What Trustees Need To Know About AI in Fundraising

Trustees do not need to become prompt engineers.

They do need to understand enough to ask sensible questions.

AI is already being used in fundraising, communications, admin, reporting, and research across many organisations. Sometimes it is formal. Sometimes it is one staff member using a free tool at 10pm because a deadline is coming.

That informal use is exactly why trustees and senior leaders need a calm, practical conversation about AI.

The main opportunity

AI can help charities and arts organisations save time on:

• drafting funding applications
• reviewing bid answers
• summarising public research
• creating reports
• preparing communications
• turning notes into plans
• documenting internal processes

For small teams, this can release capacity. That matters.

The main risk

The risk is not just that AI writes badly.

The bigger risks are:

• confidential information being pasted into inappropriate tools
• inaccurate claims appearing in funding applications
• AI-generated content being trusted without review
• staff using tools inconsistently
• no clear policy or approval process
• sensitive stories or community experiences being handled poorly
• trustees not knowing what is already happening

AI use can feel invisible until something goes wrong.

Questions trustees should ask

Useful questions include:

• where are staff already using AI?
• what tools are being used?
• what information is allowed or not allowed?
• who checks AI-generated content before it is submitted?
• how are facts and statistics verified?
• do we have a simple AI policy?
• are staff trained on privacy and accuracy?
• could AI help reduce admin pressure safely?
• what work should AI not touch?

These questions are not anti-AI. They are basic governance.

Fundraising needs extra care

Funding applications often include claims about need, community benefit, outcomes, and organisational capacity.

Those claims must be true.

AI can help structure and review a bid, but the organisation remains responsible for what it submits. A funding application should never be treated as "done" just because the generated copy sounds confident.

A board briefing can be enough to start

Many boards do not need a full-day workshop.

They need a clear 60 to 90 minute briefing covering:

• what AI can and cannot do
• how it may already be used in the organisation
• privacy, accuracy, bias, copyright, and human oversight
• fundraising-specific risks
• practical governance questions
• next steps for policy and staff training

That is what the Board and Leadership AI Briefing is built for.

Want a plain-English session for trustees?

ArtsFunded Training helps arts, culture, and charity teams use AI safely and practically, with dedicated sessions for staff, fundraisers, leadership teams, and boards.