Digital is a massive area – spanning 1,000s of tools, topics and resources. This online toolkit aims to bring together the common topic areas we are asked about and to signpost you to some of the best resources we’ve found that have been produced by a range of charities, tech organisations and volunteers.
To make our library easy to navigate we have grouped the resources according to the problem you may be trying to address with digital.
Pro Bono / Free Advice & Support
- Digital Boost – Matches organisations in need with digital experts to offer one-to-one conversations and practical webinars for free.
- Digital Candle – A free service, linking charities needing support with digital experts able to provide an hour’s consultation and advice.
- DataKindUK – Office Hours – free support and guidance on data and data use. It’s an easy way to discuss the challenges your organisation faces and their data science volunteers will help you think through possible solutions.
Free and Discounted Software
- Charity Digital Exchange offers software discounts available for charities.
- Don’t forget a lot of software packages offer charity or non profit discounts – check their website or just ask their customer services.
Access to Data
We get a lot of queries about access to data and wifi. As you can imagine there is no one size fits all solution but we have pulled together some resources and ideas that might help.
- How much data do I need? – Is a commonly asked question when trying to work out how much data your beneficiaries need (or your organisation). To help You Switch have done a helpful guide on common internet tasks.
- Vodafone Charities Connected – If you’re a charity that needs support for digital inclusion programmes, you can apply for free Vodafone SIMs, each loaded with 40GB data a month for six months, plus unlimited calls and texts. You can use these however you like – for example, to provide connectivity to your service users or deliver training to people in need.
- Greater Manchester Databank – The Databank allows organisations to provide free SIMS and mobile data (as well as talk minutes and texts) to residents in need via Good Things Foundation’s network of local community partners.
- Mobile Phone Tops Up and Sim Cards – If you need to top up the mobile phone credit of people you are working with Refugee Action has produced a useful resource detailing your options. they have also done a great guide on sim card options including details of Smarty which doesn’t require credit checks for their contracts as well as offering pay-as-you-go options.
- Domestic Broadband – To gain domestic broadband individuals typically have to have a place of their own (owning or renting), a bank account, commit to a contract (typically 12 months) and potentially pass a credit check so it is not an option for everyone. But it may be a solution for some beneficiaries and groups – sites such as cable detail the cheapest deals on the market and like anything it pays to shop around!
Hardware and Devices
Funding devices and hardware can be challenging but there are options available
- As a group or organisation, a number of funders will consider financing different ways to deliver services and digital inclusion for example the Clothworkers Foundation. Our funding and development team can support with funding searches and support.
- Good Things Foundation is also working in partnership with Future Dot Now to distribute devices through their Learning Centre Network – if you deliver digital skills to your members or beneficiaries then this may be an option for you.
- The Reboot platform might also be of use as it gives details of how organisations might collect, restore and reuse digital devices to support their work and beneficiaries.
- The National Centre for Cyber Security has issued advice on buying and selling second-hand devices and some key things to check and do.
Digital Literacy Skills Training
There are a host of free resources available to help with fundamental digital skills
- Learn my Way – Learn My Way has free courses for you to learn digital skills to stay safe and connected. –
- Digital Unite – A range of easy guides cover everything from computer basics to accessing social media, online shopping and online entertainment
- Senior Skills – BT have created in partnership with AbilityNet resources to support older people. Including a digital dictionary and learning resources.
- Office 365 Training Centre – Guides and training resources on all things Microsoft Office
- Bury Adult Learning – Provide a range of courses including digital skills.
Websites
- Catalyst has produced a range of resources covering how to create a website that does what your users need it to do.
- Charity Digital have also reviewed the best website platforms for charities.
- Google Analytics has also produced a guide for their analytics platform for non-profits.
