In Applied Wisdom for Nonprofits I describe an important leadership practice that I call “Court Sense” — watching for and responding to changes in the driving forces that might impact you and your organization.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is a driving force that you can take advantage of to move your mission forward. It needs to be approached with caution and care. I want to share with you a post with some tips and examples that the Applied Wisdom team have pulled together to support you on your exploration of AI’s possibilities.

Tips Here are six tips for using AI in your nonprofit:

  1. Management buy-in is necessary for the long term success of your AI efforts.

  2. Training is essential. Involve your people. Train your team. Have them test and validate new AI tools and approaches.

  3. Start slowly, by using AI tools that are easy and accessible, like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, or Microsoft Copilot. Start with the free versions, and if you like them, subscribe to the full versions (usually about $20/month) for extra power and features. Don’t even think of developing custom tools.

  4. Be transparent with all of your stakeholders about when and how you plan to use AI, especially if you plan to analyze donor or client data with AI tools. Trust is a top priority.

  5. Launch a visible pilot project that can deliver an early win and help to get people on board.

  6. Humanity: Always remain available to talk with staff, clients, funders, and other stakeholders. AI is not a substitute for human contact.

**Examples **To inspire your own approach to AI, here are examples of how organizations are using AI in the three broad categories of strategy, implementation, and analysis:

Strategy

  • Doing research in preparation for strategic planning

  • Assisting in (SWOT) Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threat analysis

  • Creating first draft of a strategic plan

The speed and depth at which AI can do research and analysis outstrips what most organizations were able to do manually in the past, leading to higher quality strategic plans, usually with less effort.

**Implementation **

  • Automating repetitive tasks

  • Supporting recruitment of employees, volunteers, and board members

  • Developing graphics, reports, and social media posts, videos, and podcasts.

  • Drafting grant proposals and finding grant opportunities

As one example, in board member recruiting, organizations are using AI to generate criteria lists, scour the internet for potential candidates, write outreach messages, and help evaluate candidates.

Jim Morgan has always used his “Rule of Three” for staff and board recruitment: develop and keep a personal list of at least three people who would be a good fit to join the organization or the board. The person who succeeded Jim as Applied Wisdom’s CEO had been on Jim’s list for 20 years!

**Analysis **

  • Analyzing program data for trends

  • Linking testimonials to program data for evocative storytelling

  • Segmenting and analyzing giving patterns by donor type

Taking the example of donor segmentation and giving pattern analysis, organizations are using these analyses to focus fundraising communications to those donors most likely to give at a certain time. Using this segmentation, AI can also be used to identify potential new funders who match existing donor profiles.

The emergence of AI tools is an exciting inflection point in how business is done. Taking advantage of the moment means having a strategy and plan for how you will implement AI within your organization.

Take the time to work with your team on a plan with steps that make sense for your organization. Build in feedback loops and enjoy the increased productivity and impact that AI yields when implemented in this thoughtful way.

Here are links to some of the articles that inspired this post, that you can consult for further insights:

and also responsible AI use