Where to find support for organisations

 

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Durham Community Action, support community organisations in County Durham by providing advice, training, and resources in a range of areas.

Frontline groups operating in the voluntary and community sector in County Durham. They work with both paid staff and volunteers in organisations.

Advice, forums, training and more in areas including finding funding and completing applications, recruiting, and managing volunteers, consulting with the community and networking.

Durham Community Action provide support free of charge to eligible organisations.

Charity Digital helps other charities accelerate their missions using digital technology. Their discounted and donated technology platform, Charity Digital Exchange, connects non-profits with trusted and recommended software.

They work with not-for-profits to reach their digital goals whilst working with grant funders and companies to ensure their content can stay free and accessible to as many charities as possible regardless of size.

The website is packed full of information on everything from digital fundraising to cyber security, and hosts a range of resources including articles, podcasts, and videos, as well as a variety of events and courses.

Charity Digital have their own bespoke charity email service.You have to register for a free account to access all of their content.

Digital Candle is an advice service that matches experts with charities to provide advice on all things digital. It was set up by a marketing agency after research showed outside advice makes a substantial change to digital improvement. It is now run jointly by the marketing agency and Catalyst

Registered charities. They also work with over 500 volunteer experts who give their time to provide digital advice.

A charity submits a question, they are then matched with an expert and a one-hour phone call at a mutually convenient time is arranged. Charities have had help setting up Google Ads, creating Mail Chimp campaigns and lots more – no question is too broad or niche.

The service is free.

Sometimes experts do not reach out after you have been matched, Digital Candle ask to email them in this circumstance.

Media Trust supports charities and underrepresented communities across the UK to build their communications skills. They also work with the UK’s media to raise awareness of the charities’ work and effectively engage audiences through the power of marketing, media, and communications.

They work with charities, young people and marginalised groups encouraging the media and creative industry to share their time and knowledge to benefit them.

They support charities through training and resources on topics like maximising your website, digital marketing strategies, effective social media and more. They also support charities in volunteer recruitment.

Whilst some resources are free some support does have low-cost fees attached.

V Hub is a free small business support service provided by Vodafone. This online platform offers informative and engaging content to help SMEs thrive in the digital world.

The V Hub was set-up to support small to medium sized businesses with confirmation that charities can use the resources available.

They provide a range of resources, training, webinars, podcasts, and events on various digital topics such as setting up websites, search engine optimisation (SEO), social media strategy, etc.

Support also includes a helpline that can provide more tailored insights into your organisation’s digital performance.

This service is free regardless of it you are a Vodafone customer or not.

The information is tailored to SMEs and therefore may not all be relevant for charities.

Catalyst is a network helping the UK third sector grow its digital skills and processes. Their support is aimed at helping charities at every step of their digital journey and breaking down the barriers to charities adopting digital.

Catalyst supports any organisation in the third sector. They also work with government, private and public foundations for funding to ensure their service is kept free for charities.

They provide support and advice through networking, courses, matching charities with a digital expert and providing case studies and learnings from other organisations.

Their resources cover topics like creating a website, designing accessible online services and digital safeguarding.

Services and resources from Catalyst are offered free of charge.