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Wanzhu Shi1 and Lauren Azevedo2
1University of North Florida, Jacksonville, USA, 2University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is a type of AI that can create new content. Common types of GenAI include ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. GenAI tools aren’t going anywhere, even for organizations like nonprofits who fulfill their missions in various ways and in all types of communities. Nonprofits can use GenAI tools for many organizational tasks, such as in fundraising and donor engagement, marketing and operations, and program delivery and impact. The potential for this technology is immense.
However, nonprofits don’t always have the resources to invest in new technology and these tools come with some significant ethical concerns for organizations already serving vulnerable groups. Reports of biases due to tools that draw on historical data have disproportionately flagged some groups, raising concerns about GenAI use in working with at risk groups. So how do nonprofits decide to use this technology? What determines GenAI use in nonprofits? And how important are these concerns for ethics and privacy?
Our Research
We used the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, which has been well applied in understanding technology adoption, to explore these questions. The TOE framework includes the technology component (is it accessible, costly, and do we have the technology staff), organization component (innovative culture and nature of the organization), and the environment component (external pressures and privacy concerns). The framework generally suggests that, with good technology, internal readiness, leadership support, and peer pressure to adopt, there is a higher chance of actual adoption.
We surveyed GuideStar sealed 501(c)(3) nonprofits in Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa in 2024 to see if nonprofits organizations were adopting GenAI, what variables impacted GenAI adoption, and what concerns were over these tools. We also followed up with zoom conversations with several organizations to find out additional opportunities and challenges of adopting GenAI in the nonprofit context.
Our Findings
168 nonprofits organizations with different mission focuses (human services, arts and culture, public benefiting, health, education, and others) responded to our survey. We found that there is a growing trend adopting GenAI in different ways, including in their operational activities, donor engagement, volunteer recruitment, grant writing, and content generation. Of the 60 organizations who reported currently using GenAI, most are using it for content generative features, such as crafting newsletters, social media posts, emails, and grant writing. Most respondents, who represented leadership of these organizations, indicated they were supportive of using GenAI, and most (around 60%) indicated they somewhat or strongly agreed that GenAI tools are easy to use in their organization.
The overall support for using GenAI was shaped by many factors, including having an innovative culture, a clear communication process regarding stance on GenAI, accessibility of GenAI tools, technology staff, and peer competition. We also found that board size and mission focus were not important for these nonprofits when it came to adopting GenAI tools. Additionally, cost barriers and privacy concerns did not show influence on nonprofit organizations’ supportive attitudes to GenAI.
We also received 43 responses from an open-ended question in our survey. Although our analysis showed that privacy concerns did not impact the level of support for GenAI tools, about half of these respondents were concerned over the risks of data security and privacy in using GenAI tools, with some specifically stating concerns over bias and equity issues. This concern was most prevalent among human service organizations.
We also had additional follow up conversations with 14 organizations over Zoom where we asked how GenAI tools were used and more on their concerns on risks in their organizations. Overall, they are used for administrative support (like note taking or modifying emails, with tools like Otter.AI, Grain AI, ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude), marketing content design (such as newsletter design, social media creation, or storytelling videos, with tools like Canva, MailChip, and Google Workspace AI), and for data analysis and donor management (like data mining, fundraising assistance, etc., with tools like Windfall, Free Will, and Placer AI).
What this means
We believe that there is significant potential for GenAI for nonprofit organizations, assuming it aligns with the mission and strategic goals and that users can adequately assess and manage risk. Some GenAI tools can be relatively low cost and more user friendly for organizations with limited budgets. Still, many leaders in our study emphasized the need for capacity building, training, and resources for utilizing this tool adequately and ethically. Overall, it appears that nonprofits are lacking communication strategies on expectations, experiences, and concerns that could help mitigate potential risks.
We also think nonprofits should re-assess their innovative culture. GenAI isn’t just a software update, but a fundamental shift in workflow that requires safety, transparency, and human communication to ensure it’s actually advancing the mission, aligning with strategy, and its risks are both known and in check. Moving forward, it will be increasingly important to balance this innovation with risk, particularly in the current legislative environment that prioritizes technology innovation.
Click here to read the free full-text article: Shi, W., & Azevedo, L. (2026). Determinants of AI Adoption in Nonprofit Organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 0(0).
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