1. Scottish Charity Engagement Monitor
What is the Scottish Charity Engagement Monitor?
Finding out what your key audiences think of you is essential for charities, especially in the current
economic climate. The Scottish public is a key audience for any charity that fundraises and works in
Scotland, and the Scottish Charity Engagement Monitor (SCEM) is a cost-effective way to find out their
views of your organisation.
Think of it as a way to hold a mirror up to your charity, and find out how you really look in the eyes of
the world. Once you know where you stand, you are in a much better position to make improvements
and to spend money in the right way.
SCEM is the first research product made specifically for Scottish charities. By signing up, you get
invaluable information and analysis resulting from our twice yearly survey of a cross-section of the
Scottish public.
How does it work?
We conduct an online survey of 1,000 nationally representative members of the Scottish people, in
which we ask tracking, general and bespoke questions about the key issues for the sector. Charities
pay an annual subscription to take part, and receive the results of the research. All charities taking part
are also able to submit their own questions on their campaigns, corporate partnerships, and specific
issues. SCEM takes place twice a year, so you can track changes in awareness and opinion over time.
SCEM gives insight which helps your fundraising, campaigning and communications, and our
syndicated model means that we can provide personalised, benchmarked research at a fraction of the
usual cost.
What are the benefits of subscribing to the Scottish Charity Engagement Monitor?
Discover which issues are top of the agenda for Scots.
Compare yourself with other charities and benchmark your performance.
Learn about how Scottish people interact with charities.
Track the effectiveness of your campaigns over time.
Find out which fundraising methods annoy and delight the Scottish public.
W: www.nfpSynergy.net T: 020 7426 8888 E: insight@nfpsynergy.net

2. What topics does it cover?
All charities taking part are able to submit their own questions on
their campaigns, corporate partnerships, and specific issues.
Detailed reports of the results and analysis, and in house
presentation of the key findings, are included in the price. Topics
we cover include: The Scottish Charity Engagement
Monitor is one of the most effective
What percentage of the general public in Scotland are means of measuring the
aware of your charity performance of your charity.
How many people have seen your logo, heard about your Whether you are interested in
campaigns, and are concerned about the issues you work benchmarking, brand awareness or
with giving patterns in Scotland the
What the Scottish public think about campaigning, level of information contained in
volunteering, and fundraising the monitor is second to none.
Working for a campaigning
How much does it cost? organisation I find The Scottish
Charity Engagement Monitor
SCEM costs £3,250 plus VAT for a year (two waves of research). invaluable for tracking public
awareness issues and our visibility.
What the subscription includes: Participation in the monitor for me
is a real no-brainer.
- Reports on each of the 2 waves of research in PowerPoint
format, with accompanying analysis and commentary in Stuart Glen
Word, and access to data tables. Fundraising Director
- Individual reports for the bespoke questions available. Advocates for Animals
- In-house presentations.
- Access to all your research via the client area of our
website.
- Any extra analysis of the data requested.
Who currently subscribes to the research?
Current subscribers to our Scottish Charity Engagement Monitor
include:

3. Sample result
One of the most useful questions for benchmarking asks the Scottish public which charities they have
heard of. The slide below shows spontaneous awareness – i.e. the first charities which come to mind.
We also ask the Scottish public specifically whether they have heard of your charity.
Total spontaneous awareness – Top 15
Oxfam 49%
Cancer Research (Unspec) 40%
RSPCA 29%
Barnardo's 28%
British Heart Foundation/ BHF 26%
Red Cross (Unspec) 19%
Macmillan - Total mentions 19%
Save The Children 17%
Oct-09
PDSA 16%
Marie Curie 15%
Scottish SPCA 15%
Shelter 14%
Greenpeace 12%
World Wildlife Fund/ WWF 11%
NSPCC 11%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
There are many different charities, voluntary organisations and pressure groups today, concerned with many different issues. Please can you name the
first charity or voluntary organisation that comes to mind? And which other charities, voluntary organisations and pressure groups can you think of?
Total spontaneous Awareness
Base: 1,002 adults 16+, Scotland
Source: SCEM October09, nfpSynergy
This is just one slide from the monitor – each full report consists of more than 100 slides, plus extra
analysis or bespoke questions.
How to find out more
For more details, email Jonathan Baker at jonathan.baker@nfpsynergy.net, or call 020 7426
8865. We can send you some sample results from the research, or give you more details on the
specific ways our research could help your charity.
Our expertise in research:
We have nine years experience of running our Charity Awareness Monitor, which covers the whole of
the UK, and to which 49 charities subscribe. SCEM is a similar service for the Scottish sector, has been
running since 2007 and is the first research product made specifically for Scottish charities.
In addition to SCEM, we also run an annual survey of the devolved Scottish parliament. We ask MSPs
what they think of charities, which causes they support, which charity campaigns they’ve heard of and
have taken action on, and what charities can do to improve their lobbying of parliament.
You can see a summary of our Scottish research on our website at
http://www.nfpsynergy.net/scottishresearch (pdf file)

4. About nfpSynergy
nfpSynergy is a research consultancy dedicated to the not for profit sector. Our aim is to provide ideas, insights
and information that help not for profit organisations thrive. Our clients include charities, housing associations
and public bodies who use our research to inform their strategies and planning.
From our origins in syndicated tracking research on public attitudes for non-profit clients, nfpSynergy has now
grown its portfolio of bespoke research to become one of the leaders in non-profit sector market research
Our size and our story
nfpSynergy was created in 2002 as a division of the Future Foundation. Two years later the founder Joe Saxton
led a management buy-out. In 2009 we had an annual turnover of £1.6 million and around 20 staff members
including a variable number of interns. We own our own premises in Spitalfields.
Tracking research
We run several tracking surveys that monitor the attitudes and opinions of key stakeholder groups relating to the
not for profit sector. The research is done for a syndicate of participating charities who share costs and data. The
aim of our tracking studies is to provide lower cost, more frequent and more detailed research than any
organisation could achieve by acting on its own. The tracking research includes:
 Charity Awareness Monitor (CAM) - the general public
 Charity Parliamentary Monitor (CPM) - MPs and Lords
 Youth Engagement Monitor (YEM) – young people
In addition, we have developed syndicated tracking studies on journalists, local authorities, health professionals,
the general public in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.
Projects and consultancy
Each year we carry out around 50 projects for non-profit clients that include surveying over 100,000 people from
the general public, supporters and staff. We also carry out over 50 focus groups a year on average and interview
over 100 people in more depth either face to face or over the phone. We are a full member of the Market
Research Society, on the COI list of approved qualitative and desk research agencies and on the British Council’s
fundraising agency roster. Our projects and consultancy work covers a vast range: from helping the British
Council to develop an income-generation strategy to investigating apprenticeships in the NHS to researching the
barriers and opportunities for young people in seeking help. In particular we specialise in stakeholder audits and
in supporters and client/user satisfaction studies. We also have a particularly strong record of work in the health
and young people sectors.
Our clients include
There are over 75 organisations we have worked with in the last two years alone. These include: the Audit
Commission, The Big Lottery Fund, Ofsted, the Scout Association, Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer
Support, NSPCC, Save the Children, Oxfam, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Skills for Health, the British Council,
Drinkaware, National Housing Federation, UNICEF-UK and WWF-UK.
Our research standards and data protection:
As full members of the Market Research Society, we comply with their code of
conduct at all times, ensuring that research is carried out in a professional and
ethical manner.