OpenAI Academy Turns AI Practice Into a Team Learning System
By Warren Wiggins — Astute Intelligence
The Tool/Technique
This week’s tool lesson is less about a single model and more about a repeatable learning system. OpenAI Academy now offers role-based learning paths for knowledge workers, developers, leaders, educators, and college students. The Academy also describes self-paced courses, practical guides, workshops, and badges tied to assessments. These features are described by OpenAI, so teams should test whether the material fits their own work before treating a badge as proof of readiness. Review the Academy’s learning model
The technique worth borrowing is the practice loop: learn one task, try it on meaningful work, review the result, and share what changed. OpenAI says its events make time for hands-on practice, peer learning, coaching, and support. The same pattern can work with another vendor or with an internal guide. Read the event lessons
Alternatives and trade-offs
OpenAI Academy may fit a team that wants a broad, vendor-led starting point with role-based material. Google Workspace’s small-business resources may fit a team whose daily work already lives in Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Meet. Microsoft 365 Copilot resources may fit a team centered on Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, and SharePoint. The trade-off is not only model quality. It is where work data already lives, how permissions are managed, and whether people can practice one shared process. Review Google’s small-business AI resourcesReview Microsoft’s Copilot resources
Who It’s For
Small businesses: owners who need a shared method for checking drafts, research, or customer-service work.
Nonprofits: teams that can practice with public or synthetic data before touching donor, client, or case records.
Schools: leaders who can separate staff learning from student-data decisions and keep a human reviewer in the loop.
How To Get Started
Choose one low-risk task with a clear owner.
Use one learning resource for a week instead of asking staff to compare every new tool.
Save two examples: one useful result and one failure.
Write a short rule for what data stays out and when a person must approve.
The limitation is simple: training content cannot know your policies, community needs, or data agreements. Local review still matters.
Want to turn a promising AI use case into a safer team practice? You can book time with Warren. Book a conversation
AI Training Is Becoming the Missing Link for Small Organizations
By Warren Wiggins — Astute Intelligence
The Big Story
AI training is moving from a side project to basic organizational infrastructure. In a September 23 update, OpenAI said its Academy had hosted more than 250 events and reached more than 4 million people with its content since launching in 2024. Those are company-reported engagement figures, not an independent measure of skill gains. Read the Academy update
The update also describes a pilot Community Trainer Program. Participating organizations nominate staff, who learn the curriculum, practice leading workshops, and complete a facilitation assessment before teaching others. That model matters because a tool is easier to use when the learning is tied to the work people already do. See how the pilot works
Story #2: The roadmap gap
New research from The Bridgespan Group and NTEN finds that 70 percent of nonprofit leaders and staff believe their organizations are missing meaningful AI opportunities, while only 8 percent report a one- to two-year AI implementation roadmap. The authors stress that their framework is not one-size-fits-all and that choosing not to adopt AI may be the right decision for some organizations. Read the Bridgespan and NTEN release
Warren’s Take
Training should not mean asking everyone to become a prompt engineer. It should mean giving people a shared way to judge an AI result. What task is being supported? What data may the tool see? Who reviews the output? What would make us stop? Those questions help a small team build confidence without pretending that every workflow is safe by default.
Two paths, two trade-offs
A structured program, such as workshops and role-based learning paths, offers shared language and peer practice. It also takes coordination and may move at a pace that does not fit every team. Self-directed learning is easier to start and can fit a busy schedule, but it puts more weight on each person to test claims, protect data, and ask for help. Verizon’s new national effort shows that public-facing training is also becoming part of the workforce conversation, with free, occupation-focused resources offered through nonprofit and technology partners. Read the Reuters report
Try This This Week
Pick one low-risk task. Write a one-page learning card with the task, approved data, reviewer, success check, and stop rule. Then ask someone who does not own the workflow to challenge it. That is a small investment in shared judgment.
If your team wants help choosing a practical next step, you can book time with Warren. Book a conversation
Claude Small Business Workflows Add Integrations and Guardrails
By Warren Wiggins — Astute Intelligence
The Tool/Technique
Anthropic’s September 15 update says Claude for Small Business now includes 43 workflows and 27 integrations. Examples include Shopify, Salesforce, Zoom, Xero, Gusto, Square, Stripe, Zapier, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365. The company says more than 900,000 installations have been recorded since the May launch. These are vendor-reported figures, not an independent evaluation. Read Anthropic’s announcement
The technique worth borrowing is the approval gate. Anthropic says workflows start in approval mode, existing software permissions still apply, and some workflows stop before a final action. That pattern can help even if your team uses another tool: let AI prepare a plan, then require a person to approve anything that sends, posts, changes, or pays. See the announcement’s controls
Alternatives and trade-offs
Google Workspace with Gemini may fit a team whose work already lives in Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Meet. Microsoft 365 Copilot may fit a team centered on Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, and SharePoint. Review Google Workspace AI for small businessReview Microsoft 365 Copilot The trade-off is not just model quality. It is where your data already lives, how permissions are managed, and whether staff can learn one shared process.
