890 9788 or by e-mail at : c.goldstone@nop.co.uk

Anyone wishing to reproduce the information contained in the poll and with non-technical queries regarding the findings should contact Sush Amar at the Charity Commission on tel. 020 7674 2462 or e-mail at samar@charity-commission.gov.uk

Customer Satisfaction 2000 Topline

• Telephone interviews were completed with 601 individuals identified as the key contact for each charity from the Commission’s database. Interviews were conducted between 10th – 16th February 2000.
• Charities with an income of £5000 or less were excluded from the survey, as their contact with the Commission was significantly less than for charities over that income band
• The sample was selected to ensure all interviews were with charities who had contact with the Commission within the last 12 months.
• The percentage responses are given as a percentage of all who responded to that question.

Summary of Key Findings:

Of the 50% of respondents who had approached us for help, 86% were very or fairly satisfied with the help we offered Of those respondents applying to us for registration, only 63% found completing the necessary forms fairly or very easy, with over a quarter (26%) finding them fairly, or very, difficult to complete. We are currently reviewing the content and number of these forms For those who contacted us for assistance in completing the registration forms, an encouraging 88% felt the speed of our response was very, or fairly, good with 91% feeling the response from us was also efficient Nearly 70% of respondents thought the Commission was mainly trying to help charities, rather than mainly trying to find ones that were doing wrong 88% of those respondents who had used our leaflets felt that they were very, or fairly, good overall Perhaps inevitably, those respondents whose charity had been the subject of an evaluation or inquiry were less happy with our services. Only 70% of respondents in this category were very, or fairly, satisfied with the way the process was handled overall, with 20% being fairly, or very, dissatisfied Our key strengths were seen as being our monitoring/ regulation of charities (24%), the advice, guidance and support we offer (17%) and the general helpfulness and good service provided by our staff (12%) Our main weaknesses were perceived as our response times being too slow (9%), that we suffered from too much bureaucracy (8%), and the lack of more personal, one-to-one contact (7%). We shall be looking closely at ways in which we can improve in these areas.

Q1. Which of these have you personally ever done?

	%
1. Asked the Commission for help or advice	63
2. Filled in a form for the Commission	87
3. Read one of the Commission’s leaflets	93
4. Raised a concern with the Commission about a charity	21
No answer	2

Q.2 What are the main things that you think the Commission does (unprompted)

	%
1. Registers new charities	23
2. Maintains a database of all charities	20
3. Provides advice to charities	41
4. Runs roadshows/ surgeries	1
5. Produces advice/ consultation documents	12
6. Produces videos	0
7. Offers on-site guidance	3
8. Investigates complaints about charities	30
9. Processes annual returns from charities	14
10. Other (specify)	36
Don’t know	3

Q3. Overall, how good a job do you think the Commission is doing?

	%
1. Very good	27
2. Fairly good	51
3. Neither good not bad	15
4. Fairly bad	1
5. Very bad	1
Don’t know	5

Q4. How much do you agree or disagree with these statements about the Charity Commission?

Q4a. The Commission works better for larger charities than for smaller ones?

	%
1. Definitely agree	5
2. Agree	14
3. Neither agree nor disagree	42
4. Disagree	24
5. Definitely disagree	5
Don’t know	10

Q4b. The Commission is mainly trying to help charities, rather than mainly trying to find ones that are doing something wrong

	%
1. Definitely agree	16
2. Agree	53
3. Neither agree nor disagree	18
4. Disagree	6
5. Definitely disagree	2
Don’t know	4

Q4c. The Commission is more of a hindrance than a help to charities

	%
1. Definitely agree	3
2. Agree	6
3. Neither agree nor disagree	10
4. Disagree	56
5. Definitely disagree	23
Don’t know	1

Q4d. The Commission provides a lot of help that charities couldn’t do themselves

	%
1. Definitely agree	13
2. Agree	44
3. Neither agree nor disagree	19
4. Disagree	14
5. Definitely disagree	3
Don’t know	8

Forms of contact with the Commission:

Q5. In the past year, have you had to fill in a form from the Commission?

	%
1. Yes	81
2. No	18
Don’t know	1

Q5a. How easy or difficult was it to fill in the form?

	%
1. Very easy	17
2. Fairly easy	53
3. Neither easy nor difficult	11
4. Fairly difficult	16
5. Very difficult	2
Don’t know	1

Q6. In the past year, have you asked the Commission for help or advice?

	%
1. Yes	50
2. No	50
Don’t know	0

Q6b. How satisfied were you with the help or advice you received?

