AI in Philanthropy, Crisis Management, and the Election Cycle

In recent weeks, I was privileged to participate in two unique gatherings of non-profit organizations and the funders that support them in Washington, DC and Philadelphia. Organized by our friends at Bernstein Private Wealth Management, these Non-Profit Forums provided a space for leading social impact organizations to share good practices, trends, and challenges in the field, and look ahead to a complicated election year in the US (and beyond). Most fun for me, personally, was the chance to give participants a sneak peek at our forthcoming joint whitepaper with Clare Golla and others on the Bernstein national philanthropy team focusing on philanthropy’s “Meaningful Middle,” the crucial segment of donors that sit between billionaire mega-donors and mass market “everyday” donors. Look for that research to be published in late spring!

I heard similar trends shared by participants in both cities despite the composition of each forum being unique to the respective geography. Below are the three key takeaways that struck me as most relevant to a broad range of doers and donors this year.

AI will be a positive disruption in philanthropy and social impact work…but we’re still at peak hype cycle. Yes, generative artificial intelligence will absolutely lead to changes in the ways that organizations seek funding; how donors make decisions about funding and conduct due diligence; and potentially automate tasks such as grant writing, donor stewardship, and prospect research. Despite the excitement, most participants shared the sentiment that we are still in the Peak of Inflated Expectations as Gartner so aptly describes this phase of any technology cycle. So, yes, be on the lookout for ways generative AI can transform your organization but be equally aware of the grifters looking for ways to squeeze dollars out of both non-profits and funders who succumb to “AI FOMO.” The best outcomes are likely to come to those who wait, I think.

There’s no training for crisis management except…managing a crisis. Non-profits often face a unique set of operational challenges relative to your normal business. Whether increased regulatory scrutiny stemming from recent Supreme Court decisions or a struggle to balance employee demands for more public and progressive stands on a host of social issues, it’s been a challenging period for non-profit leaders, to say the least. In both cities, we heard from leaders of organizations both big and small that there’s no guidebook for managing these complexities; almost everyone is making it up on the fly as best they can. But we also heard common elements that appear to contribute to more effectively navigating both external and internal crises: genuinely listening to staff and partners, soliciting participation and leadership from staff at all levels (rather than assigning crisis management to executives only), and leaning into humility as an important starting point for any major decision. If nothing else, it was reassuring to hear that common sense and emotional intelligence often lead to least-bad outcomes; there’s no “silver bullet” crisis management method missing from your leadership playbook!

Election years matter…but not always in the ways we expect. Are most donors and doers staring intently at the US election cycle and trying to scenario plan for every possible outcome? Absolutely. But at the same time, there’s a growing sense that election outcomes sometimes matter less for many donors and organizations despite anxiety levels increasing in the several months before a national election. If history has anything to teach us, it’s that a) yes, presidential administrations matter for social impact work; but b) it’s rare to see any administration move as quickly as they’d like to build up or tear down various parts of the social impact or philanthropy infrastructure. In the US (and many other countries), both the legislature and the courts often have plenty to say about those ideas, and worst-case outcomes are often not the ones that come to pass. This isn’t to say organizations and donors should ignore the potential impact of a national election. But at the same time, remaining paralyzed with fear and scenario planning is likely an overreaction that diverts time, resources, and morale from more pressing needs in the short- and medium-term.

A huge thanks again to the Bernstein team for having me at both events!

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