Most Charities Now Use AI. The Ones That Thrive Won't Lose Their People.
Two-thirds of Australian charities already use AI. Used well, it frees your staff and volunteers for the human work your cause runs on. Here is how to adopt AI for your not-for-profit without losing the people at its heart.
AI can stretch a mission-driven organisation further. Around two-thirds of Australian charities already use it, mostly for the writing and admin that drains a small team.
Used well, AI for not-for-profits frees your paid staff and your volunteers. It hands back the hours they spend on routine work, so they can do the human work your cause actually runs on.
That is the opportunity, and the catch. Your charity is not its paperwork. It is the relationships, the care, and the presence that no tool can provide. AI should protect that, not crowd it out. Handled with care, AI for not-for-profits adds capacity without subtracting humanity.
So treat AI as support for your people, not a replacement for them. Take the routine off their plate, keep a simple policy in place, protect the data of those you serve, and bring staff and volunteers with you.
If you take one thing from this article, take these four moves
- Use AI for the routine writing and admin, to free people for human-centred work.
- Put a simple AI policy in place before you scale up use.
- Protect the data of the people you serve. Keep it out of public AI tools.
- Bring staff and volunteers with you. Support them, do not pile on more.
Everything below is optional depth. Read on for the evidence, the Australian picture, and the practical detail on using AI for not-for-profits well.
Digging Deeper
Below sits the supporting case. It covers what AI is already doing in the sector, why your people remain the point, and how to adopt AI for not-for-profits safely and humanely.
What AI is already doing in the sector
This is not a future question. AI is already widespread in Australian charities, and growing fast. AI for charities is now mainstream, not experimental.
The 2025 Infoxchange sector report found that around two-thirds of not-for-profits now use generative AI, mostly for content creation, reporting, writing, and editing. Adoption doubled in a single year.
The uses are practical. AI helps draft grant applications, reports, and newsletters. It speeds up admin, fundraising, and even volunteer coordination. For a stretched team, that relief is real.
This fits the wider shift. McKinsey describes roles moving away from routine tasks toward judgement and relationships, as AI absorbs the repetitive work. AI for not-for-profits follows the same pattern, on a tighter budget.
Picture a small charity with one part-time coordinator. A grant application that once swallowed a weekend now starts from an AI draft in an afternoon. That is AI for charities at its most useful, giving time back to people who have none to spare.
Why your people are still the point
Here is what no tool changes. Your cause runs on people, not paperwork.
The volunteer who sits with someone in need. The case worker who listens. The community that knows and trusts your name. That human connection is the whole point, and AI cannot provide it.
The sector’s structure makes this clear. According to the ACNC, more than half of Australian charities operate with no paid staff at all. Across the sector, there are about two and a half volunteers for every employee.
So your workforce is mostly people giving their time. The goal of AI for not-for-profits is not to reduce that human contact. It is to free up more time for it.
More than 22,000 Australian charities are run entirely by volunteers. For them, AI for not-for-profits is not a line on a spreadsheet. It is whether one stretched person gets their evening back.
Free your staff and volunteers, do not replace them
Used well, AI takes the admin so your people spend more time on the mission. That is the right framing, and it has a clear boundary. It is the framing that makes AI for charities a gift rather than a threat.
Australia’s National Strategy for Volunteering is firm on one point. Volunteering must not be treated as free labour, or used to replace paid workers. Apply the same care to AI.
Do not use AI savings to quietly offload more onto volunteers. Do not use AI to replace the people who hold your culture together. The aim is lighter loads and better support, not a thinner, more stretched team.
A simple test helps. Good use of AI for not-for-profits gives a case worker more time with clients. Poor use turns the time saved into extra tasks for the same tired people. Choose the first.
The volunteer base needs that care. Volunteering fell sharply after 2019, with roughly 1.86 million fewer volunteers at the low point. It has since recovered to around five million people volunteering through organisations, but the sector still describes its volunteer workforce as stable yet under pressure.
Support volunteers with AI, without alienating them
Volunteers are not employees. They give their time freely, and they can walk away. So introduce AI with extra care here. Thoughtful AI for not-for-profits starts with the volunteers, not the software.
Use it to lighten their load, not to burden or monitor them. A few practical ideas:
- Use AI to cut volunteer admin, such as rosters, FAQs, and onboarding notes.
- Be open about where you use AI, so nobody feels misled.
- Offer simple, friendly training so volunteers of every age and comfort level are included.