Website Related Training
- Improving your website – Lloyds Bank Academy
- Using Web Analytics to understand your customers – Lloyds Bank Academy
- Google Analytics Academy – Google
- Digital Skills: Web Analytics – Future Learn
Digital Marketing Training
- Creating Digital Content -Discover how you can create and sustain engaging online content and learn how to build an effective digital marketing plan – Future Learn
- Using Social Media – Lloyd Bank Academy
- Learn how to effectively use social media for business – Future Learn
- Fundamentals of Digital Marketing – Google Digital Garage
CRM’s (Customer Relationship Management) Software
- Datawise Guide to choosing and implementing a database
- Charity Digital – Easy Guide to Choosing a CRM system
- Data Orchard – A useful list of CRM systems and providers for not-for-profits
Creating Visual Content
- Canva is a simplified graphic design tool website. It uses a drag-and-drop format and provides access to photographs, vector images, graphics, and fonts. It is used by non-designers as well as professionals. Nonprofits can get the pro version for free too!
- Zight allows you to take recordings of your screen (as well as screenshots), edit and annotate them and share them with your team or audience. It’s very useful, particularly for explainer videos.
- Doodly is a drag-and-drop animation program for creating videos that appear to be recorded as if someone drew them on a whiteboard. This is an increasingly common style of video and has proven to be very effective.
- Powtoons is an animation and presentation program that can be used to create more interactive and engaging content. It offers a variety of animation styles including cartoons, infographics, and whiteboards. The program is web-based, so you can access your projects from any computer with an Internet connection and Flash.
- Piktochart is a free, easy-to-use infographic maker – and best of all, their free plan allows for unlimited creations. Just pick your template and start adding data, customize your colours, fonts, images, vectors, and so on, to build your very own infographic. (although other tools such as Canva can also do this).
Creating Written Content
- Grammarly is essentially a really helpful grammar checker. It’s super convenient to use as you can get it as a browser extension so that you can check every piece of content you write, whether it’s an email, a tweet, or a blog post.
- Readable is a tool that uses all kinds of popular readability tests to find out exactly how readable your text is and then also helps you understand what you need to improve in order to get a better score (and ultimately, provide a better reading experience).
- A similar tool is the Hemingway App to check your content’s readability and make it easier to read.
Accessible Tech and Communications
General Technology
- Mircosoft users should visit Microsoft Accessibility homepage, and their dedicated Twitter feed on accessibility. They also have a Disability Answer Desk to get in touch with any questions you can’t find the answers to, where a dedicated Microsoft staff member will answer your questions.
- For Apple users, there are accessibility resources available, you need to scroll down and choose the device you’re using to begin.
Video Conferencing and Messaging – Each platform has its own guide and tips for accessibility including details on screen reads and subtitling etc. The most common two are:
Social Media
- AbilityNet produced this guide on creating accessible content on Facebook
- Twitter tells you how to ensure images you tweet are accessible
- Instagram has introduced automatic ‘alt text’ for images, but you can also add your own custom text
- YouTube also provides advice and guidance on how to add subtitles and closed captions
Other
- Catalyst has produced a range of guides on developing accessible content and services.
Digital Risk Management
- Open Learn– Introduction to cybersecurity: stay safe online – This course has been developed by The Open University with support from the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Programme and can be accessed free of charge.
- NCSC Resources – Including free training, charity toolkits and a host of subject-specific resources
- ICO Training Videos – The ICO has shared their internal training and made them available for reuse. Their site also has a range of resources and guides to help organisations.
- Catalyst has a range of resources on digital safeguarding including managing online forums and trauma-informed design.
- DigiSafe is a fantastic guide step-by-step digital safeguarding guide, for charities designing new services or taking existing ones online.
Working with Digital Agencies
- Catalyst has produced a guide on working with digital agencies including choosing the right one and making the most of the partnership.
- Dovetail – Is a directory of tech and digital agencies with experience of working with our sector.
- Dovetail Resources – As well as provide a directory of agencies they also have a host of useful “how to guides”
- Define Your Audience – knowing who you’re trying to reach will help you tailor or efforts.
- Optimise your internet presence – Ensuring you have things like a basic website, social media and updated listing on Google maps all help people to find out about you. Also consider adding yourself to relevant local directories such as the Bury Directory.
- Host Events and Workshops – Organise open days, workshops, or seminars
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