Hello everyone, great to see you back here :)
Since launching a month ago, we’ve grown by word of mouth only, and I cannot thank you all enough for sharing this with the people in your networks who are also figuring this out.
I’m starting to see what people are most interested in. One thing is clear, the practical stuff is what gets shared the most.
This week, I’m sharing a practical resource that I encourage every NFP professional wanting to lead on AI to read through.
I’m always a little wary of downloadable playbooks. They tend to arrive with good intentions and nice visuals, but I find that personally, I don’t often end up referencing them beyond one or two conversations immediately after reading.
The IBM/NationSwell Responsible AI for Social Impact report is one I often come back to. Not because it does a good job of explaining the benefits of AI, but more because it makes the task of building responsible AI capacity something that can be reduced down to simple themes and concepts.
The playbook is built around three core elements: foundational AI literacy, equitable and human-centered design, and responsible governance. In practice, most organizations I talk to are focusing on literacy, and this is where I also feel most NFPs should be focused on when starting out. The value of the framework is that it shows you where you are, what good foundations look like, and what comes next.
I've pulled a few framings from this playbook that stick — the kind I can actually use at a table and peers just get immediately. The "Five Pillars of Trusted AI" are simple labels and questions that turn developing governance into accessible cross-disciplinary work. Inviting others into the discussion and establishing key focus points without intimidating language or technical jargon? This is what encourages governance to be an engaging and thoughtful conversation rather than a rigid checklist people pretend to understand.
It’s true that the playbook can’t tell you which tools to choose, or the pathway of tooling introductions you should make to best scaffold fluency and thoughtfulness. But it does point to the foundations that organizations should focus on to turn experimentation into value: clean data, defining success, scoping and understanding problems clearly. It can help show how governance could be organized simply, and what principles should rule the day to keep things focused on what matters.
“Nonprofit organizations achieving AI fluency, where LLMs are used as frequently as excel, can reasonably see 10-15% efficiency gains…equivalent to a $100,000 unrestricted grant for a $1 million nonprofit”
Leimsider's quote above puts a number on it. With the space moving so quickly, fluency in the basics paired with enough governance to mitigate basic risks and encourage trust is the table stakes for doing any of this well.
Building habits and good practise is hard, so having a playbook that is so easy to absorb, evangelize and apply is a real advantage. Mine has mostly evolved from here, but I hope you find it a great grounding as you begin to think about whats the next step for your organization.
The full playbook is here - no sign ups or email handover required.
As this community continues to grow, please do get in touch with resources that you’ve come across and think would be of value to your peers so I can cover them on The Thing Is.
-Mike