Free reports from 2009

The third sector is poised for huge changes. There is an upcoming general election, government budgets are about to shrink, and the economy remains fragile. So research such as this, which tries to understand the dynamics and concerns of the third sector, is even more important.

A summary of our report on using SMS and mobile phones for fundraising and campaigning. Includes our ten top tips, and case studies from other organisations.

This in-depth report, produced for the Vodafone Foundation, looks at how young adults seek help, and how charities can meet their needs. The report collates relevant knowledge and presents it in a practically focused way, with case studies and useful tips. We hope that the report will help local and national not-for-profit organisations in their support work with young adults, and improve the way organisations communicate with and provide services to this audience.

A briefing released in Sept 2009, using data from the Charity Parliamentary Monitor to examine whether party conferences are a good use of resources for charities and non-profits.

This report is the result of a year's work by nfpSynergy, CAF, and the Institute of Fundraising. It aims to encourage greater use of mobile phones and text messaging as a fundraising and communications tool for chariites. It includes useful case studies, data on current usage, analysis of the barriers to using these methods, and inspiration and ideas on SMS fundraising and communications.

Results from our 2008 Virtual Promise survey of how charities are using the internet, for charities with an annual income of more than £10m.

Results for charities with an income between £1m and £10m annually, taken from our 2008 Virtual Promise survey of how charities are using the internet.

The results for charities with an income of under £1m, taken from our 2008 Virtual Promise survey.

Since 2001, we've been surveying charities to find out how and why they use the internet. These results are from the latest survey, conducted in the second half of 2008.

This briefing looks at how government measures the levels of volunteering in the UK (and touches on measurements of civic participation) and suggests there are a number of ways in which the current research methodology is over-estimating the level of volunteers.