Should I tell donors when I use AI?

When AI touched the operational side, drafting or sorting, most donors won't expect a disclosure, and that's normal. But if you ever automate something that feels personal, be honest about it. The research is loud on this: people care about transparency far more than they care about the tool itself.

Isn't it dishonest to send an AI-assisted letter at all?

Not if you mean every word by the time it leaves. A speechwriter helping a leader isn't a lie. The line you don't cross is sending words you never read, to people who trust you.

We're tiny. Is AI worth it for us?

Often yes, precisely because you're small. It gives back hours you don't have. Just spend those hours on the relationships, not on more output.

Can I trust AI to write to my donors?

01Start with what the question is really asking

When some of us ask "can I trust AI to write to my donors," we're not really asking about grammar. We're asking: will this cost me the relationship? Your donors gave because they believe in what you're doing and, honestly, because they believe in you. That belief is the whole thing. So the fear is fair. Let's think it through together instead of just picking a side.

02What AI is genuinely good at

Behind the scenes, AI is a real help. It can pull together your impact numbers, sort a messy spreadsheet, suggest three subject lines when your brain is empty, and turn your bullet points into a first draft at 11pm when the appeal is due tomorrow. That's research, drafting, and admin. That work is quiet, it doesn't look you in the eye, and nobody's heart is on the line while it happens. Let the tool carry that load. Right?

03What should stay human

The moment the message turns to a person and says "will you give," or "thank you," or "here's what your gift did," you've crossed into something sacred. That's not a task. That's a relationship.

There's real data here, not just a feeling. In an August 2024 study of 1,006 U.S. donors led by Nathan Chappell and Cherian Koshy, 93% said transparency about how a nonprofit uses AI was "very important" or "somewhat important." And nearly 40% said they felt uncomfortable about how their data might be used. Honest caveat: that's one survey, self-reported, and donor attitudes are shifting fast, so read it as a strong signal, not gospel. Still, the signal is clear. People want to know a human is home.

04Gratitude is the part AI can't do

Meenakshi Das, writing for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, put it plainly:

"AI can write appeals, but it can't feel gratitude. It can suggest donors, but it can't build relationships."

That's the line I'd tape to your monitor. A thank-you that a person actually meant lands differently than one that was generated. Your donors can feel the difference, even when they can't name it.

05A simple way to decide

Here's one question you can ask, one message at a time: is this doing a job, or building a relationship? A job can be drafted with help. A relationship gets your own hands on it before it goes out.

And this cuts both ways. Refusing all AI out of fear can mean your one overwhelmed staffer spends Thursday reformatting a report instead of calling the donor whose spouse just passed. That's not faithfulness. That's just being tired. The goal isn't to prove you're pure. The goal is to spend your human hours on the human moments.

06A workflow you can actually live with

Try this. Let AI make the draft, gather the facts, and clean up the formatting. Then you read every word out loud. You add the specific name, the real story, the thing only you know. You make sure the gratitude is true. If a donor emailed back, you reply yourself. You don't need world domination or a fancy system. You need the tool to buy you time, and you spending that time on the people who already love you.