Getting Started with AI: A Practical Guide for Charities

AI has moved from novelty to necessity faster than most of us expected. If you're working in a charity and feeling like you should probably be doing something with AI by now but aren't quite sure what, you're in good company. 

The reality is that most charity professionals have already dipped a toe in. You've probably used ChatGPT to draft content, summarise a document, or brainstorm ideas. But there's a difference between informal experimentation and embedding AI into how your organisation actually works. And that gap - between exploring and implementing - is where a lot of charities find themselves stuck. 

The good news is that taking the next step doesn't have to mean a major transformation programme or a leap into the unknown. It starts with understanding where you are, asking the right questions, and finding a starting point that makes sense for your organisation. 

Where the sector stands right now 

The Charity Digital Skills Report 2025 offers the clearest picture we have of how UK charities are approaching AI. The headline finding is striking: 76% of charities are now using AI tools, up from 61% the previous year. That's a significant jump in just twelve months. 

But dig a little deeper and the picture becomes more nuanced. While adoption is rising, strategic implementation is lagging. Only 8% of charities are using AI in their service delivery. More than a third of respondents said their CEO has poor AI skills, knowledge and confidence, and four in ten said the same about their board. 

Perhaps most telling: 59% of charities still have concerns about AI. The issues they cite are familiar - data privacy, lack of skills and training, worries about accuracy, and the risk of bias. These aren't irrational fears. They're legitimate questions that deserve proper answers. 

The good news is that charities are taking these questions seriously. The proportion developing an AI policy has tripled in a year, from 16% to 48%. The sector isn't rushing in blind. It's trying to get this right. 

Why the questions you're asking are the right place to start 

If your organisation is asking hard questions about AI - about ethics, about data, about whether it's really worth the investment - that's not a sign you're behind. It's a sign you're approaching this responsibly. 

Charities operate in a context that demands care. You handle sensitive data. You work with vulnerable people. You're accountable to donors, beneficiaries, and the public. The instinct to pause and ask "but should we?" before "how do we?" is exactly right. 

The Charity Digital Skills Report found that 71% of charities actively exploring AI said more guidance on what responsible AI looks like would help them move forward. That's not a barrier, it's a foundation. Organisations that take time to think through ethics, governance, and data protection aren't slowing themselves down. They're building the groundwork for AI adoption that's sustainable and trustworthy. 

This is something we feel strongly about at Giant Digital. When we work with charities on AI - whether that's helping them figure out where to start or building solutions like Giant AI - we build accessibility, security, and ethical considerations in from the start, not as an afterthought. The questions you're asking aren't obstacles to progress. They're the foundation for getting it right. 

Finding your starting point 

So where do you actually begin? The temptation is to start with the technology - to pick a tool and look for problems it might solve. But that's backwards. The most effective starting point is always a genuine organisational need. 

Start with a problem, not a tool 

What's causing friction in your organisation right now? Where does your team lose time to repetitive tasks? What questions do staff keep asking that require digging through multiple systems or documents to answer? What knowledge walks out the door when someone leaves? 

These are the kinds of questions that point toward meaningful AI applications - not because AI is a magic solution, but because it's well-suited to certain types of problems: synthesising information, handling repetitive queries, surfacing patterns in data, and making knowledge accessible. 

Consider where knowledge gets stuck 

One of the most practical applications of AI for charities is improving access to organisational knowledge. Think about how much time your team spends searching for information in policy documents, CRM records, previous reports, or colleagues' heads. 

This is exactly the kind of challenge Giant AI is designed to address. It connects to your existing data sources - CRM systems, analytics platforms, donation platforms, website, documents, policies - and creates an AI assistant that can answer questions based on what you've connected. Staff get quick, reliable answers grounded in your actual information, with citations showing where each response came from. 

Think about data, not just documents 

AI isn't only about searching through documents. It's increasingly about interrogating your data - asking questions of your CRM, understanding patterns in your fundraising, or getting insights from your analytics without needing to build complex reports. If your team has questions that currently require someone with technical skills to answer, that's often a sign AI could help. 

Involve your team early 

However you approach AI, bring your people with you. Staff attitudes to AI vary widely, from enthusiastic early adopters to those with understandable concerns about what it means for their roles. Involving your team in identifying opportunities, testing solutions, and shaping how AI gets used builds confidence and surfaces issues early. 

If you're not sure where to start, an AI readiness audit can help. We work with charities to assess where they are now, understand where AI could genuinely add value, and create a clear roadmap for moving forward - grounded in your priorities, not a generic checklist. 

Getting the foundations right 

You don't need to have everything figured out before you start. But there are a few foundations worth putting in place early. 

Develop an AI policy 

An AI policy doesn't need to be a lengthy legal document. At its core, it's about being clear on how your organisation will use AI responsibly - what's in scope, what's not, how you'll handle data, and who's accountable for decisions. The fact that 48% of charities are now developing one shows this is becoming standard practice. 

If you're not sure where to begin, we can help. Our AI consultancy services include support with governance and ethics, helping you establish practical guardrails for responsible AI use without overcomplicating things. 

Think about governance 

Who in your organisation is responsible for AI decisions? How will you evaluate whether an AI tool is working as intended? What happens if something goes wrong? These questions are easier to answer before you're deep into implementation than after. 

Build internal confidence 

The Charity Digital Skills Report found that 65% of charities believe more support or training for leaders and trustees would help with AI adoption. This isn't surprising - it's hard to make good decisions about technology you don't understand. Investing in AI literacy, even at a basic level, pays dividends. 

Two paths forward 

At Giant Digital, we support charities with AI – whether you’re still figuring out where to start or ready to put something into practice. 

If you're still figuring out where to start, our AI for Charities consultancy services can help. We work with you to understand the opportunity, identify where AI could make a real difference, and create a strategy that aligns with your values and goals. That might include an AI readiness audit, strategy development, governance support, or helping you build internal capability. 

If you're ready to put AI into practice, Giant AI offers a practical starting point. It's our AI assistant platform, built specifically for charities. You connect it to your data sources and content, and it creates an assistant your team can actually use - secure, grounded in your information, and designed with the ethics and practicalities of the sector in mind. 

These two paths aren't mutually exclusive. Some charities come to us knowing exactly what they need; others want help figuring that out first. Either way, we’re here to help you move forward at your own pace. 

We'll be at the Charity Digital AI Summit on 12 March - if you're attending, come and say hello. We'd love to talk about how AI could work for your organisation.