Nonprofit AI Adoption Study with Carly Berna

Nonprofit AI Adoption Study with Carly Berna

From Next in Nonprofits by Next in Nonprofits

April 14, 2026 · 42 min · Episode 145

About this episode

Carly Berna discusses the findings of the State of AI Adoption Report and its implications for nonprofits.

Carly Berna is the Fundraiser in Residence at Virtuous, a "modern fundraising platform that creates inspiring moments for donors and grows giving." The State of AI Adoption Report is a free download that details the findings from a study of hundreds of nonprofits regarding their use of Artificial Intelligence tools. The big finding: "92% of nonprofits have adopted AI. Only 7% say it’s actually expanded what their team can accomplish. The rest are stuck on the efficiency plateau: faster drafts, quicker emails, same results." There are some commonalities of organizations which are seeing meaningful impact that are detailed in the report. Carly urges some basics of these success metrics. Elements such as creating and documenting policies, having a cross-functional AI team, and more. The report expresses some urgency to get on board as the tools are changing and becoming more capable. Carly and Steve talk about when and how to use data, such as taking great care to not put identifiable donor data into public versions of LLM (Large Language Model) tools.

People in this episode

Guest: Carly Berna

Topics covered

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Nonprofit Management
  • Fundraising
  • Data Privacy
  • Organizational Strategy

Keywords

  • AI adoption
  • nonprofits
  • efficiency plateau
  • success metrics
  • data usage
  • cross-functional AI team
  • donor data
  • Large Language Model

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Virtuous

Books & works: The State of AI Adoption Report

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