National Newscaster Charity Digital deliver a course designed to help charity professionals turn AI theory into practical day-to-day use.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can deliver practical benefits for charities, with over 3 out of 4 organisations in the Sector last year using it to save time, cut costs and improve operations. Common uses include automating admin and strengthening fundraising and donor engagement.
The Practical AI Applications for Charities
AI can be used for
Fundraising and Grant Writing; with tools like
Grant Assistant fundraisers can scan Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and draft proposals up to 3× faster.
AI can identify likely major donors, which in turn can increase the response rates of a charity appeal; it can also help to draft tailored thank-you notes and appeals.
AI is starting to be used for
Marketing and Content Creation; charities are starting to use Social Media Management tools like
Hootsuite’s OwlyWriter AI to quickly generate post ideas and captions.
Content Generation AI assistants like
ChatGPT,
Claude or
Jasper can be used by charities to draft blogs, newsletters and case studies - helping beat ‘blank-page syndrome’!
And for Visual Content,
Canva for Nonprofits makes use of AI tools to create polished graphics faster.
AI has also been seen in use for
Administration and Operations purposes; applications such as
Fireflies.ai or
Otter.ai have been used to manage meetings by transcribing meetings, to summarise them and capture actions.
Applications like
ClickUp or
Asana use AI to prioritise tasks and streamline workflows, with
24/7 chatbots handling common queries from beneficiary and donors.
It can also be used for
Data Analysis and Strategy work; with AI helping analyse large volumes of data (e.g., in spreadsheets) to identify trends, such as which fundraising campaigns are most effective.
AI can also be used for
Predictive Analytics, with programs like
DonorSearch Ai using machine learning to predict donor behaviour and improve retention.
Getting Started Safely
For any charity to get started in using AI safely, it is important for them to do it in a way that:
- Protects their personal data
- Verifies their outputs for accuracy, and
- Understands the limitations of the technology.
The core principle is to treat AI as a helpful assistant rather than a trustworthy or reliable authority.
Here are some guidelines to consider:
- Charities should Develop an AI Policy - Establish clear guidelines on what tools are approved and how to use them safely.
- A charity should start small - Pilot test one tool in a specific department to decide if it is suitable and how well it works before it’s used more widely amongst its organisation.
- Charities should always Protect Data - Do not upload sensitive donor or beneficiary information (such as names or financial records) into public AI tools: Use anonymised data where possible, or summarized data.
And above all, a charity should use human oversight every time: Always verify AI-generated content for accuracy and tone, as AI can "hallucinate" or produce incorrect information.
Take a look at the sites above to get a better feel for how a number of AI platforms can support Medway's VCSEF sector.