AI and automation in nonprofits: Pros, cons, and tips

AI, or artificial intelligence, has made quite the stir these past few years. But how intelligent is it really? Can it live up to all the hype? And more importantly, what do AI and automation have to do with nonprofits?

From the largest corporation to the smallest nonprofit, organizations are leveraging AI and automation to create greater efficiencies — accomplishing more with less human lift. 

It may look like letting Google’s Gemini take a first crack at an email to a coworker. Or it could be setting up an automatic thank-you email to anyone who donates to your cause.

Everyone is talking incessantly about AI because it will change the way that we humans relate to work. But nonprofits don’t have the luxury of lagging behind on this trend. Because they’re constantly asked to do more with less, nonprofits need to be early adopters. 

When used the right way, AI and nonprofit automation tools can free up time while building real connections with your community. We’re going to dive into some best practices for AI and automation in nonprofits while also talking through some challenges that’ll likely pop up. 

What does AI and automation look like in a nonprofit setting?

AI and automation have become such buzzwords that it’s often hard to get a simple definition of either. Especially when it comes to artificial intelligence for nonprofits, talking heads can often say a whole lot of things (or often a whole lot of nothing!). 

Most of the artificial intelligence that’s been gaining steam over the past two years are large language models (LLMs), specifically ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and more recently DeepSeek, which process huge amounts of text, and then more or less regurgitate or summarize that text when prompted correctly (by a human being). 

As a writer and not a coder, I’m likely not explaining all the complex processes included in getting it to do these simple things, but that is at the heart of these AI models.

And the exciting part of these LLMs is that they are constantly learning and growing through our interactions with them. So even if the first million outputs aren’t that intelligent, the next million will likely be better. And they’ve gotten smart enough already to have passed the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) back in early 2023.

So what do AI, LLMs, and automation have to do with nonprofits?

Everything! AI can be at the heart of a chatbot that pops up on your website, helping visitors better engage with your content and mission. Or AI can analyze your CRM, creating groups, or segments, of supporters that have characteristics in common with one another. 

And then AI can draft an email to this group (which you should still definitely edit). Then nonprofit automation tools step in and help deliver these emails at the right time to the right people, ensuring all that hard work (I mean all the AI’s hard work) pays off!

And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Here are even more ways you can leverage AI and automation to help your nonprofit serve more people without bursting the budget:

• Streamlining administrative tasks (like scheduling or reporting)
• Enhancing donor engagement with new content for unique segments
• Improving data collection and analysis for improved decision-making

How to wade into the deep waters of AI and automation at your nonprofit

With all the podcasters and “thought leaders” talking about AI, you may feel compelled to jump in feet first. And though we encourage the can-do mentality, we do think it’s best to approach these technologies in a thoughtful and organized way.

Don’t take our word for it, but here’s a type of flight path that we think could help your nonprofit take off into the clear blue skies of AI and automation:

1. Audit the entire organization’s needs, defining where and how new technologies can benefit nonprofit operations. 
   
   
2. Start small. Instead of creating sheer chaos, pilot a few promising applications of AI and automation within specific departments, defining what success or failure would look like.
   
   
3. Train and empower teams to use these new tools ethically and effectively. Don’t assume that everyone will figure it out on their own. 
   
   
4. Recognize early adopters who are using AI and automation in powerful (and ethical) ways, giving them opportunities to teach others.
   
   
5. Build in oversight to ensure the quality and ethical use of AI and automation. This might even require a task force or special group that creates an environment where data is properly stored and transferred, and where policies are crystal clear. This is ultimately going to lead to a more productive environment with greater adoption.
   
   
6. Measure the impact of every campaign and initiative, giving quantifiable results to contributors so they know exactly how much of a difference they made. If initiatives are picked up and dropped without follow-up, the people who are carrying your organization forward are going to feel like their hard work doesn’t count.
   
   
7. Learn from every step along the way, and use it all to build an even better plan next time.

A few roadblocks to adopting AI and automation at your nonprofit

With all the reasons above and a clear nonprofit tech strategy, it may feel like it’s time to get moving on it all. But we do want to be conscious of a few ways that adopting these new technologies may be challenging for your nonprofit.

First, some of the most powerful AI and nonprofit automation tools cost more than the typical nonprofit allocates to these technologies. And this means that many nonprofits end up trying inferior products, which leaves them feeling disillusioned with it all.

This is why it’s so important to perform that initial audit, defining clearly what your nonprofit needs (and what it doesn’t). This will help keep your budget under control while still getting exactly what your nonprofit is looking for.

Second, AI is still very much in its infancy, and because of that, there are still a lot of big ethical questions that will come into play. Is AI treating your confidential data as safely as you would? Where is AI sourcing its information, and is it any less biased than the people who built it? What should you do with all the extra hours — are you going to pull back on staffing costs?

These are huge questions that aren’t going to have answers tomorrow. And your nonprofit needs to build in these practices with resiliency and foresight, so that when these big questions pop up, you aren’t thrown for a loop.

Third, AI and automation are meant to be tools to help us connect with each other. But if we all don’t watch out, it may do the exact opposite. All these automated emails and AI algorithms may separate us from each other, and at the heart of effective marketing is a person-to-person connection. 

If you get only one thing from this whole article, it’s that AI and automation are meant to connect people, not divide them. But that will require thoughtful, good people at nonprofits to build AI and automation into the greater service of humanity. And that’s going to take a lot of human thought and energy!

How nonprofits are thriving with AI and automation

Palmetto Community Care is one of those nonprofits that’s staying ahead of the curve. With Feathr email campaigns, including auto send and single send, they pulled in nearly 1,000 additional ticket sales for their annual fundraiser.

Richard Reams is their director of development and marketing, and he said, “The auto send and single send campaigns have been really helpful when you want to just email something based on behavior. ‘Thanks for giving, thanks for being interested, can we interest you in X, Y or Z?’ Things like that.”

Do you have the tools you need to thrive in the digital age? Are you leveraging AI and nonprofit automation tools to further your impact?

Once you’ve decided what direction your nonprofit wants to go this year, we hope we can both head there together! Schedule a demo today with us if you’re looking to upgrade your nonprofit tech solutions with access to the best of the newest technologies and marketing automation.