ProMo Cymru is happy to welcome Simran Sandhu as our new Finance Development Officer!
Simran started her journey with ProMo Cymru in 2018, taking part in work experience within the Accounting and Finance team.
After graduating from the University of Bath with a degree in Accounting and Finance in 2022, Simran worked as a Product Manager in a houseware company before choosing to return to ProMo and transition back into finance in December 2023.
“I am excited to be a part of the financial development of ProMo and learn to use systems and digital reporting to increase efficiency. Dealing with an organisation with two distinct entities is a challenge that I look forward to learning more about,” says Simran.
“I have had a really warm welcome back at ProMo and the support that everyone has provided has been invaluable. No two days are the same, and the variety in opportunities is refreshing.”
2023 was a busy year at ProMo Cymru – we worked on lots of different projects during the year. We hope that we are able to continue this great work in 2024 and positively impact our stakeholders and the communities we serve.
Ebbw Vale Institute
It’s been an incredible year for Ebbw Vale Institute (EVI), ProMo’s Community and Cultural Centre based in the heart of Ebbw Vale, with the launch of our UKSPF project.
We launched the EVI Community Pantry and Repair Cafe projects in February 2023. By the end of 2023, over 200 households were supported by the Community Pantry in Blaenau Gwent, cutting their grocery bills and reducing food waste. The Repair Cafe has saved over 140 items from landfill.
During Christmas 2023, EVI staff and volunteers delivered hampers in the community after teaming up with MP Nick Smith for #EveryoneDeservesAChristmas.
We couldn’t have done this work without EVI’s dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers. A huge diolch yn fawr to the 54 volunteers who have contributed to EVI’s many projects during the year.
Digital Projects: Third Sector Digital Support & Newid
Both projects aim to help the third sector in Wales improve the services they deliver through better use of digital approaches and tools. In 2023, we have supported over 100 third-sector organisations. Some highlights include:
– Launching DigiCymru, a service offering free, short, 1-1 support to third sector organisations in Wales – Launching the Newid website, full of digital resources and support – Trained, mentored and supported organisations to rethink their services using digital approaches through the Designing Digital Services Course – Hosting webinars on TikTok, Canva and AI
This year, AI has become the topic of many conversations. We’ve delivered introductory webinars aimed at helping organisations better understand AI.
ERYICA Podcast
We worked with ERYICA (the European Youth Information and Counselling Agency) to create and produce ERYICAst, a podcast exploring the impact of digital on youth work.
Speaking to practitioners, academics and young people worldwide about how services adapt in response to new technology, we created six podcast episodes.
Episodes include Media Literacy, Algorithms, AI, the Metaverse and more. Have a listen!
Meic Helpline
The advisers on the Meic helpline have worked tirelessly once again to provide information, advice and support to thousands of children and young people in Wales. Hundreds of individual advocacy interventions have been completed. We’ve had lots of positive feedback about the service from children, young people, family members, and professionals over the year.
“I really do appreciate the advice. There’s some light for me at the end of the tunnel now.”
Family Member
“Thank you for the swift response. It’s a fantastic service that I want to promote”
Professional Working with Young People
“Thank you for being so kind and not judging. It’s nice to be heard”
Young Person
A number of blogs have been posted on the Meic website on a range of subjects. We’ve also posted lots of content on our social media channels. This year, we ran three awareness campaigns:
We also developed a new Getting Help section on the Meic website to make it easier for young people to find the information they’re looking for. Searching for a category, they will quickly find information, links to services that can help, and a list of blogs.
In 2024, we will launch a new WhatsApp service on Meic, a new point of contact for our callers! A lot of the preparation for this happened behind the scenes in 2023.
We enlisted 10 Peer Researchers aged 16-24. They consulted with 203 young people (11-27) in Gwent to gather insights on mental health.
Following analysis, we held a two-night residential, resulting in the creation of a discovery report with seven key insights. It’s well worth the read!
