AI for charities: practical ways to free up time for your mission

Most charities run on small teams doing big jobs. Used carefully, AI can take some of the writing, reading and admin off your plate, so more of your time goes into the people and causes you exist to serve.

Where AI helps charities most

Funding bids and reports

AI is good at turning your notes into a structured first draft. Use it to:

• Summarise a funder's guidance into the key criteria, deadlines and questions
• Draft answers from your own notes, impact data and past bids
• Check a draft against the word limit and the funder's priorities
• Turn a long impact report into a one-page summary for trustees

Your voice, evidence and relationships win funding. AI simply gets you to a solid draft faster, leaving more time to sharpen it.

Communications

Newsletters, social posts, appeal emails and website updates can all start as AI drafts. Give the tool a short brief about your audience and tone, then edit so it sounds like you. Real stories and real names should always come from you, with consent.

Admin and volunteers

AI can help write volunteer role descriptions, rotas, induction guides and meeting notes. Small jobs, but they add up across a month.

Accessibility

Plain-English rewrites, summaries and translations can make your information easier for more people to use. Check translations with a fluent speaker before publishing anything important.

The safeguards that matter most

Charities often hold sensitive information about vulnerable people, so a few rules are essential:

• Never enter beneficiary details, case notes or safeguarding information into general AI tools.
• Keep people in charge of decisions about who receives support.
• Check every fact and figure before it appears in a bid, report or appeal.
• Be honest with supporters about images. Don't present AI-generated pictures as real people or real situations.

Our guide to writing a simple AI policy covers these points in a format your trustees can approve.

A simple way to start

1. Pick the task that eats most of your week, often funding applications or reporting.
2. Try AI on that one task for a month, using non-sensitive information only.
3. Note the time saved and anything that went wrong.
4. Share what you learned with the team and your trustees, then decide what comes next.

Support for charities and social enterprises

Through Nectar, our social impact service, charities, CICs and social enterprises get our full team at reduced rates, including help choosing and setting up AI tools. You might also find our guide to charity video on a budget useful.