We would like to thank our clients and partners for inspiring us to keep researching the topical issues in the sector. As part of our Social Investment programme we regularly produce Free Reports and feed our finding back to the sector so any charity regardless its size or sector can find something useful. Here are the 12 popular reports this  year.

Falling at the first hurdle? Joe Saxton points out the many challenges ahead of the Fundraising Preference Service, and poses some tough questions.

The Fundraising Review proposed the introduction of a Fundraising Preference Service (FPS). The detail on how this would work is very sketchy, but the basic idea is that a person could ask for all direct charity communications addressed to them to stop. This blog tries to explore how this would work and what the implications might be.

Last month the regulator for premium rate text messages, PhonepayPlus, released data showing that in 2014 text donations raised over £114 million.

This is a great success story for fundraising and charities. At nfpSynergy we are pleased to have played an important role in the changes that bought about the development of text donations. Back in 2008 when I finished my stint as Chair of the Institute of Fundraising I agreed to take on the task of trying to make text donations economic.

There's no doubt the last few weeks have been a torrid time for the charity sector. Joe Saxton explores how it happened, why it happened and, more importantly, what we can do about it.

Charities often learn some great lessons from private industry, but have they missed a trick by leaving out technology? Anna Chistyakova thinks so and is challenging charities to draw her in.

I have recently found myself thinking that I have become more data sensitive. I pay attention to how many Twitter followers or LinkedIn connections I have and I track my health stats with new apps and devices to become a better runner. I compare different people’s opinions on sites like TripAdvisor and Quora to find the answer I’m looking for.

With countless negative stories and shouts of crisis, fundraising has some serious recovery steps to take. Rob White & a few nfpSynergy members of staff take a look at what those might be.

It’s been a tough few months for fundraising.

The complaints have rolled in. The media stories have been rolled out. Heads haven’t quite rolled, but people like William Shawcross have, quite justifiably, argued that the sector is in crisis.

Based on a sample of nearly 60 UK charities and nfpSynergy data, this five part report looks at some key questions and analyses two areas in detail: the relationship between awareness and income, and that between awareness and media spend.

Just one in 17 people think charities should save more than a year’s expenditure for a rainy day, a new study shows. A third of people favour reserves of less than six months’ spending, while only one in ten agree it should be whatever a charity decides.

The poll of 1,000 people, out today, asked how much money charities should keep in case their income fell and just 6% said over a year’s worth of expenditure.