CAST - Centre for the Acceleration of Social Technology

👋 The Digital Leads Network is open for membership! This growing community of more than 550 nonprofit digital leads is dedicated to peer learning and sharing across the sector. Members gain access to meetups and an AI peer group. Membership is free; fill out the form at our site 👉 buff.ly/4agzkCk

✨ Four free AI courses, all delivered via weekly emails with activities & resources: 💡 Getting started with AI 👉 buff.ly/4gfaOEF 🛠️ Supporting your organisation with AI 👉 buff.ly/1KSivpU 🧭 AI for Leaders: Getting started 👉 buff.ly/IGfpE5T 🚀 AI for Leaders: Leading your organisation 👉 buff.ly/2qMFVHG

✨ New AI guide: Research an organisation We've just added a new guide to our library, designed to help you research an organisation by using AI to scan and collate a range of information available in the public domain. Access this - and the full library of 17 AI guides - here 👉 buff.ly/5gC49Df

📅 Workshop this week: Managing AI mistakes Alongside IVAR, we're holding a free workshop this Thursday, exploring the ways funders respond to errors made by AI. We’re inviting funders who are a little more advanced in their AI explorations to join us as we dive into the details 👉 buff.ly/0haYQse

💡 We've contributed to this Charity Digital article, which asks a range of charity leaders: ’Do you think the sector would benefit from a pause in AI development until stronger regulations are in place?’ Take a look at all the perspectives shared - & please do share your thoughts 👉 buff.ly/GRE82tk

👀 In today's newsletter: 🆕 Free course: Leading AI in your org 💡 AI Exchange: new Digest ✨ New AI guide: Research an org 🎟️ Free UKCharityCamp tickets 📌 New events on the AI portal 📅 Events from Media Trust, SCVO & Microsoft / AbilityNet And more! Read 👉 buff.ly/eiCzEs4 Sign up 👉 buff.ly/3xqPV99

Here's what's coming up for our Digital Leads Network: 🗓️ Nov 3: AI Lunch & Learn with Make Sense of It 🗓️ Nov 11: AI Peer Group with Domenico Ragozzino from Refugee Legal Support 🗓️ Nov 19: AI Learning Hour with David Lema from Early Years Cocoon CIC Apply to join the network here 👉 buff.ly/4agzkCk

🆕 Free self-serve course: Leading AI in your organisation Our latest course is designed to support chief executives & senior leaders of small & medium-sized charities to lead AI across their organisations. It’s self-paced - and you don’t need to be an AI expert. Get started here 👉 buff.ly/2qMFVHG

👀 Join our Digital Leaders AI Week talk today! Our Head of Technical AI, Harri Rowlands, will look at AI safety, AI security & data security - explaining why each of these three aspects must each be considered in their own right, rather than being grouped together. 4.30pm today 👉 buff.ly/UR81ITN

📅 New workshop: Managing AI mistakes Alongside IVAR, we're holding a free workshop on 22nd Oct, exploring the ways in which funders respond to errors made by AI. We’re inviting funders who are a little more advanced in their AI explorations to join us as we dive into the details 👉 buff.ly/0haYQse

❓ When AI gets it wrong, how do we respond? As part of our work with IVAR, we're keen to hear funders' & charities' experiences of the ways in which AI has failed in the context of grantmaking - and the ways they've responded. Please complete the anonymous, one-question form here 👉 buff.ly/B1HIdNa

💡 The AI Exchange: new Digest The AI Exchange is a partnership between CAST and IVAR, set up to help charities and funders engage with AI responsibly and equitably. We'll be sharing progress in a quarterly digest, written by Alex Parker from IVAR. Read the latest Digest here 👉 buff.ly/8tvJWVc

🎉 We're delighted to see our work with Deloitte featured in the #DeloitteYearbook2026! Thanks to Deloitte, you can still apply for free access to the sector-led Worthwhile Chat AI tool. Find out more & apply here 👉 buff.ly/MEStUBB And you can access the new Deloitte Yearbook here 👉 buff.ly/f9EhCDo

💬 What we're hearing about Worthwhile Chat! Just some of the many positive comments we've heard from the 100+ charity practitioners using Worthwhile Chat. If you work for a registered UK charity with an income of under £1m, and you're new to AI, you can apply for free access 👉 buff.ly/MEStUBB

