Drawing from my early work alongside the founders of Covenant House and AmeriCares and then decades of experience serving local, national and global charities, I share these AI insights in deep gratitude to my mentors and the many causes I've had the privilege to support.

Nonprofit AI Report

AI TRENDS

AI TOOLS

  • Modeling

  • Design

    • Rethinking the Necessity of a Design System. You may not need a design system right away; addressing key issues like visual consistency and communication gaps may be more effective initially. Start with design flexibility and gradually introduce structure, using tools like Storybook for documentation as your organization grows.

  • Marketing

    • In the recent report, “2025 Budget Planning Guide for B2B”, Forrester cautions against developing overly complex marketing campaigns or simply extending previous strategies and siloed digital channels, such as email, into a more integrated, channel-agnostic digital approach. The study provides guidance for setting 2025 strategies that can be applied to nonprofit marketing and fundraising that includes implementing high-impact AI use cases that can enhance engagement and donor outreach. Adapt to evolving privacy regulations and your organization's risk tolerance. Expand relationship-building across the entire donor lifecycle to ensure sustained engagement. Enhance integrated engagement programs to drive retention and long-term support.

  • Content Creation

    • ideate.xyz - AI design co-pilot for content teams.

  • Video

    • LinkedIn Launched In-Feed Video Carousels

    • YouTube has introduced QR codes for all channels, aiming to make it easier for creators to share their content offline and potentially increase their subscriber count. While QR codes have been underwhelming in the past, YouTube is banking on their success due to the dominance of mobile devices, which could make these scannable codes an effective tool for connecting offline efforts with online growth. However, the key to success still lies in creating compelling content, with QR codes serving as an additional, not primary, engagement tool.

    • Zach King's success on YouTube, with nearly 40 million subscribers, is driven by his mastery of digital illusions, strong video hooks, and the "bait and switch" technique, which keeps viewers engaged. His strategy of prioritizing quantity over quality has enabled him to stay relevant in the fast-paced world of short-form content across social media platforms.

    • Rizzle offers AI-powered tools that can replicate visual effects like Zach’s above without requiring a large production team. By using Rizzle's AI to create engaging teasers, highlights, and thumbnails, smaller creators can efficiently produce standout content that competes in today's digital landscape.

    • Instagram is shifting to a vertical profile grid, a strategic move that aligns with the platform's video-first future. This new format, which mirrors the Reels grid, is a clear signal to creators: it's time to prioritize vertical video content.

    • Researchers have developed a new method called T3M that enables the creation of 3D animations using text inputs. This approach offers greater accuracy and customization compared to previous techniques that relied solely on speech, making T3M a valuable tool for applications in virtual reality, gaming, and film production.

  • Images

    • Midjourney Unveils Web App for Streamlined Image Creation. Midjourney has introduced a new web app that replaces Discord, featuring intuitive prompt creation, easy access to history, and smart folders for image organization. The app also includes hybrid prompting, explicit iteration tools, chat rooms, and automatic updates to the latest model, simplifying the creative process.

  • Text

    • Google Workspace has introduced two new writing features in its Gemini app for Gmail on mobile devices. These tools can assist nonprofit professionals in polishing email drafts on both web and mobile platforms and offer the ability to write and refine draft shortcuts on Android and iOS devices. While it remains to be seen how effective these tools will be for experienced email writers, their availability on mobile is significant, given the shift toward mobile usage and the increasing need to ensure that emails are mobile-friendly.

  • Fundraising

  • Donor Analytics

  • Copilots and Operational Efficiency

    • GitHub Copilot Leads Gartner’s First AI Code Assistant Magic Quadrant. GitHub Copilot topped Gartner's inaugural Magic Quadrant report on AI code assistants, excelling in both vision and execution. As the first AI coding tool to advance beyond traditional machine learning, Copilot played a key role in ushering in the era of generative AI with its deep learning and natural language processing capabilities.

  • Data Management  & Visualization

  • Engagement

  • Chatbots & Virtual Assistants

  • Social Media

COMMENTARY

Video Generation is Democratized with Open-Source CogVideoX, Disrupting the AI Landscape

Anthropic Leads the Way in AI Transparency with Groundbreaking Release of System Prompts