In the next phases of the project, we will collaborate with partners to address challenges and enhance mental health services in Gwent.
Our Minds Our Future (OMOF) Wales is part of a five year project with partners in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The aim is to empower young voices for meaningful change in mental health services.
ProMo Cymru and our partner Adferiad Recovery hosted an online conference exploring inpatient care, early intervention, prevention care, and the role of social media in mental health. Over 30 professionals attended, praising the conference as the “best online conference” they’ve been to.
Another participant shared, “I loved hearing directly from the young people. This was so powerful and engaging. I was amazed at their confidence and eloquence on such challenging and personal subject matter. Really well done on your work engaging with them; they clearly trust you and feel empowered!”.
Media Production
Our media team has had a busy 2023, creating many videos, branding and designs for several organisations. One of the standout projects was making videos for Children’s Legal Centre Wales.
These videos aimed to guide young asylum seekers through their first steps upon arriving in Wales. We created a series of four short videos translated into 14 different languages (a total of 56 videos).
The project was co-designed with young people, who provided input on the animation style and storyboard. They also provided voiceovers during recording sessions with interpreters. This project was completed in collaboration with Swansea University and TGP Cymru.
Ofcom
Commissioned by Ofcom, we’ve used a service design methodology to run media literacy workshops for 11 to 14-year-olds in Blaenau Gwent. We discovered a significant gap in young people’s knowledge of social media algorithms and echo chambers during the initial discovery phase.
This insight allowed us to develop workshops that focused on showing young people how they can take control of their online spaces. The report produced details our discovery and has helped us smoothly transition into the next development phase.
In 2024, we’ve been working with three young people to co-design the workshops and help us deliver them to other young people in youth clubs across Blaenau Gwent.
Leading Cynefin
The Leading Cynefin Project is a collaboration between ProMo Cymru, Primary Schools, and TLP Wales. It is supported by the National Academy for Educational Leadership. The aim is to equip teachers and young people with digital, creative, and storytelling skills.
In partnership with Janet Hayward (OBE) and TLP Wales, this pilot project pioneers a blueprint for Curriculum for Wales and Community-Focused Schools in action. It will create the confidence to explore, connect with, and celebrate community treasures and history.
ProMo delivered two digital storytelling workshops for year five teachers and pupils. Their outstanding final pieces, including artwork and digital stories, were showcased at The Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay in November 2023, with support from Lee Waters MS, Jane Hutt MS, and Alun Davies MS.
TheSprout Campaign: The Future is in Our Hands
In March 2023, TheSprout, Wales’ information and blogging website for 11-25s launched the ‘The Future is in Our Hands’ Campaign.
The campaign aimed to raise awareness of how young people can make sustainable choices in Wales, help reduce waste, and be eco-friendly regarding fashion.
Developed by a group of five young creatives in Cardiff, in collaboration with Bloedd Amgueddfa Cymru, ten blogs were published on TheSprout website and almost 100 social media posts (13 of which were TikToks).
Content included alternatives to fast fashion such as buying second-hand, repairing what’s broken, upcycling and making your own clothes. Read the codesigned campaign.
2024 Projects
During 2024, we are hopeful to work with our previous clients again, and looking forward to the opportunity to work with many more!
To keep up to date with what we’re doing at ProMo Cymru, sign up for our ProMail newsletter to get updates on our projects and opportunities throughout the year. We promise we won’t spam you.
Follow us on social media to see little snippets and to be part of our network!
Are you a young changemaker passionate about shaping the future of mental health services in Gwent? Mind Our Future Gwent (MoFG) is recruiting young people aged 16-24 living in Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly or Torfaen to join us as Peer Service Designers.
Background information
In the first year of our project, Mind Our Future Gwent researched young people’s experiences of mental health services in Gwent.
10 peer researchers were employed to help speak to their peers, analyse data, pick out key themes, and write a report to share our findings. Our Discovery Report was published in October 2023, and included 7 key insights which we’d like to take forward in the next stage of the project.