💬 Add your voice: the State of AI & Black Communities survey. Black AI Futures is gathering the global Black community's experience of AI, from healthcare and hiring to online life, into evidence that is carried into policy conversations. Take the anonymous 15-minute survey here 👉 buff.ly/RJCsRzA

Join our Digital Leaders AI Week talk! Our Head of Technical AI, Harri Rowlands, will look at AI safety, AI security & data security - explaining why each of these three aspects must each be considered in their own right, rather than being grouped together as one. 12 Oct, 4.30pm 👉 buff.ly/UR81ITN

🚀 Our new impact report! We've just published our impact report, detailing our work with charities, funders, sector leaders & digital specialists. Find out how all our strands of work connect - & discover how you can get involved. Take a look, & please let us know your thoughts! 👉 buff.ly/WwUyhCN

🚀 Three free AI courses! We've created three self-serve AI courses, all delivered via weekly emails with guided activities and a host of additional free resources: 💡 Introduction to AI 👉 buff.ly/4gfaOEF 🛠️ Supporting your organisation with AI 👉 buff.ly/1KSivpU 🧭 AI for leaders 👉 buff.ly/IGfpE5T

🎉 Our annual ‘mugshot’ is back, to mark CAST’s 11th anniversary! This photo shows our core team, but the CAST network radiates out far further, and we're grateful to every charity, partner, funder & digital specialist we've had the pleasure of working with. Learn about our impact 👉 buff.ly/FLcs5vG

❓ When AI gets it wrong, how do we respond? As part of our work with IVAR, we're keen to hear funders' & charities' experiences of the ways in which AI has failed in the context of grantmaking - and the ways they've responded. Please complete the anonymous, one-question form here 👉 buff.ly/B1HIdNa

👀 Worthwhile Chat: opportunity to apply for free access! Deloitte is supporting 150 free places on Worthwhile Chat, the generative AI tool built by CAST & The Developer Society. Open to those new to AI, who work for UK registered charities with an income of under £1m. Apply 👉 buff.ly/MEStUBB

Join our Digital Leaders AI Week talk! Our Head of Technical AI, Harri Rowlands, will look at AI safety, AI security & data security - explaining why each of these three aspects must each be considered in their own right, rather than being grouped together as one. 12 Oct, 4.30pm 👉 buff.ly/UR81ITN

💬 Add your voice: the State of AI & Black Communities survey. Black AI Futures is gathering the global Black community's experience of AI, from healthcare and hiring to online life, into evidence that is carried into policy conversations. Take the anonymous 15-minute survey here 👉 buff.ly/RJCsRzA

🆕 Self-serve course: Getting started with AI for leaders. Our latest free self-serve AI course is designed to help charity leaders get to grips with AI. The course consists of four weekly emails, each with a 30-40 minute activity. Sign up to get started 👉 buff.ly/IGfpE5T

📅 New workshop: Managing AI mistakes Alongside IVAR, we're holding a free workshop on 22 Oct, exploring the ways in which funders respond to errors made by AI. We’re inviting funders who are a little more advanced in their AI explorations to join us as we dive into the details. 👉 buff.ly/0haYQse

👀 In today's newsletter: 🆕 Free self-serve AI course for leaders 🧪 New funder workshop: Managing AI errors 💡 Call for participants: AI for nonprofits 🚀 CAST's new impact report 👋 UK funders: join us next week to hear from Zoe Amar 📅 5x free events Read 👉 buff.ly/VPIXUEc Sign up 👉 buff.ly/3xqPV99

🆕 4x free digital / AI workshops! Four new workshops; multiple dates available (Sept - April). Open to all across the sector; book your place: ✨ Intro to AI: buff.ly/x554yJ6 💡 Digital Strategy: buff.ly/UUnFnJo 💬 User-Centred Design: buff.ly/lb64j3i ⚙️ Working With Digital Agencies: buff.ly/Dp0xgci

👋 The Digital Leads Network is open for membership! This growing community of more than 550 nonprofit digital leads is dedicated to peer learning and sharing across the sector. Members gain access to meetups and an AI peer group. Membership is free; fill out the form at our site 👉 buff.ly/4agzkCk

👋 AI for Grantmakers: special guest! @zoeamar.bsky.social will be joining next week's AI for Grantmakers meeting, to share the results of the 2026 Charity Digital Skills Report - with a particular focus on what the insights mean for funders. Find out more & register to join here 👉 buff.ly/UvcF5XQ

