Recap: what we know about AI skills and capacity so far
We can see elsewhere in this report that there is appetite to engage with AI, particularly among large charities and those with a strategy in place. This section of the report delves into the specific questions about how charities are using AI tools, their views on AI, the steps they are taking to move forwards and the barriers they face. As a recap we have seen that:
Skills and capacity to engage with emerging tech trends are low
- Charities rate their skills and capacity to engage with emerging tech lower than all the core digital skills we asked about. Overall, 40% say that they are poor at engaging with emerging tech trends, whilst a further 16% say they don’t do this, a total of 56%.
- For small charities, this rises to 60% saying they have poor skills and capacity to engage with emerging tech trends, or are not currently doing this.
- For charities at an early stage with digital (curious or starting out), 65% say they have poor skills or do not engage with emerging tech trends.
- 7 out of 10 charities (68%) say they are struggling to progress digitally overall, due to their finances, headspace and capacity.
Leaders needs to develop AI knowledge
- 39% want their CEO to develop their digital skills by keeping up to date with emerging trends and AI tools. In addition, 34% want their CEO to understand risks and opportunities for emerging tech.
- Nearly a third (31%) want their board to learn about emerging tech and AI tools (34% of large and 30% of small charities).
AI is a greater priority for large charities
- It is surprising to see that only a third of charities (34%) see using AI tools as a priority this year for their organisation.
- There are clear differences between large and small charities. Half of large charities (53%) say that AI tools are a priority, whilst only a quarter of small charities do (26%).
Use of AI
Are charities using AI tools?
61% of charities are using AI tools in their day-to-day work or operations
- 61% of charities are currently using AI in their day-to-day work or operations. Of these, 45% of charities are using AI tools informally (e.g. trying out tools), whilst only 11% are using AI tools across their organisation and a further 5% are working towards this. This is a significant increase on the 35% who were using AI tools last year.
- More than a third (37%) are not using AI tools day-to-day.
- Whilst half of small charities (53%) are using AI tools, this is much less in comparison to three quarters (78%) of large charities.
- We can see higher proportions of charities using AI tools at each higher digital stage:
- Curious: 38%
- Starting out: 54%
- Advancing: 73%
- Advanced: 78%
- Interestingly, 78% of infrastructure organisations and 83% of grantmaking trusts and foundations are using AI tools. This could link to their role in supporting other charities and the associated administration and data work.
- This shows us that income and digital skills are key factors in the uptake of AI tools.
How charities are using AI tools
A third of charities are using AI tools for administrative tasks and developing online content
Data note: This section is based on questions that were only asked of the 345 charities who said that they were using AI tools in their work. However, we have calculated the percentages out of the respondents who answered the AI question at the start of this section (566 charities) to give a meaningful view of the extent of AI use in the charity sector.
The most popular uses and functions of AI tools are:
- Developing online content (e.g. social media posts and generating images) (33%)
- Administrative tasks such as summarising meeting notes (32%).
- Drafting documents and reports (28%)
- Generate ideas/creativity (e.g. to start a project) (27%)
- Research and information gathering (e.g. about a topic, current advice) (24%)
Small proportions are using AI tools in the following ways:
- Grant fundraising: One in five charities (19%) are using AI tools for tasks such as writing bids and researching funders. Of the 110 charities using AI tools for grant fundraising, two thirds are small charities (66%) whilst a third are large (32%).
- Service delivery: 5% are offering services built on AI tools, whilst 12% say they are using AI tools behind the scenes. Overall, 15% of charities are using AI tools in their service delivery.
- Finding numerical insights in data: Only 8% were using AI tools for data analysis and 4% are using predictive analytics such as for targeting donors. This may speak to the data skills and capacity gap in the sector.
- Supporting others with AI and influencing change: 9% of charities are currently supporting others to understand, critically engage with or use AI tools, whilst 5% are influencing the responsible and ethical development of AI technology and 4% are supporting people and communities who are negatively affected by AI technology.
How charities feel about AI being relevant and how prepared they are
Almost two thirds of charities see AI as relevant to them, but less than a quarter feel prepared to respond to the opportunities and challenges
- 65% of charities either strongly agree or agree that AI developments are relevant to them. This is less than the 78% who agreed with this statement in our AI poll for the Charity Digital Skills Report in 2023 (noting that this poll only had 100 respondents).