We’re looking for young people to join the group to help take the project forward over the next year. As a Peer Service Designer, you’ll be at the forefront of the MoFG project’s evolution, transforming insights from our research phase into tangible solutions.
Do you have…?
– A passion for driving positive changes in the mental health system
– Strong communication skills, including listening and presenting
– Commitment and willingness to learn new skills
– Involvement with communities or groups of young people (e.g., sports clubs, LGBTQI+ groups, etc.)
Tasks may include:
– Researching the needs of young people in your communities, based on the Discovery Report
– Actively participating in focus groups, mind mapping sessions, and workshops with your peers, colleagues, and stakeholders
– Networking with young people and professionals who work with them in your communities
– Developing prototypes with the support of fellow peer service designers and staff
– Attending youth residentials and in-person meet-ups
What’s in it for you?
– Boost confidence by sharing your voice and ideas in a safe space
– Influence positive change in communities across Gwent
– Part-time job, with virtual and in-person meetings (usually between Monday and Wednesday from 3pm and 6pm)
– Access to relevant training opportunities to enhance your skills and CV
– Supportive staff who want to see you thrive
– Approximately 10 hours per month at the National Living Wage rate (£12 per hour)
Successful candidates will be invited to interviews held on Zoom on 2nd, 3rd or 11th of April.
If you have any questions or need support with completing the application form, please contact a member of the Mind Our Future Project team at info@mindourfuturegwent.co.uk.
Are you an experienced evaluator passionate about making a positive impact on the mental health of young people? We are on the lookout for a skilled evaluator to partner with us on the evaluation of our ambitious five-year project, Mind Our Future Gwent (MoFG).
Funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and led by ProMo Cymru and Newport Mind, MoFG is entering its second year in 2024 with a vision to design innovative solutions for mental health challenges among young people in Gwent.
About Mind Our Future Gwent (MoFG):
MoFG strives to prevent and alleviate mental health challenges for young people in Gwent.
Co-designed with young people and led by Newport Mind and ProMo Cymru, the project focuses on identifying service gaps, building on successful initiatives, and developing new approaches to support youth mental health.
Evaluation Objectives:
We invite experienced evaluators to:
– Guide our staff team in selecting the best evaluation approaches.
– Assist in developing internal evaluation documents to ensure comprehensive data collection.
– Define measurable outcomes to evidence project success.
– Support the compilation of case studies and monitoring reports.
– Evaluate the project holistically and produce a final report by October 2027.
Submitting Your Proposal:
We have allocated a budget of £5,000 per year for years 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Applications for this position close on 18th March 2023.
Promo Cymru is happy to welcome Ffion Powell as our new Funding and Development Officer!
Ffion brings with her a wealth of experience in sales, where she excelled in creating and maintaining long-term business relationships, as well as in increasing and stabilising revenue streams.
Making a significant transition from digital media sales to the third sector, Ffion is enthusiastic about applying her skills for a greater cause, particularly in aiding the communities that need it most.
Her role at ProMo involves supporting income generation and the development of new projects and opportunities.
At the end of Ffion’s first month at ProMo, we asked her how it’s been going. She states:
“This first month’s been an incredible flurry of projects and learning – I’m amazed by the versatility of the organisation and how it has so many moving parts. I’m eager to further contribute my expertise at ProMo, and I’m looking forward to making a difference in the lives of the communities we serve. I’d also like to thank the team for their incredibly warm and supportive welcome. It’s a joy to be surrounded by so many bright, talented and forward-thinking individuals.”
We look forward to seeing the impact Ffion makes with us at ProMo. Croeso to the team!
In the ever-evolving digital landscape, Meic strives to make information easily accessible to support the well-being of children and young people in Wales.
Meic’s web development project
Meic is the helpline service for those under 25 in Wales. The service is managed by ProMo Cymru and funded by Welsh Government.