Who It’s For
Small businesses: owners who want repeatable drafts, planning, or back-office support without giving up final judgment.
Nonprofits: teams that can keep donor, beneficiary, and case data out of a new connection until access and retention rules are clear.
Schools: administrators who can test with public planning materials while keeping student records in approved systems.
How To Get Started
Pick one low-risk task that already has a clear owner.
List the data the task needs and remove anything sensitive.
Check the connected tool’s existing permissions.
Run the workflow in approval mode with sample data.
Compare the same task in your current suite and one alternative.
Check names, dates, citations, and missing context.
Record where the workflow stopped and what the reviewer changed.
Stop or revise the pilot if the human check is unclear.
Warren’s Take
The update is worth studying because it treats connected AI as a workflow problem, not only a chat problem. The real limitation is integration risk. A connector can reduce steps, but it can also carry a permission mistake farther. Anthropic is not automatically the right choice. Google or Microsoft may be simpler when that is where a team already works. The best tool is the one your people can govern, explain, and review.
Curated by Warren Wiggins | Produced with Perplexity Computer
Nonprofits Need AI Training Before They Need More AI Tools
By Warren Wiggins — Astute Intelligence
The Big Story
A new Fast Forward report gives us a useful distinction. Some nonprofits use AI inside their core services. Others use it to support operations, such as drafting or data work. In a spring 2026 survey of 119 AI-powered nonprofits across 20 countries, 92% said AI made service delivery more efficient and 55% said it made personalized services at scale possible. The findings are self-reported and do not represent the whole nonprofit field. Read the report findings
The same report shows why access is not the whole story. Ninety percent of respondents who were piloting or scaling an AI solution said they had a plan to scale, but only 24% said they had the resources to carry it out. For smaller organizations, this is a reminder to treat training, data cleanup, and human review as part of the work—not as extras after launch. See the full report
Warren’s Take
We do not need every team to build an AI product. We do need every team to understand the small number of AI tasks it has already adopted. Start with the people affected by the work. Ask what a good result looks like, what data is off limits, and who can stop the process. That is slower than copying a prompt, but it is faster than repairing trust later.
Story #2: Adoption is ahead of governance
The 2026 State of Nonprofit AI: Adoption and Governance Report from NTEN and The Bridgespan Group surveyed 917 respondents. A summary of the report says 98% use AI in some capacity, but 57% of nonprofit executives report no dedicated AI budget, 37% say staff are not trained on available tools, and 58% say no AI roadmap exists. Only 40% report written guidance on what data can be used with AI tools, and 38% report written guidance on responsible use. Read the report overview
Warren’s Take
These numbers are not a reason to shame teams. They are a reason to make the next step small. A two-page policy that people can follow is more useful than a long policy that sits unread. Name one owner, one reviewer, and one date to revisit the rule.
Story #3: Training is moving closer to the work
Grow with Google says its “Make AI Work for You” workshops visited small-business owners in five states along Route 66 during August. The workshops worked with local chambers and Small Business Development Centers. Google also says its AI Professional Certificate training remains available at no cost to U.S. small businesses. Read Google’s account
Warren’s Take
Training is most useful when it ends with a real workflow. A nonprofit can borrow the same idea without copying a vendor: choose one routine task, practice with sample data, then document the human check. Teams with more time can test several tools. Teams with less time should narrow the task and ask a peer for help.
Practical Tip of the Week
Make a one-page AI readiness card. Write five lines: the task, the approved tool, the data boundary, the human reviewer, and the stop rule. Add two alternatives: the manual process for sensitive cases and a second tool or shared system for comparison. Review the card after 30 days. If no one can explain what changed, the workflow is not ready to expand.
