Using AI Tools to Strengthen Civil Society Organizations
How can emerging technology be used to meet funder requirements?
By Shaista Keating, Senior Director of Hardware Programs, and KC Tsunoda, Project Management Analyst, TechSoup
The role of emerging technology in the nonprofit sector is increasingly important. Civil society organizations (CSOs) must expand their technology suite to incorporate artificial intelligence so that individuals and communities, especially the most disadvantaged, may benefit from the operational efficiencies that follow.
In most cases, CSOs apply for support from foundations and other philanthropic institutions to serve their stakeholders, and funders closely review grant applications to ensure that their investments will be used effectively and ethically. Organizations that demonstrate reliable governance, fiscal responsibility, effective program delivery, and strong leadership are more likely to receive funding. Due diligence processes assess the operational health and reliability of an organization, which tends to involve a thorough review of core CSO functions. Meeting due diligence standards can facilitate funding while improving the operational capabilities of CSOs.
TechSoup offers a due diligence service called the Strengthening and Tiered Evaluation Process (STEP), through which we collaborate with CSOs to improve core functions, enhance grant readiness, and instill funder confidence. STEP goes further than traditional due diligence by using a holistic approach that evaluates CSOs on nine STEP streams and offers CSOs access to low-cost learning tools to strengthen areas for organizational efficiency.
It is important to note that everyday tools such as Adobe and Excel continue to be valuable in advancing digital inclusion, particularly for small and medium-sized CSOs with limited access to expensive technology. AI tools that are free of cost such as versions of Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Copilot, or ChatGPT from OpenAI can also help CSOs to increase operational efficiencies.
It is key for our sector to take advantage of innovations in AI to better meet community needs. Our goal is to help CSOs to become familiar with advances in technology that enhance their ability to receive funding and improve operations outlined in each of the nine STEP streams. In addition to the more commonly known AI tools, it is critical for CSOs to become aware of AI solutions that are better tailored to their operations.
In what follows, we use the STEP framework to discuss how CSOs can leverage AI tools for operational efficiency and in turn increase their ability to secure funding. We offer examples of innovative new tools as well as those that are being incorporated into tools that many CSOs use daily. Some of these tools are offered as discounts or donations directly through the TechSoup marketplace.
What Is STEP?
STEP not only encompasses traditional due diligence areas like Financial Management and Legal Compliance but also evaluates an organization’s capacity to serve its communities transparently, effectively, and inclusively.
Operational Planning and Continuity assesses an organization’s efforts in sustainability, succession planning, and proficient management of resources. Streams such as Commitment to Community Engagement, among others, cover essential functions that CSOs must optimize to better serve their constituents. Additionally, Data Privacy and Security assessments determine whether an organization has established protocols to protect its data against cyber risks and how well it complies with relevant data privacy standards.
Rather than the typical “pass/fail” approach to due diligence, STEP places the organization on a tier for each stream, which aligns to a funder’s risk tolerance and shows where improvements can be made. Through examining the nine streams within STEP, CSOs receive a comprehensive evaluation of their key functions, giving them a starting point to boost efficiency and mitigate risk.
Because the STEP streams holistically assess core CSO functions, they can serve as a framework to consider how digital transformation and the integration of AI tools can enhance these core functions to help CSOs increase efficiency and enhance grant readiness.
Let’s take a look at how AI can be applied to each STEP stream.
AI and Governance
CSOs must have a board that can effectively provide direction for the organization. Creating and maintaining board procedures can be a challenge for many organizations. OnBoard by Passageways uses AI to make board functions simpler, allowing CSOs to spend more time and mental capacity to carry out their core duties. OnBoard offers a board portal solution equipped with features specifically designed for CSOs. These features make collaboration easier by accelerating and enhancing decision-making through functions like voting, surveys, and eSignatures.
OnBoard leverages AI through its Intelligent Assistant tool powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 and encrypted with Microsoft Azure. The program is in beta testing and is available to OnBoard users. The tool assists board members in finding relevant information within their board portal. It uses knowledge of the specific organization and the user’s role to create tailored output that saves time and effort for each user. Noteworthy organizations like Khan Academy, Make-A-Wish, and Goodwill have already integrated OnBoard to improve their board functions and have access to the beta Intelligent Assistant tool to enhance their board portal experience.
AI and Financial Management
Many CSOs must devote significant time and resources to ensuring that they have appropriate financial strategies, adequate data, and thorough reporting. AI tools can help CSOs accomplish financial planning better and faster, giving them more time and better financial information to pursue their missions.
Some financial management tools already use AI. For instance, Intuit’s QuickBooks, with the help of Intuit Assist, a generative AI-powered financial assistant, offers solutions to automate many laborious financial management tasks. This tool can offer financial insights, answer questions, and automate repetitive tasks. Intuit Assist speeds up financial management for CSOs and allows them to allocate more time to mission-critical activities.
AI and Legal Compliance
Navigating the constantly changing regulatory landscape is challenging for organizations of all sizes. Without a dedicated program, many CSOs struggle to maintain confidence in their legal compliance. For organizations that are just creating a compliance program, building a solid foundation that aligns with industry standards can require abundant time and resources.
Vanta is tailored to assist CSOs with their compliance requirements. It provides customizable policy templates and practical guidance, allowing organizations to tackle their compliance efforts with confidence. Leveraging advanced AI capabilities, Vanta simplifies the process by extracting insights from SOC 2 reports (an assessment of an organization’s ability to securely manage customer data), security questionnaires, and other key documents, accelerating security reviews. It offers actionable recommendations to ensure that policies are aligned with relevant controls, making it easier to show adherence to new regulations.
