Designing with Ease: How Canva Can Help You Create Stunning Chapter Materials

When it comes to promoting your chapter’s events, meetings, sponsorships, and initiatives, having professional-looking materials can make a big impact. We know not everyone is a designer — and that’s where Canva comes in. If you haven’t used it yet, Canva is an easy-to-use, web-based design tool that’s great for creating everything from social media graphics and flyers to event signage and presentations.

At AMPP, we’ve seen how Canva can help our chapter leaders save time, stay on-brand, and confidently promote their chapters with high-quality visuals. Let’s walk through what Canva is, why we recommend it, what you can do with the free vs. paid versions, how to learn to use it effectively, and what changes are coming soon that may affect your access to templates.

What is Canva?

Canva is an online graphic design platform made for non-designers and professionals alike. It offers thousands of templates and easy drag-and-drop tools to create polished, professional-looking graphics for just about any purpose.

Whether you're promoting your monthly chapter meeting, advertising a training session, or showcasing your sponsors, Canva makes it simple to create visual content that gets noticed.

Why People Love Canva?

Here are a few reasons Canva is a favorite tool among many folks:

• It’s easy to use: You don’t need any design experience to get started. Canva’s interface is intuitive and simple to navigate.
• It’s versatile: Design flyers, social media graphics, presentations, certificates, name badges, and more — all in one place.
• It helps you stay on-brand: You can use  AMPP-branded templates or create your own materials that follow the AMPP branding guide—giving your documents a polished, professional look that reinforces credibility.
• It saves time: Start with a pre-made template and just plug in your event details, rather than starting from scratch.
• It works everywhere: Canva is web-based, so you can access it from any device with an internet connection.

Learning to Use Canva: Resources at Your Fingertips

If Canva is new to you, don’t worry — there are plenty of free and easy ways to learn how to use it effectively.

• Canva’s Own Training Hub: Canva offers built-in tutorials and a “Design School” with free lessons on everything from beginner basics to advanced tips. You can access it directly here.
• YouTube Tutorials: Search “Canva tutorials” on YouTube and you’ll find step-by- step walkthroughs on designing flyers, using templates, resizing graphics, and much more.

These resources are especially helpful for non-designers and will give you the confidence to create your own marketing materials quickly and effectively.

Features and Benefits of Canva

Here are just some of the features that make Canva a great tool for your chapter's design needs:

• Templates: Thousands of user-friendly templates for social media, flyers, emails, posters, presentations, and more.
• Drag-and-drop editing: Add text, images, logos, and shapes in seconds.
• Brand kit: Upload your chapter logo and use the AMPP brand colors to maintain consistency.
• Collaboration tools: Work on designs with other chapter leaders or volunteers.
• Folders and storage: Organize your designs so you can easily reuse and update them.

Understanding Canva's Subscription Levels

Canva offers several tiers depending on your needs:

Canva Free

• Access to thousands of free templates and design elements
• Basic editing and download tools
• Limited storage and features

Canva Pro (Paid)

• Access to premium templates, stock photos, and videos
• Ability to use brand kits with custom colors, fonts, and logos
• Magic Resize (instantly resize designs for different platforms)
• Background remover and other advanced editing tools
• Up to 1TB of storage
• Team collaboration features

Important Updates as of June 2025

Beginning June 2025, Canva updated its platform — and this affects how you access templates.

Currently, you can use both free and Pro templates with a free Canva account, though some Pro templates may be marked with a crown icon. As of June, users with a free account will no longer be able to use most pre-designed templates unless they upgrade to a paid plan.

What this means for you:

• If you're using free Canva now and regularly rely on templates (which may include AMPP-branded ones), you may need to consider upgrading to Canva Pro to continue using those designs.
• If you’ve already created and saved designs, you should still be able to access and edit them — but you may not be able to use new templates going forward without a paid plan.

We’re sharing this information so you can determine what works best for your chapter and your budget.

AMPP Templates Just for You

To make your design work even easier, we’ve created AMPP-branded templates you can use for:

• Social Media Posts
• Flyers and Event Posters
• Sponsorship Materials
• Chapter Announcements

We’ll provide these templates in Canva so you can personalize them for your events and campaigns. If you already have a Canva Pro account, you’ll be able to use them with full access. If you’re on a free account, you may want to consider upgrading to maintain access, if they are affected.

Want to learn more about using Canva?

Join us for our next webinar "Canva Made Simple; Create Flyers, Posts and More for your Chapter". 

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

12:00 PM CST

In this webcast, attendees will learn:

• Global and Indian energy trends shaping the future
• The economic and operational impact of corrosion
• The role of AMPP in enabling safer, longer-lasting infrastructure
• How standards and training programs reduce lifecycle costs
• Opportunities to collaborate across borders and sectors

Learn more and register here!

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to be a professional designer to create professional materials. With Canva, you have the tools to promote your chapter with confidence, clarity, and consistency. Whether you stick with the free version or invest in Canva Pro, this tool can help you take your marketing to the next level.

Before getting started, we encourage you to review Canva’s Terms of Use and Conditions to ensure you understand their policies regarding content usage, licensing, and account responsibilities.

Have question or need help getting started? Reach out to chapters@ampp.org. We are here to help!

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We're here to help you grow and strengthen your chapter. If there's a topic you'd like us to cover, let us know—we’re always looking for ways to support you better!