In early 2012 the John Ellerman Foundation embarked on a strategic review to find out what a model grant-maker looks like in the eyes of applicants and grantees, and compare practices in the grant-making sector. nfpSynergy was commissioned to carry out independent research with charities and their fundraisers. The report is the result of this research. You can download the Executive Summary on this page. The full report is available free here.

The much anticipated Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee report on the Gambling Act 2005 came off the press recently to a decidedly mixed reaction. Much of furore centres on the original Act restricting society lotteries to a maximum £400,000 per pot and £4,000,000 turnover per lottery per year. The main reason for these limits is to give protection to the National Lottery. The report recommends possibly increasing or even removing these limits, but with a fairly significant caveat.

by Vicky Browning - Director, CharityComms

This report is a synthesis of research that was carried out into major donors and philanthropic giving.

Hamlin Fistula UK is on a mission to increase their fundraising efforts to support more women in Ethiopia who are suffering from the devastating effects of obstetric fistula and other preventable childbirth injuries. To help achieve this goal, the charity successfully applied for the nfpResearch Small Charity Research Award, which offers organizations with an income under £1 million the opportunity to receive a comprehensive £10,000 research project at no cost.

Death is a touchy subject. There is the potential for it to feel crass or disrespectful to discuss making a donation via a will, so how do charities go about promoting legacy giving?  

What do you picture when asked to visualise an average UK charity donor? Having a typical image in your mind isn’t necessarily wrong – after all, your charity might claim certain demographics as key supporters. What’s important, however, is not to let fundraising success with certain demographics give you tunnel vision when you’re next coming up with a fundraising or brand strategy.

Ben Roberts

January is sometimes said to be the least exciting month – it’s all the grey skies of Winter without the build up to the holidays that we enjoy. So even though we’re back and hitting the ground running for 2024, for a bit of fun this week we’re going to be looking back at the small charities that made a big difference this Christmas, either through their fantastic supporters, incredible impact, or just by making fundraising a bit more fun over the holidays.

Ben Roberts

Cian Murphy & Tim Harrison-Byrne

To those who don’t yet know, this year has seen the nfpResearch team taking on a new and exciting venture as we launched our first wave of research with the Canadian public. Our mission is to bring the same high quality of research and decades of experience we’ve gained working with UK charities to the Canadian sector, where we’re now helping charities of all sizes to better connect with their audiences.