Our social investment programme runs as a thread through every aspect of our business.

At its core is the range of free research reports and briefings we produce each year to benefit non-profits, available on our website. We also blog every week on the key issues facing the sector and attract thousands of readers every month.

We use evidence from our research to campaign for the sector on key issues. We also support small non-profits by providing free places at our seminars, doing talks all over the UK and through pro bono research assistance. We offer a sliding scale on our pricing, so smaller charities pay less for our research. We also provide a paid internship programme, paid staff volunteering days and office space for CharityComms.

We're proud to show that even as a small company, we can put social investment at the heart of our business and still make a profit. We do a huge amount to help the sector we believe in and we'll keep providing free reports, events and blogs on the issues affecting the charity sector.

• Support  for CharityComms (the sector body for communications)

nfpSynergy contributes to the operating expenses of CharityComms and we've given them over £50K of support to do the work they do. They operate out of our offices with no charge for rent, administration or IT support.

• Support for the Institute of Fundraising and the text donations campaign 

We carried out a major research project at no charge to the Institute of Fundraising and published the results. ‘Sending out an SMS: the potential of mobile phones and text messaging for charities and non-profit organisations’ was the result of a year's work by nfpSynergy, the Charities Aid Foundation and the Institute of Fundraising. It aims to encourage greater use of mobile phones and text messaging as a fundraising and communications tool for charities.

We launched a campaign with mobile phone operators in the UK to reduce their charges. Text donations used to lose about a third of the amount to network providers, now the cost is practically zero. Much more money is now heading to good causes.

• Support for small charities

nfpSynergy runs three events for clients every year where we present our latest ideas and research and we reserve places for small charities. We also run workshops for charity staff on issues as diverse as branding, stakeholder engagement and staff development. Combined with our free reports, it gives small charities access to training, knowledge and market research they couldn’t otherwise afford.

We also give free talks to regional and rural charity fundraisers and volunteer managers. We have done more than a dozen of these over the last few years in locations such as Bournemouth, Slough, Llandudno, Edinburgh and Dublin.

• The Model Grant-maker Report

Last year, we conducted research and wrote a report on behalf of the John Ellerman Foundation. We looked at what charities think makes the ideal grant-maker and how they think the process could be improved. The result was Taking Nothing for Granted and it is another free report on our website.

As a follow-up, we are interviewing the grant-making trusts themselves for their thoughts on charities. This report is in its final stages and will be on our website soon.