AI in Nonprofits Starts with Data: Here’s Where to Begin

We can’t predict exactly where the sector will be in five years, but one thing is certain: at some point, your constituents and staff will be interacting with AI: whether it’s an AI agent, a chatbot, or automated workflows. Now is the time to think about how your organization collects and organizes data.

The bonus? Getting serious about your data today will not only prepare you for AI but will also improve your overall strategy, personalization, and outreach in fundraising initiatives.

Our partner, Doing Good Digital, has been piloting a new service: building AI agent workflows to help clients improve processes like grant writing, cross-departmental reporting, and volunteer intake. 

What are the first steps a nonprofit should take to successfully adopt AI?

1. Consider a Data Warehouse strategy

If your organization manages constituents and donors across multiple systems, solutions as Charity Automator Data Warehouse can centralize and unify all activities related to a single constituent into one streamlined view. This ensures cleaner, more accurate data for both reporting and AI readiness.

2. Organize your data thoughtfully

Many nonprofits already have donor and client data in CRMs like Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge NXT or Salesforce. But there’s often a lot of important data (event registrations, volunteer intake forms, grant applications, process documentation) living outside of those systems. Some habits to consider: 

• Create a master folder structure that mirrors your main organizational functions (fundraising, programs, operations) so staff can quickly find what they need.

• Use consistent naming conventions for files and folders (e.g., “Year_Project_Type_Version”) so AI agents can process and retrieve data accurately.

• Apply metadata or tags (e.g., campaign name, fiscal year, department) to documents for easier searching and automated categorization later.

• Centralize forms and templates—grant applications, volunteer sign-up forms, campaign assets, so there’s a single source of truth for AI training materials.

3. Create mission documentation and process manuals

Clear, step-by-step documentation for processes like volunteer onboarding, food pantry processes, or grant applications will be invaluable when training AI agents or chatbots to support your team.

So far, Doing Good Digital has been building solutions using tools like N8N, Jotform, and integrating them with Google Drive and ChatGPT. From their experience, the building is actually the easy part.

The real magic happens when clients have taken steps to centralize and clean their data. With the right foundation, they can build faster and deploy AI agents and chatbots that deliver accurate, actionable insights and create better experiences for staff and constituents alike.

‍Author: This is a guest post by Paul St Onge, CEO, Doing Good Digital. Doing Good Digital is a digital agency for nonprofits that specializes in digital fundraising, acquisition, retention and donor journeys. They are experts in nonprofit technology like Luminate Online and Engaging Networks.

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