Nonprofit Fundraising and AI: A Driver's Ed Approach
Mar 06, 2026
Even for those working on the frontlines of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) frontier, it’s almost impossible to keep up with the emerging landscape. Regardless of what the eventual AI “road map” looks like, there are some key guardrails that every development professional should heed. I’m sharing two driver’s ed type of guardrails - a pause and a warning - as you navigate the new speed ways AI might offer.
(1) Encourage your organization to adopt an AI policy if there’s not one in place already. It’s far too easy for well-intentioned staff to expose your organization’s sensitive data while experimenting with publicly-available, open AI platforms. Be sure your staff understands what information and data should never be provided to an AI platform that’s not closed, secure, and proprietary.
It takes nanoseconds for donor records or other key organizational data to be exposed if your staff isn’t educated. Be vigilant and cautious with your valuable data and with donor privacy. Explore closed, secure AI platforms for your organization if you intend to make significant use of it.
(2) Never let AI replace the human factor in your development program. Some organizations have turned their donor communications over to AI-generated messages and content…and it shows. It can be very obvious when your donor thank yous and letters are written by an AI platform. Your relationships with donors - personal, authentic relationships - are the heart of your program, so don’t sacrifice that for the seeming ease of automated touch points.
AI can be a helpful brainstorming partner - ideas for clever sponsorship level names for your golf benefit gala, for example. And the future may bring us lots of new ways the technology can evolve our reports, assessments, and analyses. But there is no substitute for genuine human outreach and high-touch personal communication to keep your donors engaged.
Keeping guardrails around your authentic donor relationships - and your donor data - will maintain the integrity of your program as the AI superhighway grid expands.
- Tim Smith
Major Donor Engagement
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