The service has enhanced its user experience by introducing new ‘Getting Help‘ pages on the www.meic.cymru website. This development is part of their commitment to make it easier for young people to access vital information and advice about issues that matter to them.
Developing a user-friendly interface with tailored categories
Previously, service users would use the search bar to find relevant blogs. This meant it wasn’t an easy process unless you knew exactly what you were looking for. The new ‘Getting Help’ pages are strategically placed on the homepage for easy access.
The ‘Getting Help’ pages organise content into distinct categories and sub-categories. The topics address specific aspects of life for young people, such as mental health, grief, vaping, bullying, exam stress, money problems, and making friends.
Blogs are tagged across multiple relevant categories, so children and young people have the best chance of finding the information they’re looking for.
By categorising in this way, the Meic team has identified the gaps in content. They have developed a content plan to ensure that young people can find the information they’re looking for.
Holistic support
Meic understands the importance of a holistic approach to mental health and well-being. The ‘Getting Help’ pages include links to external services that address specific challenges. This interconnected web of resources ensures that children and young people can access the help they need beyond Meic’s platform.
By providing information and advice on the ‘Getting Help’ pages, children and young people can access this support in their own time when needed. This is useful for those young people who want informal support but don’t want to chat with someone. Those who need more support are directed and encouraged to talk to the advisers on the Meic helpline.
New look and feel
In 2023, Meic launched its TikTok account. The aim was to reach more children and young people in Wales, providing support in the spaces they already were.
Through this development, young people co-produced a new look and feel for the platform, including creating category mascots. The hand-drawn digital characters represent the category and help to illustrate information. Examples include a pig for the money category and a leaf for the environment category.
This design has been incorporated into the ‘Getting Help’ pages to illustrate the content and ensure consistency on and off social media.
As with the Meic helpline service, the website content is available bilingually. This offers flexibility to users in choosing their preferred language of communication.
Outcomes
The introduction of the ‘Getting Help’ pages marks a significant stride in Meic’s mission to empower young people in Wales.
With a user-friendly design, rich blog content, and links to external services, Meic ensures that its platform is not just a helpline but a hub of support and information.
As children and young people navigate the complexities of life, Meic is here to listen, assist, guide, and support the youth of Wales.
Mind our Future Gwent (MoFG) is a 5-year National Lottery Community Funded (Wales) project delivered by ProMo-Cymru and Newport Mind. Our project partners also include local Minds and youth services in Gwent.
The MoFG project follows a Service Design process, a methodology to create better services. The Service Design process has four phases – Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver.
The research
We started the project with a piece of Discovery research. We wanted to better understand the needs of young people in Gwent and gain a clearer understanding of the support landscape.
Ultimately, we want to design new ways to prevent mental health challenges from developing or worsening across Gwent and to ensure that young people get the right support at the right time, wherever they turn for help.
We employed a group of 10 peer researchers from Gwent to assist in the research. The peer researchers represent each of Gwent’s five local authority areas: Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport, and Torfaen.
The Discovery research and findings will help to identify key areas of improvement for the project to focus on going forward. Once we decide on the priority need, we’ll develop ideas and start testing them. We’ll learn from the tests, scale up the ideas, and deliver the solutions.
1 – Staff need to be trustworthy, understanding and friendly whilst maintaining professionalism
2 – Services need to be flexible and accessible to all
3 – Young people lack knowledge about the mental health services available to them in Gwent
4 – Young people need consistency, especially when transitioning within and between services
5 – Negative experiences of services act as a barrier to young people seeking and accessing support
6 – Fear of stigma impacts a young person’s willingness to reach out for support
7 – Young people need to get the right support at the right time
Within the Discovery Report, each insight is explored in more detail, with quotes from some of the 203 11-27-year-olds across Gwent who were interviewed by their peers.
Support from Stakeholders
As we move toward the Define and Develop phases of the Service Design process, we look forward to working with stakeholders across Gwent to help us meet our aims.
