The new research that we released this week shows that, on average, the public think seven or eight months is about the right amount of reserves for a charity to have in the bank. Around half of those who expressed a view thought six months of expenditure or less was the right level. Interestingly though, when the same people were asked how much a £12 million charity should keep in reserve, the average dropped to around £3 to £4 million.

As it's the season of goodwill, we're giving away The 12 Insights of Christmas. They look at some of the key issues facing the charity sector and include research, interviews and advice from charities and from us. Unwrap our 12 free reports just in time for Christmas.

Thank you to everyone who attended our Insights event. If you couldn't make it, thank you for your interest in the event and we hope to see you next time.

Our presentations are now available for free download on this page for anyone who would like them.

A charity board will usually monitor finances. But measuring just finances is a bit like measuring just the heart rate of an athlete; it’s important, but it’s just one of a range of ways of knowing whether an athlete is healthy. A great heart rate in an athlete certainly doesn’t tell if they will win any races.

So in charities, what else should trustees (or senior managers) measure apart from money? And how should they measure the money stuff? Here are some ideas about things that every charity can measure based on my experience on different boards. I have yet to see an organisation that measures all of these areas perfectly.

Much has been written about how charities should communicate impact. How to communicate with donors, how to thank them and, perhaps most importantly, how to explain what you did with their money are undoubtedly tough nuts to crack.

I'm a big fan of nfpSynergy. They provide the strongest opinion pieces in our sector.

Adrian Sargeant - Robert F. Hartsook Professor of Fundraising, Indiana University

As the nfpSynergy blog has become weekly and its readership has steadily increased to over 2500 a month, it got me thinking; why do some people blog and some don’t? How about you? Are you thinking about why you do or don’t?

How about now?

I think blogging is important for any business, but it’s especially important for charities. It’s the perfect way to publicise issues, stories or opinions that your press team might not, for whatever reason, send to the mainstream media. It can often be these kinds of pieces that convert someone to your cause or inspire someone to volunteer, fundraise and make a difference.

1. A Hidden Gem - Resilience report from the Clore Social Leadership Programme

We took part in an online debate on giving for the Guardian recently and among the many interesting points raised, someone argued that the day of standing on street corners collecting for charities had passed. He proposed, quite well, that charities should focus on other methods. True, street collections have their drawbacks, not least that the vast majority of people undoubtedly walk straight past without dipping into their pockets. But even among the myriad of donation methods these days, I just can't agree that street collections have anything less than a crucial role to play.