By The Numbers
Fast Forward reports 92% of surveyed AI-powered nonprofits saw more efficient service delivery, 55% saw personalized services at scale, and 24% had the resources to execute their scaling plan. These are survey findings from a selected group, not a prediction for every organization. Source and methods
Curated by Warren Wiggins | Produced with Perplexity Computer
If your team wants hands-on help thinking this through, you can book time with Warren. Book a conversation
Weekly Dispatch · Wednesday Edition · July 8, 2026
Claude for Nonprofits: 75% Off, Plus a Free AI Course
Anthropic just bundled a 75% nonprofit discount with a free AI fluency course and new fundraising-tool connectors — here’s who actually qualifies and how to start.
§ The Tool
A Discount, a Free Course, and Fundraising Connectors — Bundled Together
Anthropic, in partnership with GivingTuesday, just launched Claude for Nonprofits — a bundle of three things aimed squarely at organizations doing mission-driven work with limited budgets. First: a discount of up to 75% on Claude’s Team and Enterprise plans. Second: new connectors linking Claude directly to Blackbaud, Candid, and Benevity — tools a lot of nonprofits already use for donor management, grant research, and giving campaigns.
Third, and maybe most useful if you’re just getting started: a completely free course called “AI Fluency for Nonprofits,” built for people with zero technical background, covering how to use AI for grant writing, program evaluation, donor engagement, and day-to-day organizational efficiency.
This isn’t a nonprofit slapping a discount sticker on an existing product. Anthropic piloted this with more than 60 grantee organizations through partners like the Constellation Fund, Robin Hood, and Tipping Point Community before launching it publicly — so the workflows behind it (grant proposals, program impact analysis, donor stewardship, board materials) were shaped by actual nonprofit use, not guessed at.
Nonprofits, Small Businesses, and Schools — Honestly Scoped
Nonprofits: This is built for you specifically. If you’re a registered nonprofit, the discount and free course apply directly — and the Blackbaud/Candid/Benevity connectors are a real time-saver if your team already lives in those platforms for fundraising and grant research.
Small Businesses: Here’s the honest scoping — the Claude for Nonprofits discount is only available to verified nonprofit organizations. If you’re a for-profit small business, this specific program isn’t for you, though Claude’s standard Team plans and small-business-oriented offerings are worth a separate look.
Schools: It depends on your structure. Many independent and charter schools operate as registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits and may qualify for the discount directly. Public school districts typically won’t qualify under the nonprofit program, but the free “AI Fluency” course content is a genuinely useful reference for any staff professional development plan regardless of eligibility.
§ How To Get Started
Eight Steps From Sign-Up to Rollout
Go to claude.com/solutions/nonprofits and review the eligibility requirements — you’ll need to confirm your organization’s registered nonprofit status.
Decide whether Team (smaller orgs, shared projects) or Enterprise (larger orgs needing more security/admin controls) fits your size and needs.
Apply for nonprofit verification and the associated discount.
Once approved, enroll your team in the free “AI Fluency for Nonprofits” course through Anthropic Academy — no technical background required.
If you use Blackbaud, Candid, or Benevity, connect them to Claude so your team can search and analyze that data directly inside conversations.
Start with one workflow — grant writing, donor communication, or program reporting — rather than rolling it out everywhere at once.
Set a simple internal guideline for what Claude drafts get reviewed before they go out the door.
Revisit after 30 days: what’s actually saving time, and what needs a different workflow?
Cousin’s Take
Here’s the honest assessment: a 75% discount plus a free training course removes the two biggest reasons nonprofits usually give for not adopting AI — cost and “we don’t know how.” That’s a meaningful unlock, not just a marketing gesture. The catch is the same one that applies to every AI tool we’ve ever covered here: access isn’t adoption. Signing up for the discount and skipping the AI Fluency course is how you end up with an expensive tool nobody on staff actually uses. Do the training first. Pick one workflow. Get good at that before you expand. And if you’re a small business or public school reading this and feeling left out — the free course content itself is worth finding and adapting, discount or not.
Want a practical framework for evaluating AI tools for your organization? Download “The Mission-Driven Org AI Audit” — a free guide to assessment, implementation, and measuring impact.
92% of Schools Use AI. Only 23% of Students Were Trained to Use It.
Microsoft’s 2026 AI in Education Report reveals that nearly every student is already using AI for school — but three-quarters were never taught how.
§ The Big Story
92% of Schools Are Already Using AI — But 77% of Students Were Never Trained to Use It
Microsoft dropped its third annual AI in Education Report last week, and the headline number is both exciting and alarming: 92% of students and education leaders have already used AI for school-related purposes. Educators aren’t far behind — 88% of teachers have used AI in their work.