If you or your organisation is interested in this work, please email info@mindourfuturegwent.co.uk to sign up for our mailing list.
We are particularly looking to network with professionals working with young people in Gwent, especially those involved in young people’s mental health.
Our stakeholders will be the first to learn about project updates and will be invited to join us at different stages of the project.
It seems that everywhere you turn these days, people are talking about AI. But is artificial intelligence something third sector organisations in Wales should be looking into to help with their work? Read on to find out more.
What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Think about AI as an intelligent computer brain that can learn and do things like a human. It can understand and learn from information and make decisions.
ArtificiaI intelligence is probably around you in your day-to-day life without you even realising it, suggesting what film or TV show you should be watching next, helping your computer understand you when you talk to it, and (in the not-to-distant future in the UK) driving our cars for us.
AI can make things faster, smarter, and more convenient for the user. It learns from the information given to it, becoming better at tasks, just like we learn from our experiences. It is constantly developing and, over time, becomes more accurate.
How can AI help me in my work?
The systems and software that we use every day involve elements of AI. For example, Google search is powered by AI, helping search engines to find information quickly. AI can learn lots of data quickly and produce an output within seconds, allowing you to find answers to your problems efficiently.
One of the most common benefits of artificial intelligence is that it can help automate tedious work with fewer mistakes. An example is using AI to send meeting reminders or update information in a database. A machine learns from patterns, so it keeps this digital work accurate and reliable, as there’s no human error. If AI can handle repetitive tasks, like organising files or sorting emails, it saves time, allowing us to focus on more important or interesting tasks.
Chatbots powered by AI have grown in popularity. Many customer service centres use chatbots to help people find solutions to their problems. Whilst there’s always room for improvement, the idea is that more minor issues can be helped by a chatbot. This means that those experiencing complex problems can get quicker support from an actual person.
AI has developed to become more than text based. Computers can understand human language using AI. When you talk to your computer, phone, or smart device, it understands what you’re saying. If you’ve used Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, or Google Assistant, you’ve communicated with AI. One of the newer aspects of AI includes the ability to generate non-text-based content such as music, artwork, and graphics.
What are the challenges and risks associated with AI?
AI is constantly improving, but we still need to be cautious about how we use it and consider the possible problems it might cause.
One of the problems with AI is that it learns from data provided by humans. If that data isn’t accurate, reliable, or fair, it can impact the decisions that AI makes. Even without intending to, every AI system has biases based on those who created it and inputted data. This could affect things like who gets a loan or a job. In the wrong hands, it could result in machines learning dangerous things. This highlights the importance of ethics when developing AI digital tools.
Many people worry that AI can take over the need for humans to do jobs. Similarly, there are concerns that relying too heavily on AI can make us more dependent on machines, leading to losing current skills or knowledge. For example, using automated tills in shops means they don’t need a staff member at each till. There are arguments to the contrary that a decrease in some jobs leads to an increase in others – mechanics to fix the machines and engineers to develop AI.
There are also privacy and security concerns associated with AI. AI systems can be hacked and used negatively, like spreading fake information. As AI accesses our private data, such as our online activity and contact information, digital dangers like hacking can lead to privacy issues if the data isn’t carefully secured.
Exploring what AI can do
The best way to understand the capabilities of artificial intelligence is by exploring it yourself.
A great place to start would be to use a free OpenAI source such as Google Bard or ChatGPT (3.5) to get to grips with AI’s capabilities. Type your prompt into the search box and look through the results.
Exploring software you might already use for work, such as Canva, can be a great way to explore non-text-based AI capabilities. For more information on this, click here.
Listen to this ERYICA podcast hosted by ProMo-Cymru’s Head of Development, Arielle Tye, exploring how AI impacts digital youth information. She chats to Alexandre Sayad, an academic and researcher in AI and ethics and co-chair of the UNESCO Media Information and Literacy Alliance.