- Keep the human welcome human. A person greets, an AI never should.
Inclusion matters here. Many volunteer-led organisations have weak digital foundations, with only about one in five using basic multi-factor authentication. Do not leave your less digitally confident volunteers behind as you adopt AI for not-for-profits.
Bring volunteers into the decision early. When people help choose how AI is used, they tend to trust it, rather than fear it arrived to replace them.
Govern it simply, because trust is your asset
There is a clear gap in the sector, and it is the main risk. While two-thirds of charities use AI, only about 14 per cent have an AI policy.
Put plainly, around 86 per cent use AI with no policy to guide it. Sound governance starts at the board and then flows down into operations, which is exactly where professional policy writing makes the difference.
You do not need a complex framework to close that gap. A short, plain policy is enough for most organisations. Cover who is accountable, what AI may be used for, what data is off-limits, and the rule that a person checks every output. Written once, a one-page policy makes AI for not-for-profits safer for everyone who touches it.
Government guidance points the same way. The Voluntary AI Safety Standard sets out human-centric, accountable practices. Its first principle is simple. A person stays accountable for AI, never the tool.
For a charity, trust is the whole asset. A simple policy, applied consistently, protects it. That is what responsible AI for not-for-profits looks like in practice.
Protect the people you serve
This is the part that deserves real caution. Charities often hold sensitive information about vulnerable people.
Across the sector, data security, ethics, and privacy are the top concerns about using AI more. That worry is well placed, and it should shape how you proceed.
So set a firm rule. Keep client details, case notes, and donor data out of public AI tools, unless you know exactly how the data is handled. Do not paste private information into a chatbot.
Remember the basics, too. Only about a quarter of not-for-profits have a documented cyber security plan. AI does not change the fundamentals. Protect the data, train your people, and check before you trust.
One careless paste can expose a person who came to you for help. That is why data discipline sits at the centre of AI for not-for-profits, not at the edge.
What to ignore, and how to start
Ignore the pressure to put AI into everything, or to use it mainly to cut your people. That misreads what a charity is for.
Start small and human instead. Pick one admin task that drains time, use AI for it, write a one-page policy, and keep a person checking the output. Bring a couple of staff and volunteers in early.
Be honest about the unknowns. The sector is moving quickly and governance is still catching up. Your judgement, and your people’s, matters more than any single tool. Done with care, AI for charities earns trust one task at a time.
Where to from here
AI for not-for-profits is not about doing more with fewer people. It is about freeing the people you have for the work that matters most.
Take the routine off their plate. Keep your staff and volunteers at the human centre of your cause. Govern AI simply, protect the data of those you serve, and bring everyone with you. Do that, and AI for not-for-profits makes your mission go further without losing its heart.
If you would like help adopting AI for your not-for-profit in a way that supports your people and protects your data, SBAAS can guide you through it, policy included. We help Australian not-for-profits and small organisations put simple, responsible systems in place. To learn more about how we work, visit https://sbaas.com.au/about-us/ or call (07) 3916 9896 to talk it through.
Sources
Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. (2026). Australian charities report (12th edition). https://www.acnc.gov.au/tools/reports/australian-charities-report-12th-edition
Department of Industry, Science and Resources. (2025). Voluntary AI Safety Standard and Guidance for AI Adoption. https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/voluntary-ai-safety-standard
Infoxchange. (2025). Digital technology in the not-for-profit sector report. https://www.infoxchange.org/au/digital-technology-not-for-profit-sector
McKinsey & Company. (2026). The rise of the human-AI workforce. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-rise-of-the-human-ai-workforce
Volunteering Australia. (2023). National strategy for volunteering 2023-2033. https://volunteeringstrategy.org.au/
Volunteering Australia. (2026). National Volunteer Week: Volunteering data 2025. https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/national-volunteer-week-media-release/
Eric Allgood is the Managing Director of SBAAS and brings over two decades of experience in corporate guidance, with a focus on governance and risk, crisis management, industrial relations, and sustainability.
He founded SBAAS in 2019 to extend his corporate strategies to small businesses, quickly becoming a vital support. His background in IR, governance and risk management, combined with his crisis management skills, has enabled businesses to navigate challenges effectively.
Eric’s commitment to sustainability shapes his approach to fostering inclusive and ethical practices within organisations. His strategic acumen and dedication to sustainable growth have positioned SBAAS as a leader in supporting small businesses through integrity and resilience.
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