How your church can get Canva ‘Pro’ features for free

11/07/2025

Here’s how churches can apply for Canva for Nonprofits, giving them free access to numerous accessible design tools.

Canva.com is an easy-to-use design tool, made to be accessible for those with no previous design experience.  

Here at Digital Labs, we promote Canva to churches as it’s a great way to create visual content for numerous contexts and formats. If you’re interested in Canva and would like to learn more, you could attend one of our introductory or advanced webinars.   

The benefits of Canva’s ‘Pro’ features 

Canva offer a free non-profit account which churches are eligible to apply for. This account provides you with all the useful ‘pro’ features on Canva for free.  

These features include:  

  • Unlimited access to Canva’s templates, stock media, elements and fonts 

  • Create up to 1000 Brand Kits to help you establish your church’s visual identity, creating colour palettes and uploading your own fonts and logos

  • Numerous AI-enhanced tools such as: 

    • Background Remover and Background Generator to remove backgrounds or create new ones for your photos, videos or logos 

    • Magic Grab and Magic Eraser to get creative with your photos 

    • Magic Animate to bring visuals to life with just a click 

    • Magic Resize to quickly resize to any orientation or Bulk Create to duplicate designs with different content 

  • 100GB of cloud storage  

  • Add up to 50 users for free 

  • Access to premium images, videos, music, and other graphics 

  • Downloading designs with transparent backgrounds 

  • Publishing designs as brand templates 

  • Sharing designs and folders with your team 

  • Using template share links 

How to verify non-profit status 

But how can churches gain access to these pro features for free?  

When a church registers for a non-profit account, they need to provide a piece of documentation which confirms their non-profit status and proves that they’re eligible for a free account. Here’s the different types of documentation which you could provide to prove your non-profit status.  

Charity Commission charity number  

For churches with an income of over £100k annual income who are therefore listed as registered charities, you can use proof from the Charity Commission’s website to apply for a non-profit account.    

Gift Aid registration  

If your church is registered for Gift Aid, the application process should be fairly straightforward.   

Upon registering for Gift Aid, you should've received a ‘signing on’ letter from HMRC. This letter, or any correspondence your church receives from HMRC Charities, will include the ‘tax exemption number'. This will start with two letters or an X and will include up to 5 numbers. Your PCC treasurer should have access to this number, but letters with the tax exemption number can also be downloaded from the HMRC website. If the HMRC doc is used to apply for a non-profit account, select 'HM Revenue and Customs' as the 'Registry Institution' dropdown on the non-profit registration form.  

AChurchNearYou.com verification 

Another option if your church does not have a charity number is to download a certificate from AChurchNearYou.com that verifies your charity status. The downloadable certificate includes your church name, address and church code, and you can use it to support your application for the Canva non-profit account. The certificate can be found under ‘more information’ in the left-hand menu on AChurchNearYou.com. Read more about downloading this certificate here.  

Other accepted documents  

  • Articles and Memorandum of Association 

  • Certificate of Incorporation

  • Bylaws  

Top tips:

  • A few people have told us that they had success with their application after messaging Canva on Facebook or X, formerly known as Twitter, to explain the problem and get support (rather than on their support system on the website). This might be worth a try – just search for Canva on Facebook or X and then click to send them a message and explain the problem.
  • It can help if you apply with an email address/ domain that is associated with the church you are applying on behalf of. If you are a volunteer and don’t have such an address, you could ask for support from someone with a church-associated email to put in the application.
  • There is also a Facebook group called ‘Canva for Church’, and while this group isn’t affiliated with the Church of England, it is a good source of inspiration and ideas from fellow churches.  

Starting your application 

Ready to apply for a non-profit account? Head to this link to get started and follow the steps below.  

  1. On this page, select ‘Get started’ 

  1. Select ‘Registered nonprofit organization’ 

  1. Open the dropdown menu for ‘Search organization name or ID’ 

  1. If your church is not listed in this list, scroll down and select ‘I can’t find my nonprofit’ 

  1. Then you can add your church name and website on the next page, and select ‘Church of England’ as your ‘Registry institution’ and use your charity number or AChurchNearYou.com church code as your ‘Organization ID’ 

  1. Select ‘continue’ then confirm your name and email on the next page 

  1. Once you’ve submitted your application Canva will assess it and be in touch via email 

screenshot of how to begin an application for Canva for nonprofits

As always, if you’re having any challenges, or want to share any advice from your experience of applying to Canva for Nonprofits, you can reach out to us at [email protected]