Here’s the part that should make every school administrator stop scrolling: 77% of students have never received any formal AI training. 53% of educators are in the same boat. Your students are already using AI — ChatGPT to draft essays, Copilot to research papers, AI tools to prep for class — and most of them have never been taught what good AI use looks like, what the limits are, or how to fact-check outputs.
The gap is enormous. And the demand to close it is clear: 66% of educators and 52% of students want their institution to provide AI training at least monthly or quarterly. Meanwhile, 58% of education leaders say their schools are already implementing or scaling AI — not testing, not exploring, implementing.
Microsoft also announced new free AI-powered teaching tools through Microsoft 365 Education, designed with educator feedback and grounded in learning science. If your school is a Microsoft 365 user, it’s worth checking what new features just landed in your account.
The 92%/77% split is the story. Nearly everyone’s using AI; almost no one’s been taught. That’s not a technology problem — it’s a professional development problem. If you lead a school or work with youth-serving nonprofits, your job this summer is to build a simple, honest AI literacy plan before September. Not a policy. Not a ban. A plan. Start with two questions: what can students use AI for, and how will they cite it? Everything else follows from there.
§ Story #2
Sector-Wide Push: 100,000 Nonprofit Staff to AI Literacy — and $500M in Foundation Backing
Two big moves happened in the nonprofit world this week that deserve attention together. First: the AI for Nonprofits Sprint — an initiative with a bold goal of bringing 100,000 nonprofit staff members to baseline AI literacy in 2026. The urgency is real: nearly two-thirds of nonprofits are already using AI in some form, but adoption without literacy creates uneven results, staff frustration, and mission drift.
Second: Humanity AI, a new $500 million pooled grant initiative from ten of America’s most influential foundations, announced its launch with an explicit focus on ensuring AI “delivers for people and communities” — not just shareholders. Pooled grants are starting in 2026, with community-centered AI deployment as the priority.
The funders are moving. If your nonprofit is working on AI literacy, AI-assisted programs, or responsible AI adoption, this is a strong moment to look at your grant strategy. Humanity AI and similar initiatives are specifically looking for orgs doing this work intentionally — not just experimenting, but building capacity with community accountability. You don’t need to be a tech nonprofit to qualify. You need to be doing the work thoughtfully.
§ Story #3
$800M+ in AI Education Grants Are Available Right Now — Most Schools Haven’t Applied
If your school or workforce-development nonprofit needs a reason to act: over $800 million in AI education grants are currently on the table, covering K-12 schools, universities, and workforce programs. Both federal and foundation-level funding is active, with specific emphasis on underserved and rural communities.
One example: the Rural AI Strategy Lab, a collaboration between FullScale and All4Ed, accepted just 13 of 114 applicants from rural school districts looking to lead AI design and implementation. The demand is high. The money is there. The selection is competitive — which means organizations that show up with a clear, community-grounded approach have a real shot.
$800M sounds big until you realize it’s spread across thousands of applicants. The orgs that win grants right now aren’t the largest — they’re the most prepared. If you don’t have a current AI strategy document, that’s your grant application gap. Even a two-page “AI Readiness Plan” — what you’re using, why, how you’ll evaluate it — gives you something to build an application around. That’s a summer project worth doing.
§ Practical Tip of the Week
Run a 10-Minute AI Audit at Your Next Staff Meeting
You don’t need a consultant for this. Before your next all-staff or department meeting, ask everyone to write down three things: (1) what AI tools they’re currently using at work, (2) what they use them for, and (3) one question they have about AI they haven’t asked yet. Collect the answers anonymously if needed.
What you’ll learn in 10 minutes: where AI is already in your org (usually more places than leadership knows), where confusion lives, and where training would actually land. This is your baseline. Organizations that know their starting point are the ones that make real progress — and that baseline is what grant applications and board conversations are built on.
§ By the Numbers
92%
Share of students & education leaders who’ve used AI for school
77%
Students who received NO formal AI training, despite regular use
$800M+
In AI education grants available now for K-12, higher ed & workforce programs
Weekly Dispatch · Wednesday Edition · May 13, 2026
Tool Time: Generation’s Free AI Upskilling for Small Business
A free, bilingual, nonprofit-delivered AI training program with a $1,000 certification scholarship attached — built by Generation, funded by the AmEx Foundation, open now.