Websites like Coursera and edX offer free and paid courses on AI and machine learning if you’d like to learn about how AI works in more detail.
If you want to explore further how AI could help your Third Sector orgnisation , or if you have any digital problems you’d like advice on, then book in for a free DigiCymru session with one of our digital experts. Find out more here.
This resource is funded through Third Sector Digital Support, a National Lottery Community Fund project to support the Welsh Third Sector with digital. To find out more about how this project can support your organisation, click the link or contact andrew@promo.cymru
If you’re looking for ways to create professional-looking visual content cheaply and quickly, check out the collection of AI features on Canva. This is an excellent place to start if you need help improving your designs.
You can access Canva through a browser or download it as an app. Teams can easily collaborate on projects even when working remotely. It allows real-time collaboration to share and edit designs, provide feedback, and ensure consistency in branding and messaging.
The pre-designed templates and user-friendly interface means everything can be customised to suit your organisation’s needs. When budgets are tight, and you can’t afford to use expensive design software or hire a professional designer, Canva may help.
The brand hub feature allows organisations to maintain a consistent visual identity when creating content. Upload your logo, fonts, and specific colours, and then you can apply these easily to your designs.
You can create a variety of digital content, from social media posts and videos to presentations and websites! The flexibility of Canva is great for nonprofits.
You should be aware that there can be some moral issues surrounding AI-generated content, with people accusing AI of infringing copyright by stealing their original works to create AI-generated content. AI works by taking in vast amounts of information (training), analysing this data and using algorithms to create ‘new’ content using this learnt data. If this concerns you, use your original content, or download copyright-free content that can be used and edited as you like.
How can AI help me in Canva?
Whilst some organisations have been using Canva for a while, many are still unsure about the newer tools that harvest the power of AI. Their AI features, only accessible to premium users (nonprofit accounts included), can help to improve your visual content significantly in just a few clicks.
Understanding these new features and how to apply them to your designs may help increase your confidence when trying new AI tools and learning about their capabilities.
Here’s how Canva can help you create attractive and effective designs using artificial intelligence.
1. Design suggestions
The AI features can analyse your content and provide design recommendations whilst you are creating, including suitable templates, colour schemes, fonts, and layouts. The software can also recognise objects within your images and suggest relevant design elements or icons to incorporate. This feature helps you create visually appealing designs even when you don’t have design experience.
Magic Design lets you upload an image as the base of a design. It then automatically generates some templates based on your image and existing Canva templates and shows you a few options for your content in these different designs.
You can also use Magic Design to create a presentation using just a few words to get you started. To use this feature, open a new presentation and in the toolbar on the left side of the screen, press ‘design’ and then ‘Magic design’. It will prompt you to write five or more words to describe the presentation you’d like, and the results will be a great outline for you to work on your presentation topic. You can also change the branding of this presentation to suit your brand identity colours and fonts.
2. Image enhancement and editing
This AI feature allows you to enhance the look of your images by automatically adjusting the image settings. The adjustments can include brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpness to help your image look more vibrant, polished, and expensive! You can apply a wide range of filters and effects to your designs to change your graphics’ mood, style, and aesthetic.
Magic Edit, another AI feature from Canva, lets you select parts of an image and replace them with something else. Click on the image you’re editing in Canva, choose ‘edit photo’ and then ‘Magic Edit’. Brush over the area you’d like to remove, click next, and then type in something you would like to replace it with.
3. Text-to-image
Can’t find the image you’re looking for? The AI text-to-image generator lets you type in words or phrases, transforming them into images that meet the criteria. You can even play around with the style, so the same words produce different results depending on whether you choose ‘watercolour’ or ‘comic’ style (for example). Some of these designs can be a little whacky, but it’s a great tool to play around with and get inspiration.
4. Magic Eraser
The AI-powered Magic Erase feature allows you to remove aspects of your photo. Select your image, press ‘edit photo’, and select ‘Magic Eraser’. Brush over the part of the image you’d like to remove, and just like that, it’s gone. A great tool to use if you’ve taken a picture but there’s something distracting in the background.
