4 expert insights on AI adoption across nonprofits in 2025

January 20, 2025 at 12:01 PM EST

(BPT) - However you use AI, its adoption across organizations of all sizes - including nonprofits - has proven to help people increase their productivity and impact at work.

"It's incredibly exciting for those of us working in the nonprofit space to see how technological adoption can lead to greater societal impact," said Rahul Rao, co-president and chief technology officer at Understood.org, a leading nonprofit empowering the 70 million people in the United States with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia.

At Understood, Rao leads the product, engineering, analytics, information technology, and program management teams, with expertise in integrated digital media with a focus on human-computer interaction and a successful track record in product development and new technology integration.

Rao sees a bright future for nonprofits that integrate AI into their operations. We caught up with him recently to hear his predictions for AI use by nonprofit organizations in 2025.

1. What will drive nonprofit AI adoption?

Research from early 2024 showed that four in five nonprofit organizations consider AI to be applicable to their work. But at the time of the survey, nearly half of the respondents said they weren't currently using the technology. In 2025, I anticipate a surge in AI adoption among nonprofits driven largely by growing visibility in the benefits of AI, as well as the integration of AI into the tools people use every day - like Gmail, Google Docs, and more.

2. How can AI help a nonprofit's operations?

Nonprofits, even those with limited resources or AI experience, can use AI to increase efficiency so more time and resources are spent serving their mission. For instance, using AI to summarize research, recap meetings and draft emails can free up time for team members to focus on human-centric work, including community and donor engagement. AI can also help with routine tasks like data entry and organization, which is often a critical and time-intensive task for social impact organizations.

As more nonprofits become familiar with relevant use cases and participate in affordable and accessible AI training, expect to see AI become a central part of their operations.

3. How has your organization benefited from adopting AI?

AI has been a transformative tool at Understood.org, helping teams working across core functions like fundraising, community outreach, and research drive a major impact.

For example, our Advancement and Partnerships team, which is responsible for fundraising across our organization, sends and receives countless emails every day. Since adopting AI in Gmail through Gemini for Google Workspace, team members have been able to quickly and accurately summarize valuable research about the neurodiversity landscape, manage their inboxes, draft personalized and contextually relevant email replies, adjust tone across important communications, and more. The impact of AI goes beyond time savings, and has allowed the team to maintain a consistent cadence of high-quality outreach that has a direct impact on meeting our goals.

4. Are there ways in which AI has helped your nonprofit's target audience?

Virtual AI assistants have exploded in popularity over the past decade and for good reason: They can help make everyday tasks easier. Their capabilities can be especially useful for people who learn and think differently, acting as assistive technology that helps with reading, writing, math and tasks that involve executive functions.

For instance, AI assistants can help someone with dyslexia receive real-time feedback and corrections in writing, convert text into simpler formats or read it aloud for better understanding. Similarly, they can help someone with dyscalculia by performing basic math calculations, handling unit conversions or visualizing numerical data.

Caregivers of people who learn and think differently can also benefit from AI assistants. A parent or teacher with a specific question about a child with ADHD may be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available about this learning difference. To help caregivers, Understood.org created an AI-powered chat tool on our website, the Understood Assistant. When prompted with a question, the Understood Assistant sorts through our 5,000+ expert-vetted resources to provide tailored recommendations. The responses are designed for clarity and easy comprehension, presented in bulleted lists and written at an eighth-grade reading level. The Understood Assistant may include links to the most relevant articles, podcasts, research, and other resources.

People who use the Understood Assistant read twice as many articles and are twice as likely to return to the site compared to all site users. It's a good example of how AI can help simplify information, which we believe helps to make knowledge more accessible and useful.

A bright future for nonprofits and AI

These are just a few predictions of how AI can help nonprofits better serve their communities and achieve their goals. To learn more about Understood.org's mission and to use the Understood Assistant, please visit Understood.org. And to learn more about AI and its uses across tools like Gmail, Google Docs, and more, please visit https://workspace.google.com/solutions/ai/.

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4 expert insights on AI adoption across nonprofits in 2025

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