§ Tool Time
The Tool: AI Upskilling for Small Business
This week’s tool is a free, structured AI training program built by the nonprofit Generation and funded by the American Express Foundation — launched May 6 and now open to enrollment worldwide (Business Wire, Generation). The program is delivered online, available in English and Spanish, and structured into three role-based learning tracks: AI Generalist, Digital Marketing, and Digital Customer Success (PYMNTS).
What makes this notable is the nonprofit delivering it. Generation has placed over 120,000 learners into stable careers across 17 countries since 2014, with a track record focused on workers facing systemic barriers — career-switchers, the long-term unemployed, recent immigrants, and people without four-year degrees. This is not a marketing-funnel “free course.” It is a workforce-development program from an organization that built its reputation on outcomes.
Paired with the program is the Smart Futures for Small Business Scholarship — administered by Scholarship America, funded by the AmEx Foundation, providing up to $1,000 per eligible US participant to pursue AI certification programs after completing the free coursework (Fintech InShorts).
§ Who It’s For
Nonprofits
This program is built for “small-business employees” — and a small nonprofit (under 50 staff) functionally is one. The AI Generalist track in particular fits front-line program staff, ops coordinators, and comms team members who are using AI day-to-day without formal training. The Digital Customer Success track maps cleanly to nonprofit client-facing roles.
Small Businesses
This is the obvious audience. Owner-operators of two-to-twenty-person businesses get a free, structured curriculum for themselves and their teams, with a credential at the end.
Schools
The hidden fit is classified staff — front-office administrators, registrars, after-school coordinators, instructional aides. They are using AI tools (often quietly, on personal accounts) without any training or governance. This program meets them where they are. Teachers, by contrast, have ASCD, ISTE, and state-funded options.
§ How To Get Started
Visit Generation’s program page at generation.org and find “AI Upskilling for Small Business” in the program directory.
Pick one track based on the staff member’s role. Most non-IT staff will fit AI Generalist. Comms staff fit Digital Marketing. Client-facing staff fit Digital Customer Success.
Enroll — it is free. No employer paperwork; the learner enrolls directly.
Block 30 minutes a day for two weeks. That cadence completes the core curriculum without disrupting work.
Apply each module to a real workflow within 24 hours of finishing it. This is the single biggest predictor of whether training translates into actual capability. Pick one current task; rework it using what was just learned.
If pursuing certification, apply for the Smart Futures scholarship. Up to $1,000 from the AmEx Foundation for the certificate program of the learner’s choice (Business Wire).
Debrief as a team. Block 30 minutes at the end of week three: what did we change in our work because of this training? Document the answer. That document is your “case for AI investment” the next time your board asks.
Cousin’s Take — Honest Assessment
The good: Generation is the real thing. Corporate-philanthropy training programs usually fail one of three tests — the curriculum is shallow, the delivery is sterile, or the outcome data is invented. Generation passes all three. The program is also genuinely free (no upsell), genuinely bilingual (English + Spanish), and pairs with cash scholarships if learners want credentials. This is rare.
The honest caveat: The program is built for breadth, not depth. The AI Generalist track will teach a staff member what AI is, how to write a usable prompt, and how to spot a hallucination. It will not turn anyone into an AI engineer or a prompt expert. Treat it as the first training a staff member completes, not the only one.
The strategic note: If your organization is one of the 47% of nonprofits without a written AI governance policy, do not enroll a single person until that one-page note is written. Otherwise you will have well-trained staff using AI tools without organizational guardrails — which is worse than untrained staff who are still afraid of the tools.
What’s the question on your team?
Hit reply or comment on the post with the specific AI question your team is wrestling with right now. I read every one, and the patterns will shape next month’s editions.
Curated by Warren Wiggins · Created by Cousin Claude · Cousin’s AI Circulation, May 2026
Corporate Philanthropy Just Built the AI Workforce Playbook Nonprofits Wanted
American Express quietly built the workforce-AI playbook nonprofits have been asking for — funded by a corporate foundation, executed by two 501(c)(3) intermediaries, pointed at small-business workers.
§ The Big Story
American Express Quietly Built the Workforce-AI Playbook Nonprofits Have Been Asking For
While the headlines last week chased the latest layoff numbers, American Express moved in a different direction. On May 6, AmEx announced two new programs that fund AI training for small-business workforces — and they routed the money through two established workforce nonprofits, not through the corporate brand directly (Business Wire, PYMNTS).
