AI for Charities & Non-profits

Charities exist to help people, but resources are always stretched. There are more people to serve than staff to serve them. AI can extend your reach, providing information, support, and guidance to more people without proportional increases in cost.

Non-profit organisations face particular constraints:

Limited budgets: Every pound spent on operations is a pound not spent on mission.

Volunteer reliance: Capacity varies and training is ongoing.

Growing demand: Need typically exceeds ability to serve.

Accessibility: Reaching people who need help but face barriers.

Impact measurement: Demonstrating value to funders and stakeholders.

AI can help address each of these pressures.

AI applications suited to the third sector include:

Information provision: Answering questions about services, eligibility, and support available.

Initial triage: Understanding what help someone needs and routing appropriately.

Self-service support: Guiding people through processes and providing resources.

Signposting: Directing people to relevant services, whether yours or others.

Volunteer support: Helping volunteers find information and follow procedures.

Donor engagement: Responding to enquiries from supporters.

We built an AI chatbot for Help for Heroes that handles enquiries from veterans and their families. The chatbot answers common questions, provides information about available support, and routes people to appropriate services.

This approach means more people get help immediately, around the clock, while staff focus on complex cases that need human attention.

Charity work often involves sensitive topics. AI must be designed accordingly:

Appropriate tone: Warm, supportive communication suited to vulnerable users.

Safe responses: Handling disclosures appropriately and signposting to crisis support.

Human escalation: Easy routes to human conversation when needed.

Privacy protection: Careful handling of personal and sensitive information.

We understand these requirements and design systems that serve vulnerable people appropriately.

Charities need to reach everyone who needs help:

Multiple channels: Web, messaging apps, phone support across different access points.

Simple language: Clear communication that does not assume literacy or technical skills.

Accessibility compliance: Meeting WCAG standards for inclusive design.

Out-of-hours availability: Support when offices are closed.

AI extends reach to people who might not otherwise access services.

We understand that charity resources must be spent carefully. Our approach:

Proportionate solutions: Technology matched to your scale and needs.

Phased implementation: Starting small and expanding based on demonstrated value.

Measurable outcomes: Clear metrics showing impact and return on investment.

Knowledge transfer: Building your team's capability to manage AI over time.

AI projects can strengthen funding applications by demonstrating:

Increased reach and impact. More people supported, with faster time to information.

Better availability and accessibility. Help when offices are closed, across channels and needs.

Measurable outcomes. Clear evidence of what improved and why.

Service innovation. New ways to deliver support responsibly and consistently.

We can help articulate the case for AI investment.

Third sector use cases succeed when safety and tone are designed in.

Design for vulnerability. Escalation paths, safe responses, and crisis signposting must be explicit.

Protect privacy. Sensitive information needs careful handling and clear consent models.

Keep the scope pragmatic. Start with high-volume enquiries and predictable triage, then expand based on evidence.