Guides · AI at work
AI for Nonprofits: How a Small Team Can Hand Off the Paperwork
By Josh Croom · October 27, 2026 · 10 min read
AI for nonprofits works best as a first-draft writer for the paperwork a small team carries: foundation reports, thank-you letters, board minutes and volunteer emails. Keep your facts in one sheet, have a person check every number and name, and give the hours you get back to donors and the people you serve.
A report due Monday and numbers in three places
Thursday, 4:50 PM. The director of a small food pantry has a foundation report due Monday. The families-served count lives in a spreadsheet, the volunteer hours sit in a sign-in binder, and the story the funder asked for is in last month's newsletter.
She could spend Friday copying and rewording all of it. With AI, she pastes the funder's questions and a one-page fact sheet into the tool, gets a draft that answers each question in order, and spends her time checking the numbers. The report still needs her judgment, because only she knows which number the funder will look at first.
How nonprofits already use AI
The Center for Effective Philanthropy surveyed 451 nonprofit leaders in the spring of 2025. Almost two-thirds said their organization already uses AI in its work.
- 84%use it for communicationsof nonprofits that use AI
- 63%use it for internal productivitythe second most common use
- 61%use it for fundraising and developmentlike grant applications, grant reports and donor materials
Where AI helps a small nonprofit team
AI helps most with writing that starts from facts you already have, because you can hand it those facts and check what comes back.
Foundation reports fit best, because funders ask the same kinds of questions every year and your answers come from the same handful of numbers. Thank-you letters, board minutes and volunteer reminders work the same way.
Leaders in CEP's survey said AI has helped them draft emails, policies, procedures and meeting summaries. They'd most like AI to take on routine work, like data entry, drafting emails, social media posts and note-taking, and to help with fundraising.
Harvard Business School and Boston Consulting Group ran a test with 758 consultants. On tasks the AI handled well, the people using it got 12.2% more tasks done and finished 25.1% sooner, and graders rated their work more than 40% better. On a task the AI handled badly, though, the people using it did worse than those working alone, which is why every draft gets a person's check.
What nonprofit leaders worry about
Seven ways to put AI to work this month
Each step starts from facts you already keep and ends with a person checking the draft, because wrong answers were the worry leaders named most.
Step 1
Keep one program fact sheet
Write down who you serve, where, what you do and the numbers you report each year, and update it every quarter. Every report and letter starts from this sheet, so the AI works from your facts instead of guessing.
Step 2
Draft the foundation report
Paste the funder's questions and your fact sheet, and ask the AI to answer each question in order using only your facts. Tell it to write MISSING wherever a fact isn't there, so the gaps jump out at you.
Step 3
Check every number and name
AI can produce a number that looks right and isn't. Check each figure and name against your own records before anything goes to a funder, because a wrong number costs trust that's hard to win back.
Step 4
Batch the thank-you letters
Once a week, ask for one letter for each kind of gift, with a blank where the name goes. Fill in the names yourself and add one line in your own words, so every donor hears from a person.
Step 5
Turn your notes into board minutes
Paste your rough notes from the meeting, and ask for each motion, the vote and each task with its owner and due date. Tell it not to add anything that isn't in your notes.
Step 6
Let it write the spreadsheet formula
Describe what your columns hold and what you want to add up, and ask for the formula and where to put it. Test it on a copy of the sheet first, so a mistake can't touch your real records.
Step 7
Spend the time on a thank-you call
Each week, call a few donors just to say thanks, with no ask attached. Use the hours AI saves for these calls, because a donor hears the difference between a form letter and your voice.
The foundation report ask, in action
Here's the ask from Step 2. The MISSING line matters most, because it turns a made-up number into a gap you can see.
Here are the funder's questions: (paste). Here's our fact sheet: (paste). Answer each question in order, in plain words, using only these facts. Where a fact is missing, write MISSING.
Question 3 asks how many volunteer hours you logged this year. MISSING: your fact sheet lists volunteers but not their hours.
Good catch. The sign-in binder has it, so I'll add the total.
What goes in and what never does
Draw this line before anyone on your team opens an AI tool, and write it on one page they can find.
