How Will AI Affect Nonprofits?

Over the last few years, artificial intelligence has become increasingly present everywhere you look. And it’s not just in the products and services of companies. It also represents a big shift for the nonprofit world. That’s why it’s important to understand how AI will affect nonprofits. 

In our latest post, we give you several ways AI could impact nonprofits around the world. While our seven points below are positive, be sure you also read our “last word” at the end. This is our biggest tip of all!

7 Ways AI Will Impact Nonprofits

1) Smarter fundraising

We start with perhaps the biggest opportunity for nonprofits. AI software can be a big help when it comes to fundraising. Analyzing donor data and recognizing patterns? Often, people miss valuable takeaways here. But it’s something that AI can excel at.  

Who’s most likely to cancel a recurring donation? Which big donor is ready for a conversation about an even bigger gift? Which actions should you take with limited time and resources? AI software gives you nuanced answers for your fundraising faster than a spreadsheet ever could. 

2) Better (and faster) communications

Succeeding as a nonprofit often comes down to who can communicate the best. Whether it’s getting back to donors via email, or engaging with social media comments, speed in communication is essential. 

The problem? We’re all busy. We know communication is essential, but it often gets neglected. This is where AI can tighten up your workflow. No matter what the platform is, AI can make communication both faster and more precise. This makes it easier to fully engage with your audience. As for your donors? They never feel “forgotten”, and are more likely to continue giving long into the future.

3) Quicker content creation

For nonprofits, content marketing is essential. It’s how you build an audience, introduce them to your cause, and get them to care enough to support you. Unfortunately, content creation is rarely urgent enough for nonprofits to prioritize. 

This becomes less of a problem with AI. Assuming you set up the right system, AI allows nonprofits to create content much faster. First draft emails? Social media captions? The structure of a blog post, or the script of your next YouTube video? Use the right software and tools, and you are able to create all of these assets much quicker. 

Will it be perfect? Of course not – a human touch will likely always be needed. But AI will get you started, which is usually the biggest barrier to content creation.

4) First drafts of grant applications

Grant applications are vital. But they’re also time-consuming and can be quite repetitive. Ask anyone who has filled out a grant; they will tell you just how draining it can be.

Thankfully, one of the most important ways that AI will affect nonprofits is to make this entire process easier. Need a first draft that aligns with a funder’s priorities? Or maybe you want to repurpose existing narrative language for a new application? If you want to maintain a consistent message while moving faster, AI makes it possible.

The key here is to treat AI as an assistant instead of a final editor. Like we said in point #3, only you and your team can add the “real world impact” to your grant proposal. But if you want to cut down on the total time grants take away from you? AI will help. 

5) Training and onboarding

Getting new staff up-to-speed is essential. That said, in the grand scheme of your team’s work, it’s usually not that urgent. That’s why there is usually a fall-off in the quality of onboarding after just a week or so. And even assuming you have a great system set up? Turnover is still inevitable. The same goes for volunteers. They need training if they are going to contribute meaningfully to your organization. 

With AI, that process gets smoother. Need to quickly create a customized training guide based on someone’s role? A “smart FAQ” that answers new team members’ most common questions? Or maybe some new training materials for volunteers?

AI can help. It’s not about replacing your onboarding process – it’s about making it more efficient. Use AI correctly, and your team members spend less time reading insufficient PDF’s, and more time actually making an impact. 

6) More accessible services

Most nonprofits want to make a larger impact. As part of that goal, it’s essential that they appeal to more people. This is where simple accessibility turns into a bottleneck. There are people that would otherwise connect with your mission, but can’t because of accessibility issues. Think English learners, people with visual impairments, or just older users struggling to navigate your services on their phones.

For inclusivity, and to meet people where they are, AI is essential. Want to quickly “repurpose” your content to a format that is more accessible? Quickly translate your pages based on where your site visitor is from? Provide audio for people that have bad eyesight? Looking to the future, AI will make all of this faster than ever.

7) More efficiency and less overwhelm

Lastly, an important way that AI will affect nonprofits is to make them more effective at what they do. With how busy most organizations are these days, that’s welcome news. Here are a few ways nonprofits can boost their efficiency with AI:

• Insight from massive data: AI tools can take all the data you have and turn them into usable insights. What’s working? What’s not? Now you’ll know for sure.
• Quick summary of reports: upload a dense document and ask AI for the key takeaways. What used to require hours of manual analysis is now done in minutes. 
• Reach out to the right people: you’re probably guessing who to target. While this sort of outreach can work (especially if you know your organization inside and out), you can do better with your donor segmentation. Use AI to analyze giving history and email engagement, and you’re able to create smarter, more responsive segments.

Efficiency creates less overwhelm. Trying to make a difference, but don’t want to feel like you’re drowning in tasks? AI is for you. 

One Last Word

So: how will AI affect nonprofits? As you can see from the seven tips above, we think it will mostly be positive. Still, it’s important to understand one last thing: you still need the human aspect.

You ignore this at your own peril. Here’s our take on it: as more and more people integrate AI into their life, we will likely crave human interaction. This is especially true for nonprofits. In a sector built on trust and relationships, your people matter more than your technology.

The nonprofits that will make the biggest difference (and raise the most funds) are the organizations that can capitalize on the efficiency of AI, while still letting humans take the wheel.

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