4 Tips for Leveraging AI Responsibly at Your Nonprofit

It’s no secret that artificial intelligence (AI) has permeated many areas of personal and professional life today, including nonprofit work. From analyzing donor data more deeply to creating tailored marketing content to streamlining financial recordkeeping, there are countless opportunities for your nonprofit to leverage AI to further its mission.

However, if you’ve brought up the idea of implementing AI at your organization and run into pushback, you’re not alone. As of 2024, 92% of nonprofits reported feeling unprepared for AI and 60% expressed uncertainty around these tools. But while the risks of using AI improperly are real, your organization can overcome them and maximize these solutions’ many benefits by committing to leverage AI responsibly.

Let’s walk through four tips for ensuring responsible AI use at your nonprofit so you can embrace the new frontier while still supporting your mission.

When asked about their AI implementation concerns, 70% of nonprofit professionals cited data privacy and security, 63% brought up accuracy, and 57% mentioned bias and representation. All of these can be mitigated by implementing AI usage policies—which only one out of every four nonprofits has done as of early 2025.

To help your nonprofit develop its AI usage policy, DonorSearch recommends using the Fundraising.ai Collaborative’s Responsible AI Framework as a foundation, which includes the following tenets:

• Privacy and security to protect sensitive information.
• Data ethics to ensure accurate, consensual data collection and application.
• Inclusiveness to address biases and prevent unintentional discrimination.
• Accountability to align AI use with your nonprofit’s mission and values.
• Transparency and explainability to let your community know how you’re using AI.
• Continuous learning to stay up-to-date on developments and best practices in the field of nonprofit AI.
• Collaboration to learn from other nonprofits’ AI usage and share your knowledge with them.
• Legal compliance to follow all AI-related laws and regulations that apply to your nonprofit.
• Social impact to maximize the benefits of AI to those you serve and minimize potential harm.
• Sustainability to consider the long-term environmental impact of AI.

Once you’ve created an AI policy that incorporates these tenets, add it to your nonprofit’s handbook of operating policies and procedures so your team can reference it at any time. Additionally, hold a responsible AI training session for all staff members who will use your new tools where they can ask questions and make sure they fully understand the policy.

Your AI usage policy—particularly the privacy and security, data ethics, and legal compliance aspects—will overlap with your nonprofit’s other technology guidelines. Especially if you plan to integrate your new AI tools with existing solutions, you should also revisit those policies to ensure everything is in top shape.

As a starting point for updating your technology guidelines, Double the Donation’s donor data management guide recommends incorporating the following security precautions:

• Implementing access controls so only those who need to view data to fulfill their responsibilities can do so.
• Leveraging built-in protective measures like encryption and two-factor authentication.
• Regularly updating and patching systems to prevent vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.

Additionally, promote ethical data usage by ensuring donors know their information is being collected and that they can opt out if they’d prefer. If your nonprofit operates in multiple states, remember that your AI and other technology policies need to align with the laws and requirements that apply to each of those jurisdictions.

So many AI solutions have exploded onto the market in recent years that it can be tricky to determine which ones are right for your nonprofit. Some tools are well-known and widely used, while others are still up-and-coming but have a loyal customer base. Some solutions are nonprofit-specific, and others are more generic but can still function for your organization. So, how do you pick?

First, understand which general type of AI solution you need—generative or predictive. Here is a quick breakdown of these categories:

• Generative AI creates original content (text, images, videos, etc.) based on user prompts and patterns in the data it’s “trained” on. Your nonprofit can use these tools for various purposes involving content generation, from multi-channel marketing to fundraising appeals to prospect reporting.
• Predictive AI evaluates and models data to predict future trends and draw actionable insights. You’ll likely find these tools most useful for analytical tasks like reviewing donor engagement metrics and digging deeper into prospect research data to make your approach to outreach more effective.

Once you’ve determined whether you need a generative or predictive AI solution, start your research. Look at roundups of the best AI tools for nonprofits, read online reviews from current and past customers, and browse providers’ websites to see if they also prioritize responsible AI.

Then, schedule one-on-one demos of your favorite tools so you can see how they work in practice and ask specific questions about how they’ll fit into your organization’s processes.

When AI use first started ramping up in the nonprofit sector, there was a lot of discussion about whether these tools would replace human employees. This concern has largely been assuaged because professionals have realized there are still some aspects of nonprofit work that machines simply can’t do.

For example, the key to successful major donor fundraising is relationship-building. AI tools can help you make data-driven decisions about who your best prospects are and generate talking points for one-on-one meetings, but only your human team members can create true personal connections that make each prospect feel valued.

Or, let’s say you’re launching an email marketing campaign. AI tools can be useful for generating email drafts, personalizing the greetings with individual recipients’ names, and analyzing metrics like open and click-through rates. However, you understand your audience’s needs and the current state of your organization and the world at large better than AI can. So, your prompting, editing of outputs, and campaign evaluation should reflect this knowledge.

Generally speaking, you should use AI to enhance your nonprofit’s processes, not replace your staff’s role in them. Also, remember that even the most advanced and trusted AI solutions can make mistakes, so review and verify every output before you send it to your community or make decisions based on it.

Committing to leverage AI responsibly allows your nonprofit to benefit from greater efficiency, deeper insights, and innovation across your operations while also protecting against various legal and ethical risks. Use the tips above to get started, and remember to collaborate with other nonprofits and the providers of your AI tools to keep your policies and practices up to date.