We are closing in on one year since the release of ChatGPT4, an upgraded version of the first public generative AI large language model. Even though traditional AI has been a part of the technology landscape for decades and our consumer lives for the past ten years, ChatGPT4 catapulted AI into a reliable daily headline and a frequent topic of conversation. The conversation about AI among grantmakers, however, has not advanced dramatically since then, despite calls for grantmakers to do more.

Many funders remain in a holding pattern, unsure how to respond to the relative ease of access by staff and grantees to generative AI, let alone experiment with it for mission attainment for themselves and their grantees or take a position on its impact on society.

The challenge is that AI is already here. In the fall of 2023, Project Evident collaborated with Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI and conducted the first survey about AI interest and use across grantmakers and nonprofits in the social and education sectors. We believe it is important that the voice of the social sector is included in the AI discourse alongside industry and academia. This survey is a first step toward developing robust lines of communication between AI researchers and philanthropy, and assessing the needs of the field.

The survey revealed that 48 percent of funders and 66 percent of nonprofit respondents claim their organization currently utilizes some type of AI. While the nonprofit field often lags industry in technology adoption, in this instance, grantmakers are trailing their grantees. Given that nonprofits rely on funders for capital, differences in levels of use could impede AI experimentation in the social and education sectors. The longer it takes for philanthropy and nonprofits to gain experience with AI, the greater the delay in having a strong, experience-based voice about AI’s role in civil society.

What are grantmakers’ barriers to funding and using AI? Part of the problem may be internal structures. 79 percent of grantmaker respondents did not report having a specific technology grantmaking priority, and close to the same percentage do not plan to create one in the next year. Instead, most funding that goes toward technology is channeled through other priority funding areas. The trend to invest in technology through other program areas means that funders must educate more staff about AI to facilitate AI grantmaking.

Read the full article about philanthropy and AI by Sarah Di Troia at The Center for Effective Philanthropy.