Balancing AI's potential with purpose: our advice for charities
We’re hearing it more and more: “How can we add AI to our website?”
This comes as no surprise though. AI is everywhere! Fundraising platforms can fine-tune donation journeys and content tools can generate entire blog posts in seconds.
It feels like the possibilities are endless. But when charities come to us with this question, we always pause. The real power of AI lies not in the tech itself, but in how you use it responsibly, purposefully, and with your mission front and centre.
In this blog, we’re going to take you through the ways charities can mindfully start using AI, what you need to know and some key considerations to keep in mind.
AI is not a replacement for people
There’s a common fear, especially in sectors like fundraising and marketing, that AI might take our jobs. But from where we’re standing, AI’s real strength is in supporting human talent, not replacing it.
We’ve seen charities use AI to streamline time-consuming tasks such as:
- Drafting funding proposals or marketing copy
- Generating first drafts of social posts or email campaigns
- Automating responses to FAQs through AI-powered chatbots
AI can provide a strong foundation to curate copy for a whole range of fundraising activities, taking the pressure off teams. Using AI in this way frees fundraisers and communications leads to focus on what really matters: building meaningful relationships, telling powerful stories, and driving impact.
Creating smart and effective donation processes
We’re already helping charities implement AI-powered platforms like Fundraise Up. Its machine learning tools optimise every step of the giving process, from engaging donation prompts to personalised ask amounts. This helps charities raise more, reducing the strain on fundraising teams, while also giving supporters a more tailored experience.
Fundraise Up reports that charities using their platform have seen an incredible 63% average increase in digital revenue. One example of this is Save the Children, which saw a 37% increase in digital revenue after implementing Fundraise Up’s AI-powered donation tools. That’s a clear example of AI used well: a tool that enhances giving journeys and directly supports your mission in line with your other fundraising activities.
Check out some more of Fundraise Up’s work with other charities on their website.
Better user journeys and faster support
AI can help charities with more than fundraising. Tools like chatbots can create tailored experiences for website visitors, helping them uncover parts of your charity’s work they might not have found on their own. At Studio Republic, we especially like tawk.to’s AI assistant as it can be easily set up without needing any technical knowledge. It can be trained by simply crawling a website, providing free text and uploading documents. By giving it instructions, you can also specify how it should answer user queries.
For those seeking help, AI can also support charity operations by speeding up access to support. It can help by pointing people to the right services without making them dig through pages of content. In turn, this can also cut down the amount of telephone queries received by answering common questions that users might normally pick up the phone to ask. Done well, this kind of AI has the added bonus of enhancing user experience, making your website work harder for your community of supporters and service users.
The hidden cost of AI: why charities should care
While AI can really benefit charities, there’s another side that often gets missed – its environmental impact.
Behind every AI-generated image, chatbot conversation or predictive donation journey sits vast computing power. The data centres running these models consume huge amounts of energy. One study found that training a single large AI model can emit as much carbon as five cars over their entire lifetimes. There’s an interesting AI energy calculator here you can play with to see the comparative impact of different providers and models.
For charities driven by social and environmental purpose, this matters. AI’s potential is exciting, but it comes with costs that aren’t always visible. And as a sector, we can’t ignore that. For charities looking to start utilising AI, this has to be a key consideration.
The pitfalls of AI: what charities need to know
Next, let’s look at some of the ways AI falls down. These are important things to keep in mind if you’re thinking about using AI, or already are!
- Hallucinations: AI tools can confidently generate incorrect or misleading information. Always fact-check AI outputs before publishing!
- Data privacy: Some AI models train on user data. Sensitive information could potentially be surfaced to other users or used in future training, creating privacy risks.
- Bias: AI models inherit biases from the data they’re trained on, risking outputs that are inaccurate, unfair or exclusionary.
How charities can use AI responsibly
As mentioned above, using AI responsibly is going to help your charity make the most of what it has to offer. Being intentional about how and where you use AI matters, so here are some guiding principles that can help you with where to start:
- Start with purpose: Use AI where it genuinely adds value, not just because it’s trendy.
- Fact-check outputs: Never rely on AI-generated content without human review.
- Protect your data: Avoid inputting sensitive information into public AI tools.
- Assess environmental impact: Consider the energy cost of tools you’re using. Is there a simpler solution?
- Watch for bias: Review AI outputs for fairness and inclusivity.
Our approach to using AI
When it comes to AI our approach is purpose-first, always! At Studio Republic, we believe AI should be used responsibly as a tool to amplify your purpose, not distract from it.
AI should be used to add value and not without clear objectives. While AI can seem to provide fast and easy solutions for fundraising, content creation and even streamline operations, it isn’t always the right call.
Sometimes, the best solution is simpler: clearer content, better UX, smarter website forms. This can all be achieved without AI and have a huge impact on your charities ability to generate donations, build connections, and amplify your purpose.
The question we always come back to is this: will AI serve your mission?
What does the future hold for AI?
One thing’s for sure – AI isn’t going anywhere.
It’s such a fast-moving technology that it’s impossible to predict exactly where it will go next, but one trend we expect to see in the next few months is the emergence of highly-personalised content. Imagine a charity website where an AI model can gauge the type of user based on a couple of interactions. If it determines they are a potential donor, then more donation asks can be served. Whereas, if they are a potential beneficiary, these can be swapped out with signposts for users to engage with services. This is a great example of how AI can serve both the charity and its website visitors by enhancing the user journey and growing the charity’s impact.
Final thought: balance the benefits with the bigger picture
Used well, AI can help charities do more with less, freeing up precious time and resources for the work that really matters.
But it’s not a silver bullet. Nor is it impact-free. The key is making thoughtful, purpose-led decisions that balance innovation with the values at the heart of your charity.
That’s where we come in. We help charities make tech choices that amplify their purpose, not just chase the next big thing.
