We were very happy with the way that nfpSynergy commissioned the research looking at older peoples attitudes to dying, death and bereavement. As is often the case this work was commissioned almost at the 'last minute' . nfpSynergy presented the outcomes in a very insightful way and they have definitely influenced the delivery of a very sensitive communications strategy.

John Palmer, Director of Marketing and Communications at NatCen (for Dying Matters Coalition audience insight and communications testing)

Working with nfpSynergy was a delight from the beginning. Jo Graham, my main contact was excellent in every way throughout, and many of my colleagues commented on how useful and enlightening her presentation was. They just seemed to 'get' my sometimes rather rambling requests, were always flexible with changing situations and always delivered excellent work on time and to specification. Many times, i had to win over sceptical colleagues to the benefit of qual research and because Jo helped me to understand so well, i was able to pass this knowledge on.

I was very happy with the level of service Jo Graham and her team provided. I thought she showed great understanding of and empathy with our client group - young children with life-limiting conditions - which I'm sure meant they gave better quality responses. I've already recommended nfpSynergy's services to other organisations.

Sally Otter, when she was Marketing and Communications Manager at Multiple Muscular Dystrophy. She has now moved to Oxfam.

Qualitative research can be a powerful tool both to help you understand your key audiences, and to help you communicate better about the work that your organisation does. More than just ‘adding life’ to quantitative data, qual can be used at any number of points along your research journey to help understand behaviours and get a deeper understanding of the ways that people engage with your charity.

Not for profit think-tank nfpSynergy has teamed up with The ImpACT Coalition to produce a free, short, practical report and guide that will empower charities to formulate and communicate simple messages, including pithy pub facts, needed to dispel a range of debilitating misperceptions their stakeholders may have, both about themselves and the wider third sector.

Joe Saxton looks at the relationships between users, stakeholders and accountability and argues that user involvement in the trustee body is far from the only route to increased accountability.