Practical digital tools for cultural organisations
The Digital Toolkit helps arts, culture and heritage organisations make better use of digital tools without having to research every option from scratch.
It brings together useful apps, platforms, plugins, practical guidance, comparisons, demonstrations and setup support to help organisations understand what is available, make informed choices and put technology to work effectively.
The aim is not to encourage organisations to adopt more technology for the sake of it. It is to help them choose tools that solve real problems, work well with the systems they already use and provide long-term value.
Where trusted sector organisations already provide strong guidance, the Toolkit can point to it. Where organisations need more practical help applying that guidance, comparing options or connecting systems together, Culture Hub can help turn advice into action.
Find useful tools
Explore apps, platforms, plugins and digital resources that can support marketing, audience development, membership, fundraising, events, learning, collections, community engagement, operations and organisational development.
Choose with confidence
Use plain-English reviews and comparisons to understand what a tool does, who it is suitable for, what it costs, how difficult it is to implement and what to consider before committing to it.
See how things work
Use demonstrations, walkthroughs, screenshots and practical examples to understand how a tool works before investing time, money or staff capacity in setting it up.
Get set up properly
Follow practical setup guidance to configure common tools, integrations and workflows correctly and avoid the problems that often come from rushed or disconnected implementation.
Build a better digital setup
Understand how tools can work together as part of a wider digital ecosystem.
Rather than choosing a CRM, email platform, ticketing system, website plugin or reporting tool in isolation, the Digital Toolkit helps organisations think about how information, audiences and processes move between them.
Reduce cost and risk
Technology choices can have long-term implications for budgets, staff time, data, accessibility and future development.
The Toolkit helps organisations consider these things earlier so that decisions are based on suitability and long-term value rather than features or price alone.
What you will find in the Digital Toolkit
Hub Tools
Practical tools, checkers, generators, calculators and mini-apps created or configured for the Culture Hub community.
They can help organisations review activity, assess their current position, test ideas, plan improvements, create useful outputs and make clearer decisions.
Where a useful tool can be developed once and shared across the sector, Culture Hub can help build it together rather than requiring every organisation to solve the same problem independently.
Plugins
Plain-English guidance on useful website add-ons and extensions.
This can include tools for forms, search, events, accessibility, SEO, learning, membership, donations, community features, directories, CRM connections, analytics and other common website requirements.
The emphasis is on understanding when a plugin is useful, what it depends on and what organisations should consider before adding it to their website.
Apps and Platforms
Guidance on software used across cultural organisations, including CRM, email marketing, events, ticketing, learning, community, fundraising, reporting, automation, surveys, AI, payments, audience research and day-to-day operations.
The purpose is not to create a preferred supplier list. It is to help organisations understand the available options and make choices that fit their needs, resources and existing systems.
Tool Reviews
Practical reviews that explain what a tool does, where it works well and where its limitations are.
Reviews can consider factors such as cost, ease of use, accessibility, support, integrations, data requirements, setup effort and long-term suitability.
Where possible, reviews can also include experience and feedback from organisations already using the tool.
Tool Comparisons
Side-by-side comparisons help organisations evaluate similar tools against the things that actually matter to them.
That might include cost, functionality, ease of implementation, integrations, reporting, accessibility, support, scalability and whether the tool is appropriate for a small organisation or a more complex operation.
The aim is to make the decision easier, not simply provide a longer list of options.
Demos and Walkthroughs
Short practical demonstrations show how tools work in real situations.
These might be videos, screenshots, live demonstrations or step-by-step examples showing how a particular feature or workflow operates.
They help organisations decide whether something is worth exploring before investing significant time or money.
Setup Guides
Step-by-step guidance helps organisations put common digital tools and processes in place properly.
This could include setting up forms, dashboards, analytics, surveys, tracking, integrations, email automation, accessibility tools or connections between platforms.
Setup guides focus on practical implementation so organisations can move from knowing what they should do to actually doing it.
Recommended Tech Stacks
Most organisations do not need a single piece of software. They need a small number of systems that work together.
Recommended Tech Stacks bring together suitable combinations of tools for common organisational needs, such as:
- managing audiences and relationships
- running events and ticketing
- delivering learning online
- managing membership or supporters
- collecting donations
- running email and marketing activity
- gathering audience insight
- managing community participation
- reporting on engagement and impact
The focus is on interoperability, simplicity and long-term sustainability rather than building unnecessarily complex technology stacks.
Better digital choices, shared across the sector
Many cultural organisations are researching, testing and implementing the same kinds of technology independently.
That creates duplicated effort and means useful knowledge often stays within individual organisations.
The Digital Toolkit gives the Culture Hub community a place to share what works, what does not, what organisations have learned and what could be improved.
A useful comparison created for one organisation can help dozens of others. A setup guide developed during one project can become a reusable sector resource. A shared requirement might eventually become a tool or integration that organisations build together.
That is how the Digital Toolkit should improve over time: through use, evidence, collaboration and shared experience.
The aim is not simply to create a directory of software.
It is to help cultural organisations make better digital decisions, implement them more confidently and share the learning so the whole sector benefits.