Cambridge, MA, September 30 — A new report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) finds that only 11 percent of funders are providing some form of support to nonprofits for AI implementation — financial or otherwise.
There is little conversation between foundations and grantees about the use of AI at nonprofits, according to the survey results, with fewer than 20 percent of nonprofit leaders reporting that their funders have engaged them in conversation on the topic.
Of the foundations providing support for AI-related work, about half report providing support to advance equitable AI, defined as the ethical development, deployment, and use of AI systems to promote fairness, inclusivity, and justice and to reduce biases, democratize access to data and decision-making, mitigate potential harms, and improve social outcomes.
Despite this, AI use is widespread at both types of organizations. In the nationally representative survey of 451 nonprofit leaders and 215 foundation leaders, most report AI use at their organizations and nearly all note plans to increase its use. However, leaders also commonly report a similar set of concerns about the technology, including about security and privacy as well as the potential of AI tools to produce misinformation or reflect bias.
For foundation leaders, the leading concern is one of security and privacy, while nonprofit leaders more commonly report worries about the potential of AI tools to produce misinformation or inaccurate results.
Foundation and nonprofit leaders alike also express concern that their staff lack expertise or capacity to learn about AI.
Some nonprofit leaders are hopeful, however, about the potential of AI to mitigate perennial struggles with staff capacity and burnout. “With a very limited budget and staff, we struggle with fundraising,” reported one nonprofit leader. “AI would help tremendously, especially during all of the political uncertainty and many grants being questionable.”
However, these same concerns about lack of capacity add to the challenge of navigating a new and complex tool like AI. Said another nonprofit leader: “Everyone is stretched thin in day-to-day work, so it can be hard to prioritize something strategic like navigating the use of AI.”
The CEP report also includes a more detailed discussion of equitable AI development and deployment and the kinds of support around AI that nonprofit leaders are looking for from funders.
To CEP’s knowledge, this research is the most representative study comparing AI use and views in philanthropy and nonprofits to date. The report is available for download here: [LINK]
ABOUT CEP
The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide data, feedback, programs, and insights to help individual and institutional donors improve their effectiveness. We do this work because we believe effective donors, working collaboratively and thoughtfully, can profoundly contribute to creating a better and more just world. For more information on CEP’s work, including its research, assessments, advisory services, and programming, visit www.cep.org.
MEDIA CONTACT: Chloe Heskett, Center for Effective Philanthropy: chloeh@cep.org | + (617) 395-4092
