Not All Bots Are Evil: How Small Nonprofits & Businesses Can Use AI for Good

Last weekend, I went on a much needed weekend getaway with some old college friends. There was charcuterie. There were under-eye masks. There was a beach house. There was, of course, wine.

The friends I was traveling with are all accomplished in their fields: a med school vice dean, a theater director and prof, and a senior fundraising strategist. Not a slouch in the bunch.

And all of us are bonafide Gen Xers—raised on a steady diet of dystopian films as the world stumbled into the internet age. We didn’t invent the web (hat tip to Al Gore), but we did watch it come online in real time. Watching it get born was weird and often terrifying.

Of course this is what we imagined would be the face of AI.

One afternoon, we were strolling on the beach, wondering out loud about these weird little dead sea creatures we were seeing (and smelling) everywhere. I pulled out my phone and asked ChatGPT to identify them using a rough description of what they looked like and where we were. Turns out, they were Velella velella—a totally bonkers life form (seriously, look it up – you won’t be sorry!). We went down a delightful rabbit hole as ChatGPT described their colonistic nature and offered to dive deeper into different aspects of their biology. It was like having a marine biologist along for the walk.

Throughout the weekend, the topic of AI kept popping up. We’d return to the ChatGPT app to ask about what to cook, what to call ourselves (as if we were a girl gang à la the Pink Ladies—ChatGPT suggested “the Bookish Bunch” and other tragically uncool, if humiliatingly accurate, names). Turns out, all of us are using AI a little in our work, but not consistently. We’re still in the exploratory phase.

It got me thinking: I know the world doesn’t need another AI think piece, but a short guide to a handful of tools for nonprofits and small businesses might actually be useful right about now. So, in the spirit of curiosity—and in solidarity with small teams everywhere just trying to do more with less—here’s a quick list of tools you might want to check out.

Fathom – AI takes the meeting notes, so you don’t have to

If you’ve been a meeting with any of our team in the last year or so, you know this one. Fathom is a brain saver. It automatically records, transcribes, and summarizes video calls, so you can stay focused on the conversation—and still get beautifully structured notes afterward.

Great for:

• Board meetings
• Donor calls
• Planning sessions (for grants or…  anything really)
• And any Zoom where someone says, “We should document this.”

It even tags action items and highlights key moments—like having a very attentive assistant who doesn’t daydream or get otherwise distracted (like, um, well. Me.).

Canva’s Magic Design – DIY visuals that don’t scream “DIY”

For small orgs without a designer on staff, Canva’s Magic Design is a solid way to create clean, decent-looking visuals fast—without dipping into Clip Art hell. Just drop in your content, and it’ll generate layout options that you can customize to suit your brand.

Best for:

• Board or donor presentations
• Internal strategy docs
• Visual brainstorming for events or campaigns

It won’t replace a pro designer—and that’s often (though not always) okay. But if you’re aiming for “polished enough to earn trust” and not “look what my nephew made in Word,” Magic Design hits the sweet spot.

ChatGPT – Your brainstorming buddy, editor, and idea wrangler

Whether you’re stuck on a campaign theme, drafting a tricky email, or just trying to make your language less meh, ChatGPT can help you get unstuck—and maybe even enjoy the process. Not gonna lie—I recently told ChatGPT it was my favorite coworker after it helped me cut a piece of writing down by 40%. (I’m wordy. Maybe you’ve noticed?.) Weirdly enough, trimming it with robot help was actually fun. I’m that kind of nerd.

Great for:

• Brainstorming (fundraising ideas, event themes, heck, I’ve even used it to get out of cooking ruts!)
• Drafting policy language, FAQ content, SOPs, or onboarding docs
• Tightening up grant proposals, board updates, or internal reports
• Rewriting anything to sound more friendly, clear, or concise

It’s like having a smart, slightly unpredictable coworker who always wants to help. Just remember to fact-check and give everything your own voice before sending it out into the world. These things can hallucinate WILDLY. And sometimes, they really do sound like very boring robots.

Perplexity.ai – Smarter, sourced research when you don’t have time to Google for hours

Perplexity is like ChatGPT’s research-savvy cousin—it generates quick answers to your questions, and provides actual source links so you can verify where its info came from (a big win if you’ve ever been burned by AI hallucinations—looking at you, ChatGPT).

Helpful for:

• Researching funding trends or policy updates
• Finding stats for a grant proposal or report
• Getting up to speed on a topic without falling down a sketchy internet rabbit hole

It’s not perfect, but it does show you where it’s pulling information from—so you can make your own judgment call instead of blindly trusting a chatbot. As a recovering librarian, I beg you: always, always check your sources.

Loom – Record it once, reuse it forever

Need to show a new team member how to update the website or walk a board member through your CRM? Loom lets you record quick screen-share videos, and now its AI can generate automatic summaries, SOPs, highlight key points, and even suggest titles.

Perfect for:

• Building SOPs and internal training
• Answering the same question (for the fourth time) without scheduling another meeting
• Creating repeatable workflows for volunteers or staff

Record it once, share the link, and let the bots handle the recap.

AI is not your friend. But it’s not the enemy either. Yet.

So, not all bots are evil—but that doesn’t mean you should hand over the controls. AI can be a brilliant assistant, helping small teams move faster, brainstorm smarter, and automate the snoozy stuff. But it still needs supervision. Think of it like a super helpful intern who doesn’t sleep… but also might lock you out of the pod bay doors if you’re not paying attention. Keep your values—and your human judgment—at the center. Always.

You, 10 minutes after hitting send on a donor email ChatGPT wrote (and which you didn’t bother to proofread or contribute to). Spoiler alert: HAL does not open the pod bay doors.