How to Write an AI Policy for Your Nonprofit
Artificial intelligence is changing how organizations communicate with donors, write grants, manage administrative tasks, and support staff. Whether your team is intentionally adopting AI or individual staff members are experimenting with tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, or Gemini, AI is likely already part of your workplace. That makes an AI policy no longer optional.
A thoughtful AI policy will help your organization embrace AI responsibly by protecting donor trust, maintaining your organization’s voice, safeguarding sensitive information, and ensuring staff understand where AI is appropriate.
Why Every Nonprofit Needs an AI Policy
Most nonprofits have policies covering topics like data privacy, social media, cybersecurity, and acceptable technology use. AI deserves the same level of attention because it impacts nearly every department.
Without clear guidelines, staff may unknowingly:
- Input confidential donor information into public AI tools
- Publish AI-generated content without reviewing it for accuracy
- Submit grant applications that don’t meet funder expectations
- Send donor communications that sound generic or impersonal
- Introduce factual errors or bias into organizational communications
An AI policy creates consistency across your organization while giving employees confidence to use AI appropriately.
Key Sections to Include in Your AI Policy
1. Define Your Organization’s Philosophy on AI
Begin with a statement explaining why your nonprofit uses AI. For example:
“Our organization uses artificial intelligence as a tool to improve efficiency, reduce administrative burden, and support our mission. AI is intended to assist staff and not replace professional judgment, creativity, relationship-building, or strategic decision-making.”
This establishes that AI supports people rather than replacing them.
2. Identify Approved AI Tools
Not all AI platforms have the same privacy standards. Your policy should specify:
- Which AI tools employees may use
- Whether free versions are allowed
- Whether paid organizational accounts are required
- Whether staff may create personal AI accounts for work
Many nonprofits choose to approve only organization-managed AI tools so they have greater control over data privacy and security.
3. Protect Donor and Constituent Information
This is arguably the most important section of an AI policy. Public AI tools should never become another copy of your CRM.
Your policy should clearly state what information may and may not be entered into AI systems.
Never input:
- Full donor names
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- Home addresses
- Financial information
- Credit card information
- Banking details
- Gift amounts tied to identifiable individuals
- Volunteer records
- Employee HR information
- Medical information
- Client or beneficiary information
- Passwords or login credentials
Even if an AI provider states that business accounts do not use customer data for model training, nonprofits should follow the principle of data minimization: only share the minimum information necessary to accomplish a task.
4. Establish Content Creation Guidelines
AI can dramatically reduce the time required to draft communications, but it should never become your organization’s voice. Consider setting expectations for how AI may assist with marketing content, donor communications, donor history, internal communications, and more.
For example, for marketing, AI can help draft social media posts, blog articles, newsletter content, website copy, campaign messaging, and event promotions. However, all content should be fact-checked, reflect your organization’s brand voice, include current organizational statistics, and be reviewed by a staff member before publication.
For donor communications, your policy should emphasize that donor relationships remain fundamentally human. You may allow AI to support initiatives such as thank-you email drafts, stewardship email ideas, appeal outlines, campaign messaging, and event invitations. Whenever possible, staff should personalize AI-assisted communications with donor history, previous conversations, giving motivations, and organizational updates relevant to that donor.
5. Create Grant Writing Guidelines
Grant writing deserves its own section because many funders have begun publishing guidance on AI use, and some use AI-detection or writing-analysis tools as part of their review processes.
More importantly, grant reviewers are becoming increasingly skilled at recognizing generic, overly polished, or repetitive AI-generated language.
Rather than prohibiting AI entirely, many nonprofits are adopting a balanced approach.
For example, your policy might allow AI to assist with:
- Brainstorming project ideas
- Developing proposal outlines
- Summarizing research
- Editing for grammar and clarity
- Improving readability
- Organizing responses
However, AI should not replace the expertise of your program staff or grant writers.
Your organization should require that:
- Final narratives reflect your organization’s authentic voice.
- Program descriptions accurately represent your work.
- Impact data is verified by staff.
- Every proposal undergoes human editing before submission.
Some organizations also establish internal expectations that AI-generated drafts should be substantially revised before submission. Rather than focusing on an arbitrary percentage of rewritten text, consider requiring meaningful human contribution: staff should add organization-specific examples, unique program details, measurable outcomes, and storytelling that AI cannot generate on its own.
Before using AI for any grant application, it’s also important to review the funder’s guidance. Some funders explicitly allow AI-assisted drafting, others discourage it, and some require applicants to disclose its use.
6. Require Human Review
One of the simplest and most important rules in an AI policy is that no AI-generated content should be published or sent without human review.
Staff should always verify accuracy, dates, statistics, names, links, organizational facts, tone, inclusivity, and compliance with brand standards.
AI can occasionally “hallucinate” facts or cite information that doesn’t exist. Human oversight remains essential.
7. Address Transparency
Your organization should decide whether (and when) to disclose AI use.
For example, as long as public-facing content has been substantially reviewed and edited by staff, it generally does not require disclosure unless required by law, regulation, or the publisher.
Having a consistent organizational approach helps eliminate uncertainty.
8. Provide Staff Training
A policy alone isn’t enough. Employees should understand:
- How to write effective prompts
- What information should never be shared
- How to recognize AI mistakes
- When AI should not be used
- How to verify outputs
- Organization-approved tools
As AI continues evolving, regular training will help staff stay current with new capabilities and risks.
Questions Your AI Policy Should Answer
As you draft your policy, consider these questions:
- Which AI tools are approved?
- What information is prohibited from being entered into AI?
- Who reviews AI-generated content?
- Can AI assist with grant writing?
- Can AI draft donor communications?
- When is human approval required?
- How will staff receive AI training?
- Who is responsible for updating the policy as technology changes?
If your policy answers these questions clearly, your staff will have a strong foundation for using AI responsibly.
AI Does Not Replace Human Connection
For nonprofits, relationships are everything. Donors give because they trust your organization. Volunteers serve because they believe in your mission. Grantmakers invest because they have confidence in your programs.
AI can help your team work faster, reduce administrative burden, and create stronger first drafts, but it cannot replace authentic human relationships.
A well-written AI policy empowers your staff to use AI confidently while protecting your organization’s reputation and donor trust.
As AI capabilities continue to evolve, revisit your policy regularly. Treat it as a living document that grows alongside the technology, ensuring your nonprofit remains both innovative and responsible.
Need help developing an AI governance strategy for your nonprofit? Strat Labs helps nonprofits implement AI responsibly through training, automation strategy, governance policies, and practical workflows. Contact us to learn how we can help your team confidently adopt AI.