Digital Unstuck – Essential Resources from The Gathering

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Gathering on Tuesday 4th February! Even if you didn’t attend, this list of resources put together by experts are guaranteed to give you a head start when it comes to digital.

This workshop was delivered as part of the Network of Non-Profit Digital Support.

With funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, CAST is currently convening a new network of support for nonprofits. The network comprises seven initiatives: Agencies for Good, Design Hops, Digital Candle, Digital Leads Network, Digital Trustees, Dovetail and The Curve, providing support to enable reuse of open, sector-owned technologies.

Open Working Strategies

With Robyn Barclay

Robyn is the facilitator of the Open Working Programme, an eight week course which helps third sector staff and volunteers to work transparently and build their confidence. As a content designer, she supports participants in sharing weeknotes that are clear and effective.

Register your interest in the next cohort of the Open Working Programme

Follow up resources

• Open Working Champions Toolkit
• The Open Working Toolkit
• Writing an open working policy 
• Why you shouldn’t be afraid of working in the open

Building Effective Websites

With Jenn Hood

Jenn Hood is an award-winning digital designer with a passion for supporting third-sector organisations with digital upskilling and making the most of the technologies available to them.

As the lead on website design and development at Third Sector Lab, she is continually studying and implementing technology trends, resulting in user-friendly and impactful websites. Her expertise lies in transforming complex information into accessible digital content.

Join Jenn to work through a quick-fire evaluation of your organisation’s website using our curated checklist.

N.B. You will need: A device that you can use to access the internet.

Digital Trusteeship

With Ross McCulloch

Founder of Third Sector Lab, Ross leads on all digital strategy and consultancy work. Ross works with charities to help them use digital and social media as a tool to deliver organisational objectives.

He is the founder of Digital Trustees Scotland – a movement which aims to get a tech professional on every charity board. Ross developed and facilitates the highly-successful SCVO Digital Senior Leaders Programme. He also runs the CharityComms Scotland Networking Group and Third Sector Geeks WhatsApp Group to help strengthen the charity digital community.

Through monthly matchmaking events and sharing resources and experiences, we’re making it easier than ever to connect charities and professionals from tech, data, design, IT and other digital backgrounds.

Digital Trustees is an initiative by Third Sector Lab, supported by Catalyst.

Check our Digital Trustees page.

Digital Transformation Essentials

With Eleanor Gibson

Eleanor began as a Community Fundraiser at Cancer Research UK. After seeing how traditional work methods limited innovation, she became an agile coach for charities. As the founder of Tilt, she now leads a team that has helped over 40 charities revolutionise their operations through agile and lean methodologies, enabling them to raise more funds and create greater impact. She is a founding member of the Charity Change Collective, a group of consultants looking to speed up the pace of digital transformation in our sector. 

• Follow the work of the Charity Change Collective
• Learn how to run A Constructive Rant to kick-start change inside your org
• Embed the Mindset shifts for digital transformation. 

Sustainable Digital Practices

With Maddie Stark

Maddie Stark Digital lead SCVO: Maddie is a behaviour change expert specialising in organisational culture, digital transformation, and service design. At SCVO, she has spent nearly a decade developing and leading training, including co-facilitating the pioneering Digital Senior Leaders Programme. Maddie supports Scottish voluntary organisations in embracing digital for cultural change and champions the Scottish Approach to Service Design.

Useful resources:

• Little green shoots, digital inclusion and the circular economy
• Supporting Scotland’s Third Sector towards net zero
• Digital Senior Leaders Programme
• Digital training & events
• Repair, reuse, reduce

Example Digital Communication & Collaboration Tools

Switching to more efficient tools can cut down on email overload and unnecessary cloud storage.

✅ Reduce Email Waste:

• https://leavemealone.com – Unsubscribe from unwanted mailing lists quickly.
• Clean Email – Helps manage inbox clutter automatically.

✅ Cloud Collaboration (Instead of Email Chains):

• Google Drive – Share files with links instead of attachments.
• Notion – Lightweight alternative for team documents and notes.
• Trello – A simple project management tool for teamwork.
• Slack – Reduces email volume by keeping team discussions in one place.

✅ Lightweight Email & Newsletters:

• MailerLite – A simple email marketing tool that supports minimalist, fast-loading emails.
• Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) – Provides eco-friendly email marketing features.

Digital Skills Development and Access to Free Support / Digital Ecosystems 

With David Scurr, Programme and Partnerships Lead, CAST

David is the Programme and Partnerships Lead at CAST, supporting UK not-for-profits to improve their digital capability. He leads CAST’s Digital Leads Network and AI for Digital Leads peer group, bringing together over 200 charity digital leaders. He also founded Tech for Good Brighton, supporting local charities, and is a founding member of the Tech for Good UK Organisers’ Network.

Follow-up resources:

• Free digital training:
  • Interested in good service design? Take our five-week, self-serve email course on introductions to design thinking. Sign up here. Or join a Design Hop, a seven-week online training programme.
  • New to AI? Take our seven-week, self-serve AI email course. Sign up for the free Getting Started With AI course here.
  • Access free online digital skills training workshops through The Curve
• Free digital advice:
• • Access free digital support from an expert digital volunteer through Digital Candle  
  • Access free guidance to help you find a digital partner that fits through Dovetail
• Free digital peer-to-peer support:
  • Access free peer-to-peer support by joining the Digital Leads Network and Digital Leads AI Peer Group
• Further context on the digital skills gap: Charity Digital Skills Report 2024 

Help shape the future of AI support for charities – take our survey and let us know your needs so we can create the right resources, events and peer groups for you!

Contact us at hello@wearecast.org.uk if you have any questions or would like further help.