I will confess to being a recent convert. I love working with a recruitment agency to find new trustees. The quality of applicants and the inclusiveness of the process improve the governance process beyond measure. Indeed, I now am of the belief that the sector should no more appoint a trustee without an open and transparent recruitment process, than they should a CEO.

How charities spend their money remains a key concern for current and potential donors. In this report we examine how a selected sample of UK charities present their key financial information to the general public, exploring both the content and form of this information. We find that it is clear charities are working hard to demonstrate how much they are achieving through the income they raise and how efficiently this is being done. However, there are a number of recurrent issues that are worth highlighting: 

This week's blog looks at the findings from our latest report on how to measure public giving and some of the pitfalls and challenges in doing so. 

It's Christmas time and as per tradition we're giving away 12 more of our reports. They address key issues like lobbying, fundraising and trust, plus a couple of niche ones like Gift Aid and media spending. Enjoy!

In this week's blog, Joe Saxton shares his experience of using a number of Trustee recruitment sites to try and find a new Trustee role. Read about the twists and turns of what ends up being the (surprisingly?) not-so-straightforward process of navigating recruitment sites for this particular type of role.

Last year, we released our ‘Going Viral’ report, exploring the initial response to the Covid-19 outbreak by charities. This is the second year of Covid-19, and it was time to revisit and delve into the experiences of charities in the sector again to take a longer-term perspective on the pandemic and its impact on the sector.

This week we have some big news to share. Joe Saxton has sold nfpSynergy to colleagues Cian Murphy and Tim Harrison-Byrne, and is graduating from Driver of Ideas to Driver of Ideas (emeritus).

In this week's blog, Joe Saxton reflects on the language that charities have created as their own. He argues that while this language can sometimes be appropriate, it can at times be confusing and off-putting when talking to their supporters.

This blog follows our  report titled 'Why survey (charity) staff?'.  We highlight why, in the wake of reports on toxic work cultures and #NotJustNCVO, understanding (and acting on) the views and experiences of charity staff and volunteers is so important.

Joe Saxton lays out five key things that the soon to be appointed CEO of the Institute of Fundraising should prioritise as they navigate rough waters and begin to map out the next decade.