AI for Good: Leveraging AI in the Nonprofit Sector with Microsoft Philanthropies
Technology is constantly evolving, along with its applications and implications. With every new generation of technology, there are conversations around what new tech could mean for the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, these conversations have centered around AI. In preparation for our upcoming group learning session on how funders can leverage AI, we sat down with Jolenta Coleman-Bush from Microsoft Philanthropies to discuss how some of their nonprofit partners are using AI day-to-day and the challenges that come with this work.
What is AI?
“AI is short for artificial intelligence and has been around since the fifties in some form or fashion,” says Jolenta. “The most recent evolution of AI is what we’d call generative AI which is a subfield of Artificial Intelligence that focuses on creating new content such as images, text or speech, based on patterns it has learned from existing data. It is easy to use because you can simply make a request in your own words – called a prompt – and the system responds with something helpful, like writing a summary or drafting an email.”
As the Director of Microsoft Philanthropies, Jolenta has partnered with several nonprofits as they integrate AI into their organization’s operations. These partnerships have led to both great successes and new challenges.
Those smaller but necessary tasks like drafting emails, creating fundraising letters or doing simple analysis can now be done with the use of AI, freeing up staff to focus on larger tasks and those human-to-human relationships that are at the core of nonprofits and philanthropy.
Jolenta
“There is a large range of AI use cases in the nonprofit sector and today, it is most used for enhancing productivity. Those smaller but necessary tasks like drafting emails, creating fundraising letters or doing simple analysis can now be done with the use of AI, freeing up staff to focus on larger tasks and those human-to-human relationships that are at the core of nonprofits and philanthropy,” Jolenta says. “There are also organizations who are using AI in a more complex way. In addition to supporting their daily tasks, they use the technology for resource deployment, predictive modeling and deeper analysis.”
Access and organization-wide use of AI have been some of the biggest challenges Jolenta has experienced while working with nonprofit partners. “The technology is new, so getting people comfortable with the idea is a challenge in itself. Then, there’s simple access. Getting funding for technology, including AI, is a hard sell because there’s the idea that that money could be put elsewhere, right? But in the long-term, investing in AI is important to help organizations be more efficient, and along with this investment, org-wide AI adoption and skilling is also important,” Jolenta says.
It’s about agency and conquering that learning curve, so that everyone’s on the same page.
Jolenta
“Microsoft supports broad access to technology. We want our partners’ staff to feel comfortable with AI, not rely on a few select team members to manage that aspect of the work. It’s about agency and conquering that learning curve, so that everyone’s on the same page.”
Since AI hit the mainstream with platforms like ChatGPT and Copilot, the inclusive and responsible use of AI has been a major conversation in the philanthropic sector. Because while AI presents many opportunities, its public release has also ignited fears around how it could impact nonprofits.
“When we think about responsible use of AI we’re talking about certain key tenets such as privacy and security, transparency and accountability, fairness and safety,” says Jolenta. “Responsible use also means ensuring AI is inclusive because we’ve seen disparities when it comes to tech access like high-speed internet or devices. We don’t want AI to exacerbate these disparities, so that as AI advances, we continue to focus on leaving no one behind.”
When asked what advice she would give organizations interested in getting started with AI, Jolenta had a simple answer: Do it together.
“Most individuals are using some type of AI in their day-to-day work, whether it's ChatGPT or Copilot. Organizations can maximize adoption by bringing teams together to discuss how everyone is using AI and how the organization can use it to support their mission and goals,” Jolenta says. “It's important to learn together, leverage free resources like Microsoft's AI Skills Navigator, create shared understanding so that the team can adopt and deploy the technology."
To learn more about best practices, challenges and opportunities in using AI in philanthropy, join us for our upcoming Corporate Funders Group session with Jolenta and Jean Westrick from Technology Association of Grantmakers.
