AI Playbook for Charities

Future planning and advanced implementation

If you've made it here then we should probably start by saying "Congratulations!". You'll have already accomplished significant milestones: understanding how AI fits within your organisation, developing processes that work for your people and culture, and beginning to share your experiences across the sector. You've moved beyond initial experimentation to establish meaningful foundations for AI adoption.

This chapter focuses on helping established AI implementers push beyond incremental improvements towards more transformative applications of artificial intelligence. The activities here are designed for organisations that have developed confidence in their AI capabilities and are ready to explore more ambitious possibilities.

When to consider these activities

These approaches become relevant once your organisation has:

  • Established clear processes for evaluating and implementing AI tools
  • Built internal expertise through successful projects
  • Developed strong governance frameworks
  • Created effective feedback mechanisms with frontline staff
  • Engaged meaningfully with sector peers about AI implementation

Building on your foundations

The activities in this chapter help you develop more sophisticated approaches to AI implementation. This includes establishing dedicated innovation spaces through AI Labs, developing organisation-specific benchmarks, and exploring structural changes that could better support AI integration.

We've found that charities at this stage often benefit from more systematic approaches to experimentation. For instance, a homeless support charity might move from using AI for basic administrative tasks to developing predictive models for early intervention. Similarly, an environmental organisation might progress from using AI to analyse historical data to creating complex simulations for conservation planning.

Looking towards transformation

While maintaining focus on your charitable mission, these activities encourage you to consider how AI might fundamentally enhance your impact. This isn't about replacing existing services, but rather expanding what's possible. A mental health charity, for example, might explore how AI could help provide 24/7 initial assessment and support while ensuring human counsellors can focus on complex cases.

The activities also address practical considerations for scaling AI implementation. This includes developing comprehensive training programmes, establishing improvement cycles, and creating frameworks for evaluating more advanced AI applications. Throughout, we emphasise the importance of maintaining strong connections between innovation work and frontline operations.

Managing the pace of change

As you explore these activities, remember that effective implementation often means finding the right balance between innovation and stability. While some organisations might be ready to experiment with cutting-edge applications, others might benefit more from strengthening existing implementations or developing deeper expertise in specific areas.

The goal isn't to implement every possible AI innovation, but rather to develop thoughtful approaches to exploring and evaluating new possibilities. This helps ensure that as AI capabilities expand, your organisation remains well-positioned to harness them in service of your charitable mission.