⚙️ Working With Digital Agencies: A new workshop, open to all 📌 Key topics: - Partner selection - Working with agencies - Practical tools - Commissioning & collaboration skills 📅 Dates (10am-midday): - 21st October - 16th December - 24th February - 21st April Book your free place 👉 buff.ly/Dp0xgci

💬 User-Centred Design Approaches: a free workshop 📌 Key topics: - User‑centred design - Co‑design with communities - Service design basics - Practical tools 📅 Dates (10am-midday): - Weds 7th October - Weds 2nd December - Weds 10th February - Weds 7th April Book your free place 👉 buff.ly/lb64j3i

💡 Digital Strategy: A new free workshop, open to all! 📌 Key topics: - Digital strategy - Mission alignment - Digital maturity - Practical planning - Peer learning 📅 Dates (all 10am-midday): - Weds 23rd Sept - Weds 18th Nov - Weds 27th Jan - Weds 24th March Book your free place 👉 buff.ly/UUnFnJo

✨ Introduction to AI: A new workshop, open to all 📌 Key topics: - Introduction to AI concepts - Sector trends and usage - Tools and approaches for safe explorations into AI 📅 Dates (all 10am-12pm): - 9th September - 4th November - 13th January - 10th March Book your free place 👉 buff.ly/x554yJ6

🆕 4x free digital / AI workshops! Four new workshops; multiple dates available (Sept - April). Open to all across the sector; book your place: ✨ Intro to AI: buff.ly/x554yJ6 💡 Digital Strategy: buff.ly/UUnFnJo 💬 User-Centred Design: buff.ly/lb64j3i ⚙️ Working With Digital Agencies: buff.ly/Dp0xgci

📌 Explore our AI hub Our AI hub features links to CAST's AI courses, experiments library, peer groups - & more. It also contains trusted resources from others, including templates, playbooks, toolkits & frameworks. All support is free of charge. Explore the AI hub 👉 buff.ly/K1J7GIK #AI #support

☕ Coffee might go cold in minutes - but connections can stay warm for years! We've heard from people who are still in touch with their #CoffeeConnections matches years on! Next matches take place on 10th Sept; join today to be matched with a charity peer for a chat about digital 👉 buff.ly/2FhZETB

📈 We're gathering feedback from participants who have completed our self-serve #AI course - and we're delighted that, when asked how likely they were to continue applying what they'd learned, respondents returned an average result of 9 out of 10! Try the #free course for yourself 👉 buff.ly/4gfaOEF

🔍 Learn user research: a free seven-week, self-serve course. Dive in and discover: • Types of user research • Key recruiting principles • How to write research questions • How to synthesise interview notes Receive a weekly email for seven weeks, packed with advice and resources 👉 buff.ly/3Xj05BK

🆕 16 free guides to help you use AI in your charity's work. We've created 16 new guides designed to help you use #AI to complete some of the sector's most common tasks. With topics spanning comms, fundraising, admin, reporting and service delivery, there's something for everyone 👉 buff.ly/5gC49Df

👋 AI for Grantmakers: special guest! @zoeamar.bsky.social will be joining next month's AI for Grantmakers meeting, to share the results of the 2026 Charity Digital Skills Report - with a particular focus on what the insights mean for funders. Find out more & register to join here 👉 buff.ly/UvcF5XQ

📅 Free 'Ask Me Anything Digital' webinar! Join us next Weds, alongside Lloyds Bank Foundation & the Tech for Good Alliance, as we showcase how charities are using digital tools - and share ways that we can help you to get existing tools to work for you too. Weds 19th August, 2pm 👉 buff.ly/wQw0igA

👀 Free Worthwhile Chat places! We're opening up 20 extra places on Worthwhile Chat, the generative AI tool built by & for nonprofits. If you work for a UK charity / nonprofit with an income under £1m and are just getting started with AI, register your interest by Monday 10 August 👉 buff.ly/MEStUBB

👀 Guest blog: Ross McCulloch We welcomed Ross to our Medium, to share insights into @thirdsectorlab.co.uk's Digital Trustees initiative. Ross details what the team has learned about creating successful matches, explains how the initiative has evolved, & looks ahead to what's next 👉 buff.ly/cnjCtl1

🔁 Reuse: free support for charities With support from @lbfew.bsky.social, we are working alongside the Tech for Good Alliance to help charities address shared digital challenges via tool reuse. If you'd like to learn more, contact jackie@wearecast.org.uk, or book a webinar place 👉 buff.ly/jKXpPYa