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!

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We have combed through the comments we received from MPs in this year’s Charity Parliamentary Monitor to get a sense of which campaigning tactics used by charities are the most effective.

From this data, we have compiled nine things for charities to consider in their campaigns in the run-up to a General Election. You can view them all, plus some verbatim quotes from MPs, in this free report.

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As the Lobbying Bill trundles through Parliament, the nightmare of charities being severely limited in politically representing their beneficiaries threatens to become a reality. So what exactly do the public think about charities having the right to lobby? And what does it mean to MPs and journalists for charities to 'be political'?

Heather Sturgess

Ben Roberts

As another year draws to a close, we can reflect on what a strange beast UK politics has been over the past twelve months. On the one hand, we’ve had the likes of the Partygate scandal, the rise and subsequent removal of Suella Braverman, a change in Scottish leadership, a huge number of protests, and enough gaffs to fill an episode of You’ve Been Framed.

As we explored in our free campaigning report last year, engaging MPs can rely on a huge amount of strategy, and some charities can find it difficult to break through the noise and make themselves heard in these arenas. One charity that has managed to consistently make their message heard is Cats Protection, who in recent years have managed to successfully capture and hold the attention of MPs, and advocate for the needs of pet-owners across the UK.

Peter Dawson

The recent loss of a dedicated charities minister is just another example of government disinterest towards the charity sector. But where does this leave its relationship with charities?

Since it's been a prominent and reoccurring theme in the media, nfpSynergy were interested in exploring MPs’ attitudes towards charities beginning to acknowledge and address institutional and structural racism. Tapinder draws on evidence from recent events and telling data from our research which shows Conservative MPs are far less receptive to these charity actions. She touches on why this may be and what charities can expect.

In this week’s blog we look into some of the key findings from our latest wave of research with MPs around Covid-19 and what MPs think the charity sector should be prioritising going forward.