	%
1. Very satisfied	44
2. Fairly	42
3. Neither	4
4. Fairly dissatisfied	7
5. Very dissatisfied	3
Don’t know	0

Q7. In the past year, have you written a letter, fax or e-mail to the Commission on some other matter?

	%
1. Yes	38
2. No	62

Q7a. How satisfied were you with the service you got in response?

	%
1. Very satisfied	31
2. Fairly	44
3. Neither	10
4. Fairly dissatisfied	9
5. Very dissatisfied	4
Don’t know	2

Q8. In the past year, have you had to telephone them on some other matter? Contents

	%
1. Yes	36
2. No	63
Don’t know	1

Q8a. How confident were you that the person you spoke to was able to deal with your query?

	%
1. Very confident	44
2. Fairly	41
3. Not very	9
4. Not at all confident	5
Don’t know	1

Q8b. How satisfied were you with the explanation given for their response?

	%
1. Very satisfied	45
2. Fairly	38
3. Neither	6
4. Fairly dissatisfied	5
5. Very dissatisfied	5
Don’t know	1

Contents

Q9. In the past year, have you received a telephone call from them on some other matter?

	%
1. Yes	14
2. No	86
Don’t know	0

Q9a. How clear was it what the person you spoke to wanted?

	%
1. Very	67
2. Fairly	24
3. Not very	2
4. Not at all	5
Don’t know	1

Q9b. How polite was the person you spoke to?

	%
1. Very	80
2. Fairly	16
3. Not very	0
4. Not at all	2
Don’t know	1

Registration:

Q10. I would now like to ask you about any contact you may have had with specific parts of the Charity Commission. Firstly, in the past year, have you filled in application forms for [name of organisation] to be registered as a charity?

	%
1. Yes	12
2. No	87
Don’t know	1

Q10a. How easy or difficult did you find it to fill in the forms required for registration?

	%
1. Very easy	12
2. Fairly easy	50
3. Neither easy nor difficult	7
4. Fairly difficult	21
5. Very difficult	6
Don’t know	4

Q10b. Did you contact the Commission at all to ask for help or advice about filling in the registration forms?

	%
1. Yes	44
2. No	53
Don’t know	3

Q10c. Was the person or people you dealt with Polite?

Contents

	%
1. Yes	94
2. No	3
Don’t know	3

Q10d. Was the person or people you dealt with Helpful?

	%
1. Yes	94
2. No	6

Q10e. Was the person or people you dealt with Efficient?

	%
1. Yes	91
2. No	6
Don’t know	3

Q10f. Was the person or people you dealt with Knowledgeable?

	%
1. Yes	97
2. No	3

Q10g. How would you rate the Commission’s response in terms of Speed?

	%
1. Very good	31
2. Fairly good	56
3. Neither good nor bad	3
4. Fairly bad	6
5. Very bad	3

Q10h. How would you rate the Commission’s response in terms of Clarity?

	%
1. Very good	31
2. Fairly good	56
3. Neither good nor bad	3
4. Fairly bad	6
5. Very bad	3

Q10i. How would you rate the Commission’s response in terms of Comprehensiveness?

	%
1. Very good	19
2. Fairly good	66
3. Neither good nor bad	3
4. Fairly bad	6
5. Very bad	3
Don’t know	3

Q10j. How would you rate the Commission’s response Overall?

	%
1. Very good	34
2. Fairly good	53
3. Neither good nor bad	12
4. Fairly bad	0
5. Very bad	0

Public Register of Charities:

Q11. Have you ever contacted the Commission to ask for information from their Register of Charities?

	%
1. Yes	18
2. No	82
Don’t know	0

Q11a. How would you rate the Commission’s response in terms of Speed?

	%
1. Very good	28
2. Fairly good	47
3. Neither good nor bad	8
4. Fairly bad	6
5. Very bad	6
Don’t know	5

Q11b. How would you rate the Commission’s response in terms of Clarity?

	%
1. Very good	24
2. Fairly good	55
3. Neither good nor bad	10
4. Fairly bad	8
5. Very bad	1
Don’t know	1

Q11c. How would you rate the Commission’s response in terms of Comprehensiveness?

	%
1. Very good	27
2. Fairly good	51
3. Neither good nor bad	13
4. Fairly bad	6
5. Very bad	1
Don’t know	2

Q11d. How would you rate the Commission (Public Register)Overall?Contents

	%
1. Very good	28
2. Fairly good	55
3. Neither good nor bad	9
4. Fairly bad	5
5. Very bad	2
Don’t know	1

Q12. Thinking of all your dealings with the part of the Commission that deals with registering charities, how would you rate the service that the Commission provides?