Notable organizations like the Salvation Army have placed their trust in Vanta to streamline their legal compliance efforts, resulting in a significant decrease in the time spent on these tasks.
Legal Check, in collaboration with Civic House, is designed for CSOs’ specific legal needs throughout Latin America. It aims to answer legal questions for CSOs in Latin America with its AI chatbot Lexy, so organizations can focus more on their missions.
AI and Operational Planning and Continuity
Many organizations must have detailed plans for their operations to most efficiently serve their missions and become grant ready. For organizations of all sizes, operational planning can be challenging and time-consuming, even with project management software tools. To enhance this process, project management software, such as Asana, has begun to integrate AI capabilities to save time and make improvements to the operational planning process.
Asana has a history of helping organizations keep their operations organized and goal-oriented, but it has recently begun using AI, which it calls Asana Intelligence, to give organizations more tools for their project management. It offers features such as smart status, which generates a status report on goals and projects as well as “smart answers” to questions you might have about a project. It is planning to release smart goals and smart reporting soon, which will enhance those aspects of project management with its AI tools.
AI and Risk Management
CSOs often work with vulnerable populations that are at higher risk of facing disaster. It’s important for CSOs to have tools in place that are capable of swiftly mitigating risks for these vulnerable populations. However, with information coming from so many different sources, it can be difficult for organizations to receive vital information quickly. Dataminr has developed an AI solution that gives these organizations the view of events they need to properly assist the vulnerable populations they serve.
Dataminr leverages AI to understand data from hundreds of thousands of sources in many different languages. It is able to alert organizations that serve vulnerable populations faster than ever before when disaster strikes, enabling timely emergency responses. Leading global organizations such as UN Global Pulse are already using this technology. UN Global Pulse believes that Dataminr will improve its work and keep its teams safer. Direct Relief has already used Dataminr during a crisis to find flights to evacuate their teams in Afghanistan.
AI and Demonstrating a Commitment to Community Engagement
Organizations must ensure that community engagement is not only impactful but also transparent, participatory, inclusive, respectful, and nondiscriminatory.
CSOs valueAI solutions that facilitate respectful engagement with their communities to amplify impact. For example, consider the partnership between the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Twilio.org. By employing AI-powered chatbots, resource-constrained staff were better able to handle inquiries from asylum-seeking refugees. This innovative application of AI enabled the IRC to expand its outreach, positively affecting more lives within their communities.
AI and Data Security and Privacy
Organizations need to handle their partners’ and constituents’ data responsibly to prevent misuse. However, because of the variety of applications and devices that organizations use, maintaining complete control of data can be challenging for CSOs that don’t have a dedicated team.
Gamma.ai provides a solution for organizations to maintain data security. It can classify data across an organization’s applications and users, alerting organizations to potential threats. Since CSOs often manage substantial amounts of data, it is crucial to seek out tools like Gamma.ai to enhance their data security and privacy efforts. CSOs like Project N95 have already relied on Gamma.ai to safeguard their data.
AI and Safeguarding
SinceCSOs work with some of the most vulnerable populations, they need to have safeguards in place.. There are many ways that vulnerable populations can be harmed; consequently, there are a variety of measures that CSOs should take to safeguard these communities. Veritone has created an AI tool that helps these populations with legal investigations using its Central Intelligence Hub.
The Central Intelligence Hub uses AI to share all relevant data points in a legal investigation with the relevant parties. This AI assistance helps expedite investigations and brings justice for CSOs’ constituents. This technology helps law enforcement, analysts, judicial agencies, and legal professionals to create better and faster legal outcomes.
AI and Working with Implementing Partners
This STEP stream focuses on CSOs partnering with other CSOs to achieve their missions. While there are no specific AI tools that are directly and solely meant to serve this purpose, there are many that can help with this process.
While the Working with Implementing Partners stream is meant to focus on partner organizations, we can take a look at a tool that is meant to aid in working with partner individuals. CSOs often rely on volunteers to help fulfill their missions. Organizing events and tasks with volunteers can present a different set of challenges than managing employees. Golden, integrated with AI, has created a platform that helps simplify the volunteering process for both organizations and volunteers. Many prominent organizations such as EarthShare and Habitat for Humanity have already used Golden to optimize their volunteering networks.
Additionally, when working with partner CSOs, it’s important to maintain consistent writing habits in line with organization values. Grammarly AI can help writers fix their grammar mistakes to make sure they sound professional when communicating with partners. The AI tools can also identify patterns in organizational rhetoric and make writing suggestions that are aligned with previous communications. This tool enhances the consistency and professionalism of communication between partners.
A Note on Security Best Practices
While we urge CSOs to implement AI tools into their technology suite to enhance their operations, we also encourage best practices to maintain information security. In many cases, allowing AI tools to access your organization’s data also grants them permission to use your data in training of their Large Language Models (LLMs). To maintain control of your CSO’s data, it is important to understand the provider’s terms of use and whether you can modify or revoke unnecessary permissions. These are some best practices:
- Study the provider’s terms of use and determine whether you can request an audit of the information that is being stored
- Clarify what you can do to modify or revoke unnecessary permissions
- Exercise caution with identifiable information
Final Considerations
Implementing artificial intelligence tools can seem daunting. The first step to approaching the opportunities that this fast-paced technology offers to CSOs is to define specific pain points that need to be addressed. Going through the TechSoup STEP streams in a systematic manner can help CSOs to accurately assess functions that need to be improved and how these areas may be enhanced by implementing AI tools. Not only will this process help CSOs to enhance operational efficiency to better serve their communities, it will also improve CSOs’ chances of securing funding.
