This is our fourth blog on some things the nonprofit community should be thinking about regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Adopting new technologies is rarely straight forward. For example, remember your last CRM upgrade? How did that go? If you are like most nonprofit organizations, your CRM conversion cost more, took longer and delivered less than what was originally planned. Sadly, that’s often the nature of CRM conversions.
I’d contend that adopting AI into your organization will be more complex than implementing a new CRM.
Here’s why:
| Challenge | Description | Nonprofit Example |
| Business vs. Nonprofit Needs | Most AI solutions are built for for-profit, not nonprofit, organizations. What works in the business world doesn’t always work in the nonprofit world. | AI salespeople promote business-centric solutions as nonprofit-friendly. Many of us have seen the “expert” from the for-profit world come to work at a nonprofit with the attitude “I’m going to fix this backwards place in no time.” However, most come to find out that managing a nonprofit organization is organically different than managing a for profit company. |
| Integration Issues | Nonprofits often have siloed systems, making AI integration potentially expensive and contentious. | Fundraising, programs, and communications systems are not unified. Turf wars are a thing as nonprofits often use disparate systems for fundraising, program management, and communications. |
| Pace of Change | Nonprofit decision cycles are slow; rapid AI advancements may outpace board approvals. | The board approves an AI tool, but it’s outdated by the time approval comes. |
What should you do?
Be patient.
Wait for AI products specifically designed to serve nonprofit organizations. And don’t try to be the beta tester for an AI solution. In my view, it is going to be much wiser to learn from other organizations’ mistakes before taking this on.