5. Music Generator for Videos
You can create professional-looking videos directly from the platform. One of their newer updates enables you to work on a video timeline, similar to video editing software, to drag, drop, cut, and edit videos together. There is also a varied library of transitions, animated elements, and effects to give your videos a unique and professional look without breaking the bank by outsourcing smaller projects.
A video isn’t usually complete without accompanying music! Like the image generator, the AI music generator lets you create unique-sounding music that perfectly matches your next Canva video project. Select the mood, genre, theme and length to create a list of options for your latest design.
Beat Sync allows you to skip the manual editing involved with creating a video and automatically match your video footage with a soundtrack with the click of a button.
6. Translation
The translation feature lets you translate anything text-based into over 100 languages directly from within Canva, including Welsh. The translation feature can be found on the toolbar on the left side of the screen under the apps section. Select the origin language and the language you’d like to translate into. The magic happens by creating a duplicate page with the translated text for every page you select.
Whilst having an inbuilt translation tool can be handy, it’s not always 100% accurate and is best used for shorter pieces of text. You should always check accuracy with someone fluent in the language you’re translating. Longer works should be translated professionally at risk of falling foul of your own language policies or if you’re trying to adhere to the Welsh Language Standards in Wales.
7. Draw
The Draw feature allows you to doodle directly on illustrations which can help you demonstrate key concepts. While this isn’t a new feature, Canva has used AI to develop the sketch assist mode. If you draw a shape and hold your mouse over it before you let go, it will automatically tidy up your sketch to make it look neater.
8. Magic Replace
It can be daunting if you’ve refreshed your organisation’s brand kit and need to update your Canva designs to reflect this change. However, with the Magic Replace feature, you can go to the brand hub and select the three dots on your old logo, then select ‘replace across designs’. It will automatically find all your documents where you’ve used that logo and then replace it with the new one. The new logo must have the same aspect ratio as the old one to fit the old design perfectly. This feature can also work with images used.
9. Create Animation
Create your unique animation style and bring a story to life with Create Animation. Drag your elements across the screen, AI will record the path. Then you can play around with the speed and direction of your animated elements. To start, click on the element you’d like, select ‘animate’ and then ‘create an animation’.
10. Magic Write
If you’re struggling to find the right words for your content, AI-powered Magic Write can help. You can create written text across all content types, from documents and presentations to social media posts and videos. Access Magic Write through Canva Assistant. Select Magic Write and type in five or more words to describe what you want to write about. Once you generate the text, you can edit the output quickly by selecting ‘summarise’, ‘expand’, ‘rewrite’, or ‘edit’ buttons.
11. Background Remover
If you need to remove the background in an image or video, it can be done easily with the background remover tool. It will automatically detect and remove the background from images and videos. For example, you want to create a ‘Meet the Team’ page on your website and would like a consistent background, but all your staff work remotely. You can remove the background from each headshot and replace it with something consistent and professional looking. Not everyone is familiar with editing green screens on more advanced software, so removing the background and replacing it with something else with just a few clicks is a great feature.
12. Automatic resizing
Whilst this feature is not based on AI, it’s a great tool to know about to help your third-sector organisation create quick content for different platforms. Imagine you’ve created a square Instagram post, but you think the same content would also work well as a vertical Facebook story. Instead of creating the same design but in a different size, you can save time using the auto-resize button. It automatically resizes your graphics to fit other platforms or social media channels. With some adjustment, you’ll have created a whole bank of social media assets for various platforms.
Next steps
If you don’t already have a premium version of Canva and are a nonprofit organisation, start by registering for your free nonprofit account.
Once set up, familiarise yourself with Canva and play around with the tools. Like most things, getting stuck in and having a go is the best way to learn. Try to make your next presentation, poster, or social media graphics using Canva, and ask your colleagues for feedback.
