Throughout this week we’re running a series of items on free and discounted resources for not-for-profits under the headings of digital, social media, design, training and volunteers. The materials listed below originally appeared on the Lightful website, a technology company for social good. Not-for-profits can sign up for free to Lightful, but there is also a pricing structure if you’re interested in more of the resources on offer.
Today’s item looks at free or discounted images, design tools and how to create podcasts.
Images
Whilst it’s always best to use your own, authentic images, it’s not always possible. If you’re using Canva, they have a whole host of free images and illustrations for you to use or some that cost next to nothing. Below are some websites that offer high-quality images that you can use as you wish and you don’t need to credit the photographer. Lightful users also we have hundreds of thousands of free images that you can use in your social media posts.
o Unsplash
o Pexels
o Morguefile
o Gratisography
Design
o Canva – Canva is a free design tool that’s easy to use and comes with an in-built image library. It provides preset templates for everything from Facebook cover images to flyers. Charities can apply for Canva for Non-profits which allows access to Canva for Work – a paid version. Having this version allows you to upload your logo, save your brand colours and fonts so that every time you create a design, it’ll be on-brand.
o Headliner App – Headliner App allows you to make captioned videos or audiograms with a few clicks of a mouse. Using moving images can be a really good way to engage with a new audience and get noticed on social media. Headliner is extremely powerful and simple to use. It works best on desktop or laptop computer, but you can create an audiogram in 5 minutes – and it’s free.
Podcasts
o Anchor – if you want to create a Podcast but have no idea how to begin, Anchor is a great place to start. It is a free platform and app that allows you to create podcast episodes with multiple people anywhere. You can edit in the app, upload to various channels, add transitions, transcribe into video and more. It is really easy to use, but detailed enough for all but the most advanced podcasters to use, and it’s another free resource!
Below: a selection of images from the Unsplash website.
