Using AI, Maintaining Trust: 3 Key Strategies for Nonprofits

You may have heard artificial intelligence (AI) referred to as “the future of fundraising,” but it has increasingly become the present. As of 2025, more than 85% of nonprofits have explored AI usage, and nearly half of nonprofit leaders believe these tools have the potential to significantly boost productivity and efficiency at their organizations.

However, public concern about AI has held relatively steady since the release of ChatGPT and similar publicly available large language models (LLMs) in late 2022 and early 2023. So, although AI tools hold the potential to help your organization improve many aspects of its operations and service delivery, you might still experience some pushback from skeptical or worried supporters. 

These concerns don’t mean you shouldn’t use AI at your nonprofit—you just need to leverage it in a way that helps your nonprofit achieve real results while protecting its reputation and mission-critical relationships. Let’s explore three strategies for doing just that!

1. Commit to Leverage AI Responsibly

Many public concerns about AI have basis in truth. There are real risks to using these powerful tools improperly, from data breaches to legal complications to accidental discrimination. However, your nonprofit can prevent these risks and maximize the benefits of AI by pledging to use these tools responsibly.

DonorSearch’s guide to responsible AI for nonprofits outlines a framework you can use to ensure proper AI use across your entire organization. Its tenets include:

• Privacy and Security: Take measures to safeguard sensitive information (e.g., encrypting systems and limiting user permissions for your AI platforms) about your supporters, beneficiaries, and organization. 
• Data Ethics: Ensure that any data your AI solutions process is accurate, relevant, and collected with consent. 
• Inclusiveness: Check AI outputs for any bias that may be present in the data the tools were trained on, so all results are fully representative of your community. 
• Accountability: Be accountable in aligning AI use with your mission, values, and overall management philosophy.
• Transparency and Explainability: Communicate clearly about how you’re using AI. (More on this later!) 
• Continuous Learning: Stay informed about the latest developments in AI and update your best practices accordingly. (More on this later, too!) 
• Collaboration: Engage with fellow fundraising professionals who also care about responsible AI use.
• Legal Compliance: Be aware of and abide by applicable AI laws. 
• Social Impact: Maximize the positive effects of your AI usage and minimize potential negatives as part of your larger impact management efforts. 
• Sustainability: Consider how AI technologies affect your community and the environment.

Create an AI usage policy that encompasses these principles and review it when you train your staff to use your AI solutions. At the end of your first training, have everyone sign a commitment to use AI responsibly to ensure your whole team is on the same page about your philosophy and practices.

2. Communicate Openly About AI Usage

Your nonprofit’s AI strategy will directly impact its supporters, stakeholders, beneficiaries, and the community at large. Because of this, your community has a right to know how your nonprofit is leveraging or is planning to leverage AI in its operations.

Here are a few ways to prioritize transparency as you communicate about AI usage:

• Publish your AI policy on your nonprofit’s website.
• Share regular updates on social media, in your newsletter, or on your blog about the current state of your AI implementation and best practices.
• Respect supporters’ wishes regarding their data—according to Double the Donation, this involves “[giving them] the right to access their own data, request corrections to inaccurate data, and opt out of your nonprofit data collection processes.”
• Share the vendors you’ve partnered with and explain how their values and standards align with your nonprofit’s. 
• Discuss how you’ve trained your team to use AI responsibly and how that contributes to a positive work environment and improved professional development.
• Let community members know how best to contact you with any further AI-related questions, comments, or concerns.

Promoting transparency should be a continuous effort. Regularly engage with your community to keep them aware of the AI tools you’re using, the strategies you’re following, and most importantly, how your organization is using AI in a way that aligns with its values and mission. 

3. Iterate on Your Strategy Over Time

The AI fundraising landscape has evolved significantly since LLMs first became popular, and it will continue to change in the coming years. Therefore, it’s essential that you continually assess and improve your AI strategy based on internal trial and error and external trends and developments in technology.

This iterative approach can benefit your organization in multiple ways—most notably, enabling you to explore and adopt a wider variety of AI use cases. The nonprofit AI report we referenced earlier explains some of the highest-priority areas for AI implementation across the sector, including:

• Grant writing and fundraising: 60% of survey respondents said they were interested in leveraging AI to streamline revenue generation at their nonprofit, whether through strengthening their grant applications or optimizing fundraising campaigns.
• Marketing and donor engagement: 33% of nonprofits use AI to aid in content marketing, and nearly 25% have incorporated it into other donor communications.
• Data analysis and application: Although only about 13% of nonprofits leverage AI for predictive analytics, it’s one of the highest potential areas of use for these tools.

Iteration also allows your nonprofit to future-proof its operations and maintain compliance with emerging regulations around AI. Framing AI usage as something you’re consistently refining will ultimately help you show your community that this technology is the best move for your organization’s long-term success.

The balance between using AI and maintaining trust might feel precarious for your nonprofit, but it doesn’t have to be. By following the tips above and adapting them to your organization’s unique situation, you can maintain (and even strengthen!) the relationships that make your nonprofit’s work possible. 

Remember that the tools you choose can make or break your efforts. If you choose the right solutions, the experts on their teams will likely be happy to help you make the most of AI at your nonprofit—responsibly.

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