Find the Right Digital Tools to Save Time and Grow Your Organisation
Free, plain-English guides to the software, apps and digital tools that make the biggest difference for UK small businesses and charities. No jargon, no technical knowledge required. Just honest, practical advice on what’s worth your time and money.
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Understanding Digital Tools
What Are Digital Tools and Which Ones Does Your Organisation Actually Need?
Digital tools are the software, apps and cloud-based platforms that help your organisation work more efficiently, communicate better, manage finances, serve customers, and grow. For small businesses and charities, adopting the right tools can make an enormous difference to how much you get done and how much it costs to do it.
The challenge is that the market is saturated with options, and it can be difficult to know which tools are worth investing time and money in and which ones add unnecessary complexity. Our guides cut through the noise, reviewing the most useful tools for organisations your size and explaining how to get started without disrupting your day-to-day operations.
According to the UK Government’s own Longitudinal Small Business Survey 2024, 69% of UK SMEs now use digital tools or web-based software to manage or sell from their business which is up 19 percentage points since 2022. If your organisation is among those still to make that shift, these guides are the right place to start.
The Key Categories We Cover
Cloud Computing & Storage
Access your files, systems and software from anywhere. No servers, no IT department needed.
Accounting & Invoicing Software
Automate bookkeeping, invoicing and tax returns and stay compliant with Making Tax Digital.
CRM & Customer Management
Keep track of customers, donors or beneficiaries and manage relationships more professionally.
Communications & Collaboration
Email, video calls, team messaging and document sharing — tools that keep your team connected.
Project & Task Management
Keep projects on track and teams organised without expensive enterprise software.
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Common Questions
Digital Tools FAQs for Small Businesses & Charities
Where should a small business start with digital tools?
Start with the tools that address your biggest time drains. For most small businesses and charities, that means accounting and invoicing software first (if you’re still using spreadsheets), followed by a cloud-based file storage solution like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive, and a reliable communications platform. These three categories alone can save significant hours every week and cost very little to implement.
What is Making Tax Digital and do I need to comply?
Making Tax Digital (MTD) is HMRC’s initiative to move tax record-keeping and submissions online. MTD for VAT has already been mandated for all VAT-registered businesses. MTD for Income Tax is being introduced in phases from April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with income above £50,000, followed by lower thresholds in subsequent years. Our guides cover exactly what MTD means for your organisation and which software makes compliance straightforward.
How much should a small business spend on technology?
Many of the most impactful digital tools for small organisations are free or very low cost. Google Workspace starts at around £5 per user per month, most accounting packages are under £30 per month, and free tiers of project management and CRM tools are more than sufficient for small teams. The right question isn’t how much to spend — it’s whether the time you save justifies the cost. For most tools in our guides, the answer is clearly yes.
Do charities get discounts on technology and software?
Yes — significantly so. Microsoft 365 is free for qualifying charities through the Microsoft Nonprofit programme. Google Workspace for Nonprofits is also free. Canva Pro is free for registered charities. Many CRM and project management tools offer substantial charity discounts. Our technology guides for charities cover the most valuable discounts and grant programmes available to UK registered charities, which can reduce your technology costs dramatically.
What is cloud computing and does my small business need it?
Cloud computing simply means running software and storing data on remote servers you access over the internet, rather than on your own devices or a local server. For small businesses and charities, cloud tools mean your team can work from anywhere, your files are automatically backed up, and you’re not responsible for maintaining expensive hardware. Most of the tools we recommend in our guides are cloud-based — and the answer to whether you need it is almost certainly yes.