Program one: AI Upskilling for Small Business, built with the nonprofit Generation — a global workforce-training organization with a 15-year track record of placing under-served workers into stable careers. The program is free, available globally, offered in English and Spanish, and structured into three role-based tracks: AI Generalist, Digital Marketing, and Digital Customer Success (Joplin Globe).
Program two: Smart Futures for Small Business Scholarships, administered by Scholarship America. The American Express Foundation is funding up to $1,000 per US participant for AI certification programs (Fintech InShorts).
The structure is the story. Both programs are funded by a corporate foundation, executed by experienced 501(c)(3) intermediaries, and pointed at small-business workforces — the exact population most nonprofit workforce-development programs serve.
Cousin’s Take
Two weeks ago we wrote that “Big employer + organized labor + 501(c)(3) intermediary + AI curriculum” was the model worth studying after the NABTU-Microsoft announcement. AmEx just published the corporate-philanthropy version of the same playbook. If you run a workforce nonprofit, a small-business support organization, or a community-college continuing-ed program, the right question this week is not “should we apply for an AmEx grant” — it is “what does the intermediary role look like in our sector, and are we positioned to be it?” The orgs that get funded over the next 24 months will be the ones that look like Generation and Scholarship America: credible, sector-specific, ready to deliver. That preparation work is May work.
§ Policy Watch
U.S. Department of Education Moves to Prioritize AI in Federal Education Grants
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced on May 7 that the Department is proposing a new supplemental grantmaking priority for advancing AI in education — meaning grant applications that incorporate AI integration will receive preferred consideration across multiple competitive programs (U.S. Department of Education, K-12 Dive).
The priority targets four areas: integrating AI literacy into teaching practices, expanding K-12 AI and computer-science education, supporting professional development for educators, and using AI to personalize learning. The move follows the April 23 Executive Order titled “Advancing AI Education for American Youth” and a “Dear Colleague” letter to existing grantees telling them they may use federal funds for AI work.
Cousin’s Take
Read the implication carefully. Existing federal grantees — many of them schools, districts, and education nonprofits — have just been told that AI-aligned project design will be advantaged in future competitive cycles. If your organization receives or is preparing federal education funding, the grant narrative section that asks “How does this project advance the priorities of the Department?” now has a new acceptable answer. That’s not a small thing. Update your boilerplate this month.
§ Adoption Gap
Nonprofit AI Adoption Hits 92% — But Only 7% Report Major Impact
A new report tracking nonprofit AI adoption found that 92% of nonprofits are now using AI in some form, but only 7% report it has made a major impact on their operations or mission (NonProfit PRO). Roughly half of nonprofits report having no formal AI governance policy at all.
The pattern is familiar — adoption far outpaces strategy. Staff are pasting donor data into ChatGPT, writing grant drafts in Claude, and generating social copy in Canva, but the org has not decided where the guardrails sit, who reviews AI output before it reaches a funder, or whether using a particular tool with client data is acceptable.
Cousin’s Take
The 92% number is honest. So is the 7%. Most nonprofits adopted AI the way they adopt every tool — one staff member tried it, told a colleague, and a year later half the office is using it. That works until it doesn’t. The fastest way to move from the 92% into the 7% is not buying a new tool; it is writing a one-page governance note that names what’s allowed, what isn’t, and who decides. We put a template in this week’s Practical Tip.
§ Practical Tip of the Week
Write a One-Page AI Governance Note in 15 Minutes
This week, open a blank doc and answer four questions for your team. (1) What data should never go into a public AI tool? Specifically name the categories — donor records, client case notes, board materials, HR files. (2) Which tools are approved for general work? Name them — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, your fundraising platform’s built-in AI. (3) Who reviews AI-drafted external content before it goes out? Name the person, not the role. (4) Where do staff go with questions? Name a Slack channel, a person, or a 15-minute monthly office hour.
That document is your governance policy. It will not survive a SOC 2 audit, but it is infinitely more than 47% of nonprofits currently have (NonProfit PRO). Ship it Friday.
§ By The Numbers
92% / 7%
Share of nonprofits using AI / share reporting major impact (NonProfit PRO 2026)
$1,000
Max per-participant AmEx Foundation scholarship for AI certification (Business Wire)
82%
Share of small businesses using AI that grew their workforce in 2025 (US Chamber CO–)
Need a thinking partner this month?
I’m running free 20-minute strategy sessions this month for nonprofit, school, and small-business leaders thinking through their AI-and-workforce question. Bring the question. Leave with a starting point.