Never paste
- Names or stories of the people you serve.
- Donor names next to what they gave.
- Case notes, health details or anything someone told you in confidence.
- Whole email threads with everyone's addresses in them.
Safe to paste
- Your program fact sheet and the numbers you already publish.
- The funder's questions from the application.
- Your own rough notes, with codes in place of names.
- A plain description of your spreadsheet columns.
Write a one-page AI policy
Almost two-thirds of the nonprofits and foundations in CEP's survey said none or just a few of their staff have a solid understanding of AI. A short page of written rules gives everyone the same starting point.
Keep it to one page, and read it together at a staff meeting so nobody learns the rules by accident. Review it every six months, because the tools add new features often and a rule written for last year's version can miss something.
- The AI tool and the work account your team uses, and the person who set it up.
- What never goes in: the names and stories of the people you serve, donor details and case notes.
- Who checks each kind of draft before it goes out, and what they check for.
- Which messages a person always writes, like bad news, a death, a crisis or an upset family.
AI tools through Google for Nonprofits
If your nonprofit qualifies for Google for Nonprofits, its Workspace plan includes the Gemini app and Gemini Notebook at no cost, for up to 2,000 users.
That's the same Google for Nonprofits account you sign in to when you activate the Google Ad Grant. Google also offers its paid Workspace editions to nonprofits at 70% to 75% off standard pricing, with more AI features, if your team outgrows the no-cost plan.
Whichever tool you pick, use a work account, keep names and stories out, and check every number before it leaves the building. If you're weighing the Ad Grant too, our Google Ad Grants guide covers how it works and what Google expects from you.
Is your team ready to use AI on donor work?
Answer five questions about how your team works today. Your answers aren't sent anywhere.
Do you keep one fact sheet with the numbers you report each year?
Does your team use a work account for AI instead of personal ones?
Has someone written down what never goes into an AI tool?
Does a person check every number and name before a report goes out?
Do you call donors to say thanks at least once a month?
Your team has the basics in place. Pick the report or letter that eats the most hours and try an AI draft on it this month.
You're close. Fix the questions you answered No, starting with the fact sheet, because every good draft starts there.
Write the fact sheet and the never-paste list before anyone uses AI on donor work. Both take an afternoon, and they make every later step safer.
Your first month with AI
Tick each one off as you go. Your ticks stay on this device.
0 of 6 done
How we use AI on Grant accounts
We use AI the same way on the 35+ Google Ad Grant accounts we manage, and people check its work.
Our in-house AI helps with research, drafts and tracking checks, and a person checks every setup before it goes live. A person also approves any change to your budget or bid strategy. Routine changes run inside written limits, and a person spot-checks them.
For more on picking the first job to hand off, read our guide to AI for small business. Its scoring method works the same way in a nonprofit office.
Talk it through with Miguel
If your nonprofit is weighing the Google Ad Grant, or you'd like help with the ads you already run, book a call with Miguel. He'll ask about your mission and your team, and he'll walk you through what the Grant can do for an organization your size.
Questions people ask
How can nonprofits use AI?
Start with the writing a small team repeats: foundation reports, thank-you letters, board minutes and volunteer emails. Give AI your own fact sheet, ask it to use only those facts, and have a person check every number and name.
Is it safe to use AI with donor information?
Keep donor names away from their gift amounts, and keep the names and stories of the people you serve out of AI tools entirely. Use blanks or codes, fill in the names yourself, and use a work account with written data terms.
Can AI write a grant application or foundation report?
It can write a solid first draft if you give it the funder's questions and your own facts. Ask it to write MISSING where a fact isn't there, and check every number before you send it.
Do nonprofits get AI tools at a discount?
Google for Nonprofits includes the Gemini app and Gemini Notebook in its no-cost Workspace plan for up to 2,000 users. It also offers its paid Workspace editions to nonprofits at 70% to 75% off standard pricing.
Does our nonprofit need an AI policy?
A one-page policy helps. In a 2025 survey, almost two-thirds of nonprofits and foundations said none or just a few of their staff had a solid understanding of AI. Write down which tool to use, what never goes in and who checks each draft.
See how we manage the Google Ad Grant for nonprofits
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