- A third of charities are not certain about whether AI developments are relevant to them (35%). This includes 19% who feel neutral and 6% who don’t know.
- However, large charities are significantly more positive about AI. 83% strongly agree or agree that AI developments are relevant to them, compared to 56% of small charities. This looks to be linked to digital capacity as well as size.
- Despite this interest, only 22% of charities agree or strongly agree that they feel prepared to respond to AI opportunities and challenges. The responses are similar for both large and small charities (23% of small and 21% of large charities agree or strongly agree that they feel prepared). Overall, most charities feel unprepared for AI developments.
Moving forward with AI
What steps are charities taking to move forward with AI?
In order to learn about AI, a third (35%) of charities are experimenting with AI tools in their everyday work
- We were surprised to find that 37% of charities say they are not taking any steps to engage further with AI. This rises to 47% of small charities, compared to only 14% of large charities who are not looking to move forward with AI.
- Charities are primarily taking steps to learn about AI, with a third (37%) attending workshops, events and webinars, 30% following AI developments with interest, and 1 in 5 (20%) engaged in learning with their peers at other nonprofits.
- Others are adopting a test and learn approach, with 35% experimenting with AI tools and 20% generating ideas to use AI tools.
- Less than 1 in 5 are putting in the building blocks needed for AI use such as developing an AI policy (16%), reviewing data protection and security (15%), and improving data maturity and capability (9%). More large charities are focusing on these, with 34% developing an AI policy and 25% reviewing data protection and security.
- Charities need to take a user-led approach to adopting AI, so it is a concern that just 8% are asking clients, users and communities about their views and use of AI.
- Despite a lack of skills and knowledge in the field of AI, very few charities (1%) are looking to hire people with these skills.
Are charities looking for external AI training and support?
Half of charities are looking for external training, support, guidance or opportunities to engage further with AI this year
- We wanted to find out how many charities were committed to seeking AI training, guidance, support or informal opportunities to engage further with AI this year. Results were mixed.
- Overall, half of charities are definitely or probably looking for external AI training, guidance or support (56%).
- However, the picture is incredibly varied. Whilst 1 in 5 (20%) will definitely be seeking out these opportunities, 36% say they probably will and 23% think they probably won’t. Taken together, the data indicates a variable picture of charities committed to seeking help to engage further with AI, and those who aren’t sure about next steps.
- Again, we can see that large charities are more committed to moving forwards with AI, with 77% saying they definitely (30%) or probably (44%) will access external training or support. This compares to 50% of small charities saying they definitely (16%) or probably (34%) will look for external training or support.
Which AI skills are charities planning to develop?
Almost two thirds (62%) of charities want to grow their general understanding of AI and how charities are using it
- Charities are at exploratory stages with developing their AI skills.
- Almost two thirds (62%) want to develop a general understanding of AI and how charities are using it, whilst 58% want practical knowledge of responsible use of AI tools and almost half (48%) want to know about use cases in their services.
- 40% are keen to skill up in how to assess AI risks and adopt AI responsibly, with 38% keen to develop AI policies and governance.
- 39% are interested in how to use AI to improve operations and efficiency, indicating an interest in productivity.
- Some charities are interested in developing skills to get more from data and to gain insights, with 29% seeking to understand how their target audience is impacted by AI.
- Large and small charities have similar responses here in terms of the skills they most want to develop, although for larger charities the proportions are higher for every skill in comparison to smaller charities.
What is holding charities back when it comes to AI?
50% of charities say the biggest barrier they face to moving forward with AI is a lack of skills and expertise
- The biggest barrier charities face to moving forwards with AI is a lack of technical skills and expertise, cited by 50% of charities. This is a sector wide challenge, shared by both large (55%) and small (48%) charities.
- This is compounded by a lack of training to upskill, identified as the second biggest barrier by a third of charities (34%). Again, this is a sector wide challenge and both large (31%) and small charities (35%) agree.
- Almost a third (31%) are concerned about data privacy, GDPR and security.
- Large charities are particularly worried about data privacy, GDPR and security. This is a top concern for 47% of respondents, compared to 24% of small charities.
- Charities are also lacking confidence in AI tools, citing key barriers as factual accuracy (31%), the potential for bias and discrimination (31%), and human rights and environmental concerns (31%).
- Costs of AI tools are an issue for 29% of charities, which is likely to be affected by the cost of living crisis. The results here are identical for small and large charities.
