📨 AI for Social Impact Newsletter

👋 From the Editor

Hi! I’m Joanna. When ChatGPT changed our lives in 2023, I dove in head first. Since then, I’ve been on a mission to help folks in the social impact sector understand, experiment with, and responsibly adopt AI. The technology is changing fast, it’s hard to keep up, and we are all so busy. 🫠 

That’s why I created this newsletter—to provide busy social impact professionals like you with bite-sized bits of news, case studies, and practical tips on using AI. We don’t have time to waste, but we also can’t get left behind.

So take a quick read, learn a little bit, play a little bit, and let’s move the sector forward together.

🧠 EDUCATION

• AI Basics: There are two main types of AI tools that social impact professionals can use: Generative AI (“generates” content like text and images) and Predictive AI (analyzes data to identify trends and make recommendations). Try Claude for writing and ChatGPT for analysis. Google AI Studio, multi-modal AI (combines text, images, audio, and video), is pretty fun too.

• Prompt Engineering: You don’t have to be an engineer to prompt effectively. You just need a bit of practice and a helpful mnemonic device from one of my favorite AI experts Tina Huang. Key takeaway: the more context you input, the better the output. And if you don’t like the first response, evaluate and iterate. Pro tip: Flip the script and ask AI how to generate an effective prompt for your task at hand. Same rules apply, context is everything.

✨ INSPIRATION 

• State of Social Impact AI: TechSoup and TAPP Network’s State of AI in Nonprofits 2025 report found larger nonprofits with budgets $1M+ are adopting tools at twice the rate of smaller organizations (66% vs. 34%). At the end of 2024, 81% of foundations reported some degree of AI usage, but only 4% reported enterprise-wide adoption. So what does this mean for the sector? It’s time to level up!

• Saving Time & Money: ED of Pets for Patriots cuts her grant writing time down by 80-90%, applying for more grants and securing a $30,000 award. Prospect Sierra staff are using AI for prospect research, saving staff hours of manual work. If they can do it, so can you!

🚀 ACTIVATION

• The 5-Minute AI Experiment: Pick one routine task you do—drafting an email to a donor or board member, or creating social media posts. Use the prompt guide above and your preferred AI tool to help complete your task. Refine the output with your personal touch, and voilà! Remember—don’t include private information when you’re using free tools and always fact-check.

• Board-Ready Data: Whether you’re a nonprofit summarizing impact or a funder preparing insights from grantee reports, try this. Paste in recent program outcomes, along with 2–3 sentences of context (e.g. mission, goals, strategic priorities). Then use this prompt: “Summarize these results into 3 compelling insights for a non-technical board audience. For each, include: the key takeaway, why it matters in relation to our goals, and one practical recommendation or next step.” Evaluate the output, and iterate. 😀 

🤖 What I Asked AI This Week

“Help me generate funny ideas for a What I Asked AI This Week section of my newsletter.” 😂 

Have a better one to share? Hit reply and I’ll feature some in the next issue.

💬 What Do You Think?

This newsletter is meant for you, so I’d love to hear what you think. What do you want to see more of — prompts, news, case study deep dives?

💌 Feel free to reply anytime!

♥️ Spread the Love

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