What is Human-Centric AI and What Does It Mean for Fundraising?

In the past year, AI has evolved from something that some social impact organizations were experimenting with to a fixture in many professionals’ lives. A recent Blackbaud Institute survey of nonprofit and education fundraisers found that over 80% of them were using AI in their daily work, and most organizations are using AI tools at a higher rate than they had in the year prior. The fastest growing uses are for content creation and note taking. To a lesser but still significant degree, organizations leverage AI more than they have in the past for prospecting, wealth screening, and A/B testing. This increasing adoption is expected to continue, changing the way fundraisers do their jobs.

When the Blackbaud Institute reached out to hundreds of US fundraisers to get their reactions to this growing adoption, most participating nonprofit professionals (59%) felt AI will impact the sector positively. Going deeper, 56% of participating nonprofit and education professionals think that AI will help their organization run more efficiently. 45% believe AI will change how donors and supporters interact with their organization, and half (49%) believe it will find its way into every aspect of their work. With the potential of AI to transform so many aspects of nonprofit operations, is it possible to employ AI technology responsibly; to retain the essential trust that underpins the uniquely human work of fundraising? Yes, but an understanding of human-centric AI is essential.

So, what is Human-Centric AI?

Your fellow fundraisers said it best, when asked to give their thoughts on AI adoption in the sector:

‘[AI] can be a gamechanger for our organization. It can free humans up to do the work only humans can do…connecting with each other and building trust.”

“AI should be seen as a tool to increase efficiency for the tasks, in order to make more time for human touch to be applied in thoughtful and intentional ways, not remove the need for humans at all.”

“[AI] is incapable of coming up with anything new. Rather we should find ways to use it to free up our human brains to do the creating.”

Human-Centric AI is a philosophy around the development and use of AI tools that empower humans to go farther, faster. These technologies augment human capabilities, rather than replacing human talent; they learn through human input and collaboration; prioritize equity and proactively work against inherent bias; and are developed and implemented for the common good.

In the development office human-centric AI can look like:

• Predictive Analytics and Donor Insights. Predictive analytics can help fundraisers identify which donors are most likely to give and recommend the ideal timing for outreach, while tailoring the ask to maximize donation potential. Rather than replacing human intuition, this AI capability supports fundraisers in making informed decisions, enabling them to approach donors thoughtfully and strengthen trust through meaningful engagement. Fundraisers can then spend more time fostering that one-on-one connection with supporters primed to partner in their impact.
• Engage With Donor Personas Who Would Otherwise Be Lost: If your fundraising office only has capacity for one-on-one engagement with your top 5% of donors or potential donors, there are 95% who may be receiving generic communications and could fall through the cracks. Agentic AI offers the opportunity to identify these individual accounts and steward them with more personalized communications, ensuring that nobody is left behind.
• Personalized Communication Strategies. AI can analyze donor data to identify individual preferences and giving histories. Empowered by these AI insights, fundraisers can get to the heart of what matters to each donor and segment individuals for cultivation based on their shared characteristics. From there, you can work to build trust through more personalized, genuine, and relevant communications.
• Chatbots for Immediate Interaction. AI-driven chatbots can offer instant responses to donor inquiries, ensuring transparency and clarity. These tools free up human fundraisers to focus on more complex, trust-building tasks, such as nurturing relationships and addressing nuanced donor concerns personally.
• Real-Time Feedback and Sentiment Analysis. Through sentiment analysis, AI evaluates donor feedback to uncover trends and concerns. By facilitating quicker responses to donor needs, AI enables fundraisers to demonstrate their commitment to listening and adapting. This human-centric use of AI reinforces the trust between donors and the organization, ensuring that interactions remain thoughtful and responsive.
• Virtual Employees Could Enable Fundraising Teams to Reach Donors at Scale. Agentic AIoffers the possibility of automating key fundraising workflows. A virtual employee could identify prime donors, engage with them through hyper-personalized outreach, follow up to secure a donation, and then monitor performance and reports. Human fundraisers oversee throughout as the process is automated and optimized through data-backed insights.

These possibilities are only the beginning. The opportunities for applications of AI tools for fundraising will continue to grow. When you’re deciding which AI tools will boost your team’s efficiency and tap into their creativity, keep in mind the problem you are hoping to solve. Start with the areas that will empower your team to move past the day-to-day tasks into more strategic thinking. By giving this time and mental energy back, you can focus on fostering connections between development and finance; find opportunities to better engage your board with fundraising efforts; and examine long-standing processes for opportunities to grow.

In the end, the question you can ask yourself as a fundraiser is this: What would your day look like if you could focus on the unique aspects of your work that only a human can do?