Simple Ways to Protect Your Organization’s Information When Using AI
Artificial intelligence is changing how many organizations approach their daily tasks. For small teams and busy nonprofits juggling constant deadlines, AI tools can be very helpful. They can help reduce administrative work, draft communications quickly, and stretch your limited capacity further than ever before. However, as these tools become part of our regular work, it is important to set clear boundaries to keep your organization’s information safe.
How Using Public AI Can Create Risks
When a team is working hard to hit year-end fundraising goals or finish quarterly reporting, copying and pasting internal notes into a free, public AI tool to summarize meetings or analyze data feels harmless. However, many teams do not have clear policies for using AI, which can create risks, such as:
Public models learning from your data: When you paste internal notes, contact lists, or giving histories into public AI tools, that information is stored. It can also be used to train those models, meaning your private information could eventually become part of public knowledge.
The impact on donor trust: Your organization depends on relationships and confidentiality. If a supporter's private history or giving record is exposed because donor data was processed through a public tool, that trust can be broken.
Always Check What AI Produces
While privacy is a major concern, there is another risk to consider: accuracy. AI models can be extremely helpful, but they are not always right, and without clear instructions, they can sometimes invent facts.
For a small nonprofit, an error in a grant application, a thank you letter, or a donor data summary can affect the trust your supporters have in your work. If a donor receives a letter with the wrong amount, or if you base a campaign on incorrectly analyzed data, it creates unnecessary challenges for your organization.
Always double-check the work that AI produces. It should be reviewed by a team member to ensure the information is both accurate and safe to share.
A Simple Approach to Using AI
If you decide to use AI for your work, you can protect your organization’s confidential information by using details that are already available to the public. This allows the tool to help you draft things like social media posts or newsletters without risking privacy. For example, you can use information from your website, such as your mission statement, program descriptions, or news releases.
While it is convenient to paste meeting notes or spreadsheets into a tool, those private details should stay secure within your organization. This includes anything that identifies a supporter, such as donor names, addresses, gift amounts, or private meeting notes. These sensitive details should be kept in secure, central places like your donor CRM or a protected shared drive rather than being moved into AI tools for analysis.
A Simple Start for Small Teams
For volunteer-led teams, creating complex AI policies can feel like a lot of work. You do not need a thick manual to stay secure; you can simply start small. For example, if you do not have a donor CRM, find one document, such as a spreadsheet with supporter details, and ensure it is in a secure, central place like a shared drive that only your team can access. Also, ensure those who work with the data know where to find it, and make sure everyone knows never to paste identifying information from that list into an AI tool. Even something as simple as this helps protect the privacy of your most important connections.
Technology will continue to change, and new tools will likely make administrative work even faster. But technology is only as helpful as the boundaries you set. By setting simple rules and using AI with caution, you can embrace these new tools without putting your mission at risk. When you protect your information, you protect the deep connections that make your organization possible.