	%
1. Very good	20
2. Fairly good	40
3. Neither good nor bad	17
4. Fairly bad	2
5. Very bad	1
Don’t know	19

Charity Support:

Q13. The Commission has a section that provides advice to charities on issues such as managing property, dealing with land, authorising expenditure and changes to the way the charity is run.

In the last year, have you had contact with the Commission over these types of issues?

	%
1. Yes	17
2. No	83
Don’t know	0

Q13a. On how many occasions has this happened in the last year?

	%
1. Once	56
2. Twice	21
3. Three times	4
4. Four times	3
5. Five or more times	16

Q13b. Was the person or people you dealt with Polite?

	%
1. Yes	93
2. No	3
Don’t know	4

Q13c. Was the person or people you dealt with Helpful?Contents

	%
1. Yes	88
2. No	10
Don’t know	2

Q13d. Was the person or people you dealt with Efficient?

	%
1. Yes	86
2. No	13
Don’t know	1

Q13e. Was the person or people you dealt with Knowledgeable?

	%
1. Yes	84
2. No	10
Don’t know	6

13f. How would you rate the Commission’s response in terms of Speed? Contents

	%
1. Very good	41
2. Fairly good	33
3. Neither good nor bad	7
4. Fairly bad	16
5. Very bad	3
Don’t know	1

Q13g. How would you rate the Commission’s response in terms of Clarity?

	%
1. Very good	49
2. Fairly good	34
3. Neither good nor bad	8
4. Fairly bad	6
5. Very bad	2
Don’t know	2

Q13h. How would you rate the Commission’s response in terms of Comprehensiveness?

	%
1. Very good	49
2. Fairly good	33
3. Neither good nor bad	8
4. Fairly bad	5
5. Very bad	2
Don’t know	3

Q13i. How would you rate the Commission’s response (Charity Support) Overall?Contents

	%
1. Very good	43
2. Fairly good	44
3. Neither good nor bad	6
4. Fairly bad	3
5. Very bad	3
Don’t know	2

Q14. In the last year, have members of the Commission’s staff visited [name of charity] to offer advice on-site?Contents

	%
1. Yes	4
2. No	96
Don’t know	0

Q14a. How useful did you find this visit?

	%
1. Very useful	64
2. Fairly	27
3. Not very	0
4. Not at all	4
Don’t know	4

Q15. In the last year, have you attended an event at which someone from the Commission was speaking or offering advice?

	%
1. Yes	10
2. No	90

Q15a. How useful did you find this?Contents

	%
1. Very useful	56
2. Fairly	32
3. Not very	6
4. Not at all	3
Don’t know	2

Other Services:

Q16. Have you used any of the following services that the Commission provides: Website?

	%
1. Yes	19
2. No	77
Don’t know	3

Q16a. How would you rate the Website for Quality of content?

	%
1. Very good	27
2. Fairly good	55
3. Neither good nor bad	13
4. Fairly bad	3
5. Very bad	1
Don’t know	2

Q16b. How would you rate the Website for Coverage?

	%
1. Very good	20
2. Fairly good	60
3. Neither good nor bad	7
4. Fairly bad	3
5. Very bad	1
Don’t know	8

Q16c. How would you rate the Website for Ease of understanding?

	%
1. Very good	28
2. Fairly good	60
3. Neither good nor bad	7
4. Fairly bad	1
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	4

Q16d. How would you rate the Website for Relevance to you?

	%
1. Very good	38
2. Fairly good	43
3. Neither good nor bad	13
4. Fairly bad	0
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	7

Q16e. How would you rate the Website overall?

	%
1. Very good	25
2. Fairly good	61
3. Neither good nor bad	8
4. Fairly bad	1
5. Very bad	1
Don’t know	4

Q17. Have you ever used the Commission’s leaflets?

	%
1. Yes	65
2. No	35
Don’t know	0

Q17a. How would you rate th e leaflets for Quality of content?

	%
1. Very good	35
2. Fairly good	55
3. Neither good nor bad	6
4. Fairly bad	2
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	1

Q17b. How would you rate the leaflets for Coverage?

	%
1. Very good	32
2. Fairly good	55
3. Neither good nor bad	7
4. Fairly bad	1
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	4

Q17c. How would you rate the leaflets for Ease of understanding?

	%
1. Very good	33
2. Fairly good	52
3. Neither good nor bad	8
4. Fairly bad	5
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	1

Q17d. How would you rate the leaflets for Relevance to you?

	%
1. Very good	31
2. Fairly good	50
3. Neither good nor bad	10
4. Fairly bad	6
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	2

Q17e. How would you rate the leaflets Overall?