If you’re still struggling to use Canva effectively for your work, contact us to see how we can help. We can offer Canva training to organisations or help with branding.
If you’re a nonprofit organisation based in Wales, we can offer free support with any digital problem, such as using Canva, through our DigiCymru service. Check if you are eligible and book your slot here.
This resource is funded through Third Sector Digital Support, a National Lottery Community Fund project to support the Welsh Third Sector with digital. To find out more about how this project can support your organisation, click the link or contact andrew@promo.cymru
As a non-profit organisation, your time, money and resources are important. Choosing the right productivity platform is crucial to streamlining work, improving collaboration across staff and teams, and optimising resource management.
A productivity platform is an application or program that lets you produce and create documents, graphs, presentations, databases, etc. The two leading platforms are Google Workspace (previously called G Suite) and Microsoft 365. They offer a range of tools and features tailored to non-profits.
If you’re finding it hard to decide which is best for you, our guide examines what they both offer so that you can make an informed decision.
Pricing and non-profit discounts
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 offer free or discounted plans for eligible non-profits. However, you should know that some advanced features may only be available on paid plans.
Microsoft 365 provides a range of free and discounted plans, depending on the features and number of users.
Google Workspace offers the Google Workspace for Non-profits program, which includes Google Workspace basic features for free.
Both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 offer a variety of plans and options to accommodate the growth of your non-profit, so you can change plans at a later stage if needed.
When comparing pricing, you should consider your organisation’s specific needs, budget, and the number of users to decide which suite and plan may be best for you.
Core applications
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace include a suite of core productivity applications such as email, documents, spreadsheets, and presentation software.
Microsoft 365 has:
– Outlook – Word – Excel – PowerPoint
Google Workspace has:
– Gmail – Google Docs – Sheets – Slides
Whilst many of the applications offered by Google and Microsoft are similar, slight differences in the ease of use, real-time collaboration and offline capabilities may shift your preference. Familiarity, or which one your team are most comfortable using, could be a deciding factor.
Switching to a new suite can be time-consuming. Your team may require training and support to use the new platform.
Collaboration tools
Working on the same files at the same time as your colleagues, no matter where they are in the world, is a big plus when it comes to productivity.
Microsoft 365 has collaboration features, but many find that Google Workspace is superior in real-time collaboration due to a more seamless experience.
Microsoft 365 allows users to work offline with desktop applications which can be beneficial when internet access is limited. Google Workspace offers offline working capabilities but isn’t as robust as Microsoft 365.
Communication tools
Working with your colleagues when they aren’t in the same office as you can be challenging, but communication tools can help make this a much easier and streamlined process.
Google Workspace offers Google Meet and Google Chat, while Microsoft 365 includes Microsoft Teams. Both platforms provide video conferencing, chat, and file-sharing capabilities.
However, Microsoft Teams offers more advanced features like in-meeting whiteboards, breakout rooms, and deeper integration with other Microsoft 365 apps. These offerings are helpful for group work and to make virtual meetings more interactive.
Integration and compatibility
To help you decide which platform is better for you, consider how well each integrates with your existing tools and systems.
Both platforms support Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, but the compatibility and features may vary. Check whether each platform is compatible with the devices and operating systems that you use within your organisation.
Security
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 offer security features such as two-factor authentication, data encryption, and advanced threat protection.
Many believe that Microsoft 365 has more comprehensive security and compliance features, including data loss prevention, advanced eDiscovery, and customisable compliance tools.
Evaluate your organisation’s specific security and compliance requirements to assess which platform is better.
Conclusion
Choosing the best productivity suite for your non-profit depends on various factors, including pricing, core applications, collaboration tools, integration and security. Take time to explore the options offered for non-profits and consider which one suits your organisation’s needs best.
This resource is funded through Third Sector Digital Support, a National Lottery Community Fund project to support the Welsh Third Sector with digital. To find out more about how this project can support your organisation, click the link or contact andrew@promo.cymru
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