AI in non-profits
Non-profit AI tends to sit in the donor file, the appeal, and the decision about who receives a service. The Intelligence Audit reads those uses from the inside. The tax status does not pick the rule. The activity does.
How AI shows up
Donor models rank who to ask and for how much. Appeal tools draft the message. Grant tools draft the proposal. Beneficiary scoring and case tools suggest who qualifies or who is contacted next. Volunteer and donor chat answers questions the staff have not seen.
A non-profit that delivers care, housing, or education can be running those sectors' tools under a charitable banner. Staff also paste donor lists and case notes into public models. The audit follows the data and the decision, not the exemption letter.
Rules the audit looks at
The names below are examples the Regulatory and Compliance part and the Sector Controls part look at with your counsel. Listing one is not a determination that it applies to you, and it is not legal advice.
- The privacy notice, the donor agreement, and state privacy and charitable-solicitation rules where the organization asks for money or holds donor data
- HIPAA, FERPA, the Fair Housing Act, or other sector rules, where the program actually delivers care, education, or housing
- The Colorado AI Act, where a system makes or strongly shapes a consequential decision about a beneficiary or a donor
There is no single federal statute that covers every donor file the way HIPAA covers health information. The audit does not invent one. It reads the notice you published, the agreement you signed, and the state duties your counsel identifies. If the program is clinical or educational, those sector rules are examples too.
What the audit checks
Sector Controls follows the activity. For fundraising it tests donor data, appeal models, and who can see a gift record. For a program it tests eligibility or case tools the same way Sector Controls tests the underlying sector. Regulatory and Compliance maps where you solicit and where you serve, with your counsel.
Go-to-Market covers donor scoring, appeal copy, and claims about impact or need. The TCPA and the FTC are examples where texts, calls, and advertising are in play, not a legal opinion. Vendor review matters because the CRM and the appeal platform often hold the list. Shadow AI matters because grant and case drafts leave the building one paste at a time.
Before we walk you through it, every Intelligence Audit is reviewed with our counsel. The review is ours, and it is not legal advice to you. The next step after the Assessment report is the Discovery Call.
Questions about this sector
Is there one federal law for donor data?
No. Donor data is held under the privacy notice, the donor or grant agreement, and the state privacy and charitable-solicitation rules that apply where you ask for money. The audit reads those records. It does not invent a single federal donor statute, and it is not legal advice. Your counsel confirms the state duties.
What if a non-profit also delivers care or education?
The sector follows the activity. A clinic can face HIPAA. A school program can face FERPA. A housing program can face the Fair Housing Act. Tax-exempt status does not remove those examples. Sector Controls tests the program that is actually running.
What does the audit check first at a non-profit?
Where AI already touches a donor decision or a beneficiary decision, and who owns it. Go-to-Market covers the appeal. Sector Controls covers the program. Our counsel reviews the audit before we walk you through it. That review is not legal advice to you.
How an engagement with us works
- 01
Intelligence Assessment
A short written read from your answers and what is public
Read - 02
Discovery Call
We talk through the organization and the decision in front of you
Read - 03
Scope and Agreement
Scope is agreed in writing before the audit begins
Read - 04
Intelligence Audit
Eleven parts of work from the inside, and the architecture sits inside that work
Read - 05
Roadmap Preparation
The implementation plan for 90 days, 6 months, and 12 months
Read - 06
Counsel Review
Our counsel reviews the audit before we walk you through it. It is not legal advice to you.
Read - 07
Audit Delivery
The report, the architecture map, the plan, and a leadership readout
Read - 08
Ongoing Advisory
We stay when a capability or a rule changes
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