	%
1. Very good	32
2. Fairly good	55
3. Neither good nor bad	10
4. Fairly bad	3
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	1

Q18. Have you used any of the Consultation documents which the Commission produces?

	%
1. Yes	19
2. No	80
Don’t know	1

Q18a. How would you rate the consultation documents for Quality of contents Contents

	%
1. Very good	26
2. Fairly good	61
3. Neither good nor bad	11
4. Fairly bad	1
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	1

Q18b. How would you rate the consultation documents for Coverage?

	%
1. Very good	26
2. Fairly good	60
3. Neither good nor bad	8
4. Fairly bad	2
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	4

Q18c. How would you rate the consultation documents for Ease of understanding?

	%
1. Very good	29
2. Fairly good	53
3. Neither good nor bad	12
4. Fairly bad	4
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	2

Q18d. How would you rate the consultation documents for Relevance to you?

	%
1. Very good	29
2. Fairly good	53
3. Neither good nor bad	14
4. Fairly bad	3
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	1

Q18e. How would you rate the consultation documents Overall?

	%
1. Very good	23
2. Fairly good	63
3. Neither good nor bad	11
4. Fairly bad	1
5. Very bad	0
Don’t know	2

Investigations

Q19. In the past year, has the Commission raised concerns about the running of your charity, and asked for meetings with you, or taken further action?

	%
1. Yes	8
2. No	92

Q19a. Thinking of the Commission staff you had dealings with over this investigation, were they Polite?

	%
1. Yes	84
2. No	10
Don’t know	6

Q19b. Thinking of the Commission staff you had dealings with over this investigation, were they Helpful?Contents

	%
1. Yes	74
2. No	22
Don’t know	4

Q19c. Thinking of the Commission staff you had dealings with over this investigation, were they Efficient?

	%
1. Yes	78
2. No	18
Don’t know	4

Q19d. Thinking of the Commission staff you had dealings with over this investigation, were they Knowledgeable?

	%
1. Yes	70
2. No	20
Don’t know	10

Q19e. Did these staff explain what they required and why they were asking for this information, at each stage of the process?

	%
1. Yes	86
2. No	14

Q19f. Overall, how satisfied were you with the way the process was handled?

	%
1. Very satisfied	38
2. Fairly	32
3. Neither	10
4. Fairly dissatisfied	6
5. Very dissatisfied	14

Q20. Does [name of charity] have to submit annual returns to the Commission?

	%
1. Yes	100
2. No	0.

Q20a. How would you rate this process in terms of Ease of understanding the forms?

	%
1. Very good	14
2. Fairly good	48
3. Neither good nor bad	12
4. Fairly bad	6
5. Very bad	6
Don’t know	14

Q20b. How would you rate this process in terms of being able to find the necessary information?

	%
1. Very good	12
2. Fairly good	58
3. Neither good nor bad	10
4. Fairly bad	4
5. Very bad	4
Don’t know	12

Q20c. How would you rate this process in terms of the time it took?

	%
1. Very good	16
2. Fairly good	42
3. Neither good nor bad	14
4. Fairly bad	10
5. Very bad	8
Don’t know	10

Q21. Of all the things the Commission does, which do you think is the most important (unprompted)?

	%
1. Registers new charities	6
2. Maintains a database of all charities	7
3. Provides advice to charities	22
4. Produces advice and consultation documents	3
5. Offers on-site guidance	1
6. Investigates complaints about charities	17
7. Processes annual returns from charities	5
8. Other (specify)	29
Don’t know	7

Q22. Overall, how good or bad a job do you think the Commission is doing?

	%
1. Very good	24
2. Fairly good	59
3. Neither good nor bad	13
4. Fairly bad	1
5. Very bad	1
Don’t know	3

Q23. Thinking of the Charity Commission overall, what would you say are its main strengths (unprompted)?

	%
1. It monitors/ regulates charities	24
2. Advice/ guidance/ support offered	17
3. General helpfulness/ good service	12
4. Provision of information/ literature	9
5. It is independent/ impartial/ objective	4
6. It is strong/ government backed	4
7. Its knowledge/ knowledgeable staff	4
None	1
Don’t know	19

Q24. And what are its main weaknesses?

	%
1. Response times too slow	9
2. Too much bureaucracy	8
3. Lack of personal/ one-to-one contact	7
4. Inexperienced/ untrained/ poor quality staff	4
5. Not enough local/ regional offices/ too remote	4
6. Not monitoring/ regulating closely enough	4
7. None	7
Don’t know	38

ENDS.