6 Easy Ways Your Nonprofit Can Start Using AI Today

With the emergence and proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, nonprofit leaders may have both a desire to utilize AI to further their organization’s mission, and a feeling of overwhelm or uncertainty about where to start.

Here are six easy ways you can start incorporating AI into your daily work, as well as three things to consider for future AI adoption.

How to start using AI today

Write job descriptions or postings for volunteers or staff

Use a prompt such as “Write a volunteer job description for part-time cat care at an animal rescue” or “Write a job posting for Head Usher at a performing arts center.” Refine with more specific prompts. The result won’t be perfect, but it should provide a great head start and cut down considerably on the time you need to spend.

Transcribe and summarize board meetings

Recorded meeting minutes are critical for good governance and maintenance of nonprofit status. Especially if your meetings are held virtually, using built-in Copilot with Teams or an add-on such as otter.ai with Zoom can lighten the load of the board secretary.

Draft thank you notes to donors

Reach every donor with a personal, real-time note of gratitude. Adding details to the prompt, such as “Write a thank you note for a donor to our fall clothing drive supporting families with young children” helps to give a personalized touch and highlight the impact of the gift. As always, make sure you review the result for accuracy before sending notes out.

Identify donors or prospects for cultivation

Do you need to follow up on meetings from last month? Ask AI to look at your calendar and make a list of who you need to call.

Enhance reports for grantors or board members

The volume of information board directors need to effectively govern is increasing exponentially. People consume information in different ways. Presenting data and reports visually can increase comprehension and engagement. Ask AI for charts or graphs to supplement written narrative.

Kick-start brainstorming sessions

“Priming the pump” can help get the ideas flowing or can serve as a catalyst if brainstorming is stalled. (Note: This was one of the responses when we asked Copilot for ideas for this blog post!)

Using AI in the future

Set your vision and strategy for the future, even if it seems unattainable now

Having an idea of where you want to go helps make sure you’re heading in the right direction.

Put some guardrails in place

Especially before staff and volunteers start using AI — and to be honest, they probably already are — it’s helpful to have some parameters around areas such as privacy, security, ethical use, etc.

Practice, practice, practice

Writing good AI prompts is both an art and a science. The more you do it, the easier it will be.