Canva AI: A Guide for Nonprofits
Author: Andrew Collins;
Reading Time: 5 minutes
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If you have not come across Canva before, it is a free design tool that lets you create social media graphics, presentations, posters, newsletters, and much more. No design experience needed. It is one of the most widely used tools in the third sector because it is intuitive, fast, and produces professional-looking results without requiring specialist skills.
Canva has been quietly building AI into almost every part of its platform, grouping these features under the name Magic Studio.
The free plan includes access to many AI features with a monthly usage limit, while the Pro plan unlocks a larger allowance across all the AI tools.
However, and this might be the most important thing in this article, charities and non-profits can access Canva Pro completely free of charge through Canva’s non-profit programme.
Magic Write
Magic Write is Canva’s built-in text generator. If you’ve used ChatGPT or Co-Pilot, you’ll already be familiar with this kind of tool. You can use it to draft copy for social media posts, presentations, newsletters, flyers, or almost any other content type, without leaving the design editor. Give it a brief description of what you need and a tone of voice, and it will produce a first draft you can edit from there.
This is particularly useful for producing consistent communications quickly, especially when you are working across multiple campaigns or channels at once. As with any AI writing tool, treat the output as a starting point rather than a finished piece, and always review it before publishing.
Magic Design
Rather than starting from a blank canvas or hunting through templates, Magic Design lets you describe what you want and generates a fully editable design layout. You can type something like “social media post for a fundraising campaign, warm and friendly tone”, and it will produce several layout options to choose from.
This is a real time-saver when you need to produce something quickly and are not sure where to start. The designs it generates come with separate, editable layers – text, images, and backgrounds – so you can easily adjust the design to fit your brand.
AI image generation
Canva’s image generator lets you create original visuals from a text description. Type in what you want to see, and it produces an image you can drop straight into your design. This is useful when you need something specific that you cannot find in stock libraries.
The quality is fine for social media and web use, though we would generally advise you to use your own real images where possible.
If you do decide to use it, try to use specific details in your prompt. “A group of diverse people collaborating around a table, warm lighting, illustration style” will produce something a lot better than just “people at a meeting”.
AI video tools
Like image generation, Canva now includes AI video generation, powered by Google’s Veo model. You can generate short video clips of up to eight seconds from a text prompt, complete with automatically synced audio.
There is also Magic Video, which can turn a collection of your photos or clips into a short edited video with transitions and music applied automatically.
Just be aware that AI video clips are limited to five generations per month, even on paid plans, and prompts currently need to be written in English. For quick social content, campaign teasers, or adding movement to a static image, these tools are a good starting point, however, for anything more substantial, a dedicated video tool will produce far better results.
Background Remover
This is one of the simplest and most useful AI features in Canva. Upload a photo and click once to remove the background. What used to require Photoshop or a separate tool now takes seconds. This is handy for creating clean headshots for your website, isolating products or objects for promotional graphics, or placing images onto branded backgrounds.
Background Remover works on both photos and videos, which makes it particularly useful for short-form social content.
Magic Resize
If you have ever created a social media graphic and then had to manually rebuild it in a different size for another platform, Magic Resize will save you a lot of time. It automatically resizes and reformats your design for different platforms – turning an Instagram square into a Facebook cover, a LinkedIn post, or a printed flyer – adjusting the layout as it goes.
This is especially useful for small communications teams who need to publish content across multiple channels without doubling their workload.
A few things to be mindful of
Canva’s AI tools are generally straightforward to use responsibly, but a couple of points are worth keeping in mind:
- Always review AI-generated text before publishing. Magic Write is a drafting tool, not a finished product, and it can occasionally produce inaccurate or generic content
- Be thoughtful about using AI image generation to depict real people or communities. Use it for concepts, illustrations, and abstract visuals rather than representations of specific groups
- Check your monthly AI allowance before starting a large project. Heavy use of image generation, video, and Magic Design all draw from the same pool
Canva’s AI tools are some of the most accessible available for organisations without a dedicated design team. If you are already using Canva and have not explored Magic Studio yet, it is well worth spending an hour trying out the features above.
If you would like support getting the most out of Canva or any other digital tool, get in touch with our team to learn how we can support you.
Commissioned by Catalyst
