• “Flabby” Government definitions exaggerate volunteering figures
•  Pet-sitting, pub-pointing, child-cheering and picketing could all, officially, count as “volunteering”
• “Tighter definitions needed to uncover true volunteering levels; and to plan/evaluate Government strategy and investment,” vies nfpSynergy’s Baker

Looking after a pet for a friend, pointing out a pub to a stranger, cheering your child at cricket or even joining a picket: these are all countable instances of volunteering according to Gover

Not for profit think-tank nfpSynergy has teamed up with The ImpACT Coalition to produce a free, short, practical report and guide that will empower charities to formulate and communicate simple messages, including pithy pub facts, needed to dispel a range of debilitating misperceptions their stakeholders may have, both about themselves and the wider third sector.

nfpSynergy has a wealth of back-data regarding MPs' opinions of charities and their campaigns, comments from those who work in this area and experience of the sector. This has enabled us to compile a report containing ten tips, which extract the most salient issues to emerge from our research, to help you in your future charity campaigns and lobbying.

Joe Saxton looks at the relationships between users, stakeholders and accountability and argues that user involvement in the trustee body is far from the only route to increased accountability.