25+ free (or low-cost) design resources for nonprofits
Updated July 10, 2019
When I present my branding and marketing workshops to nonprofits, I inevitably get asked the question: “Is there any way we can do some of this stuff on our own? (preferably for free or not a lot of money!)”
Well, with a little bit of digging, plus my own huge list of resources (I’m a research junkie), I put together this list of free or low-cost design resources for nonprofits and higher education.
Fonts
Fonts are intellectual property, so they must be licensed before you can use them, so I don’t recommend downloading free fonts unless it’s from a reputable site that sells fonts (see below). Most font sites offer free fonts or inexpensive bundles, which is a great way to test drive fonts and build your collection.
Always make sure you have licenses for the computer(s) you are using your fonts on, and don’t share them unless your license allows usage on multiple computers. Read Monotype’s guide to font licensing for more info.
- Adobe Fonts (free or $)
Free plan allows for limited font access. Creative Cloud users can access the complete font library. Adobe also offers nonprofit Creative Cloud plans. - Creative Market (free or $)
Weekly free fonts - Font Bundles (free or $)
Weekly free fonts
$1 font deals - Google Fonts (free)
- MyFonts.com (free or $)
Special deals (up to 80% off) - Font Bundles (up to 100 fonts for $49)
They also have an amazing font identification tool called What The Font
Stock Photography & Illustrations
Just like fonts, images are intellectual property. Never-I repeat-never use an image that you “grabbed from the web” (i.e Google Images, blog posts, etc.) I have personally known colleagues who have been threatened with legal action for using an unlicensed image. It’s no joke.
Always make sure you have a license appropriate to the usage you need, or choose royalty-free. See my quick overview of stock photo usage, or head over to StockPhotoRights.com for more in-depth information.
Also, if you are using images from a free stock photo site, just remember that lots of other people are also probably using that same image. So save it for social media or other casual usage, and use licensed stock photography (or even better, hire a photographer) for images that are more critical to your organization’s branding and marketing.
- Creative Market (free or $)
Free weekly icons, illustrations & images - Death to Stock (free)
- Deposit Photos ($)
AppSumo has occasional deals on Deposit Photos ($49 for $750 value) - Flaticon (free or $)
Free account has usage limitations, Premium account offers unlimited use - istockphoto ($)
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (free*)
Make sure to verify the image is in pubic domain or has no known restrictions before using - Life of Pix (free)
- Pexels (free)
- PicJumbo (free)
- Pixabay (free)
- The Noun Project (free or $)
Icons can be pulled into Google Docs, Creative Cloud and Microsoft apps
Free plan requires design credit; paid plan allows for royalty-free usage
50% off royalty-free subscription for educators, students and education staff - Unsplash (free)
iOS app allows you to drag and drop images into apps such as Keynote, Pages (iPad only) - Cision has curated a huge list of websites with images that are not protected by copyright laws and/or in the public domain (i.e. historical images, images created by the federal government, etc.)
Design Templates
Of course, I would always encourage you to hire a graphic designer (hint, hint) to design identity and marketing materials for your organization. But I totally get it: sometimes timing and/or budget just doesn’t allow for it. In that case, I’ve given my stamp of approval for using a template from one of these sites.
- Adobe Spark & Spark Video (free or $)
Free for Education Program (students and teachers) - Canva (free for nonprofits)
- Creative Market (free or $)
Weekly Free Goods
Design Learning
My clients at smaller organizations often ask how they can learn design basics or related applications. The resources below are perfect for diving into a design topic or application.
I also offer onsite design and branding workshops that can be tailored to your needs. Reach out to me to learn more or schedule one for your organization.
- Coursera graphic design courses ($)
- Lynda.com ($)
Available for free with LinkedIn Premium account
Available for free at select public libraries
eLearning program for higher ed staff, faculty and students - Skillshare graphic design courses (free or $)
- Udemy graphic design courses ($)
Udemy for Business Nonprofit Plan
Graphic & Video Editing
Images and video are crucial for getting noticed in print and social media. For important organizational marketing materials (identity, brochures, reports, event invitations, etc.), I do suggest working with an experienced graphic designer. But for editing a photo on the fly or creating a social media video, these sites make DIY fast and easy.
- Adobe Creative Cloud (nonprofit rate)
Also available: Creative Cloud for education, an affordable licensing option for small workgroups, departments, classrooms/labs or institutions. - Adobe Photoshop Express mobile app (free or $)
Free for Adobe Creative Cloud members - Adobe Spark & Spark Video (free or $)
Free for Adobe Creative Cloud members - Animato (nonprofit rate)
- Canva (free for nonprofits)
- Pablo by Buffer (free)
- Pixlr (free or $)
Did I miss something? Let me know so I can add it to the list. And be sure to bookmark this page—I update it as new resources are available.
Lidia Varesco Racoma of Lidia Varesco Design in Chicago empowers organizations to make a change through branding and marketing design. She is also founder of Biz Mama, an online community for moms in business.
