# Alzheimer’s Society develops training package to help telephone fundraisers recognise vulnerability

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/09/18/alzheimers-society-develops-training-package-to-help-telephone-fundraisers-recognise-vulnerability/
- Published: 2015-09-18T17:03:10+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Alzheimer’s Society has responded to recent criticisms of some telephone fundraisers’
interactions with vulnerable people by developing a new telephone fundraising training
package. It is designed to ensure that telephone fundraisers recognise vulnerability
in people they call and handle contact with individuals in a way that is sensitive
to their individual needs.**

The charity is sharing its expertise in supporting people living with dementia by
offering a practical tool to help improve the wider charity sector’s fundraising
contacts with vulnerable people. The training will be made available to all charities
and their agencies in November.

The question of how some staff at telephone fundraising agencies had treated people
living with dementia was raised by [The Daily Mail in its investigation into GoGen](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2015/07/23/gogen-ceases-trading-with-the-loss-of-485-jobs/),
and in its [claims about some of the RSPCA’s legacy fundraising activities](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2015/09/02/daily-mail-criticises-rspca-for-profiling-potential-legacy-donors/).

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## How will the training help fundraisers?

The awareness and skills that the training programme will provide and reinforce 
include:

• the ability to recognise situations where the recipient may not interpret what
is being said in the way intended

• identifying vulnerability when speaking with a person via telephone

• understanding the importance of listening to the person rather than simply delivering
a script

• identifying other communication methods to aid understanding

• recognising the importance of honesty and integrity

 

## Dementia Friends

![Dementia Friends, an Alzheimer's Society initiative](https://www.fundraising.co.
uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/dementia-friends-alzheimers-society.jpg)

The training package will include Dementia Friends awareness sessions. The charity
launched this initiative in February 2013 with the aim of helping more people develop
an understanding of dementia, how it affects others and the small things that they
can do that could make a difference to people living with the condition.

Jon Bodenham, Director of Fundraising at [Alzheimer’s Society](http://alzheimers.org.uk)
said:

> “It is unacceptable that people living with dementia are being exploited by fundraising
> approaches which fail to take proper account of a person’s vulnerability. Alzheimer’s
> Society is committed to leading the way in demonstrating good practice and supporting
> others to do so. The new training package that we have developed will equip telephone
> fundraisers with vital skills to protect the most vulnerable people in society,
> and additionally help in addressing the broader problem of lack of understanding
> and awareness of dementia.
> “Alzheimer’s Society champions the rights for people living with dementia and 
> while living with dementia is not always a barrier to making informed decisions,
> and people with the condition should have opportunities to support charitable 
> causes of their choice, it is imperative that fundraising practice safeguard these
> individuals.”