As AI tools become more integrated into our nonprofits' daily workflows, it can feel as though the technology is moving faster than our ability to evaluate it. However, for mission-driven organizations, technology adoption isn't just a matter of efficiency—it’s a reflection of our values.

This episode steps back from the technical aspects of AI tools for nonprofits and explores the significant ethical questions that every nonprofit leader and board member should consider when shaping their AI policies.

Carolyn explores the complex human issues that often get lost in the marketing noise, from the environmental and community costs of massive data centers to the inherent biases found in Large Language Models. She also discusses the potential risks to mental health and the concerns surrounding the concentration of power within a few global tech giants.

Our goal isn’t to steer you toward a specific choice, but to provide a framework for understanding how these tools may intersect—or conflict—with your commitment to equity, sustainability, and community trust.

This conversation is designed to be a starting point for your internal discussions. We cover four major areas of concern: power imbalances, bias and exploitation, environmental impact, and the psychological effects of AI-human interactions. By acknowledging these challenges openly, nonprofit professionals can make more informed, intentional decisions about if, when, and how to use these tools in a way that truly serves their mission and the people they support.

Resources:

https://www.wired.com/ai-issue/

Imbalance of Power:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenwolfepereira/2026/01/20/davos-wont-save-us-from-ai-the-boardroom-might-be-our-last-hope/

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/how-nonprofits-can-resist-the-ai-efficiency-trap/

https://medium.com/@Craig_W/the-corporate-playbook-when-good-ai-goes-bad-by-design-aedf9621b07b

Bias and Exploitation:

https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-bias

Racism, Surveillance and AI panel, Howard University, October 2025

Environmental and Community Impact:

https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117

https://naacp.org/campaigns/stop-dirty-data-centers

Mental Health Impacts:

https://jedfoundation.org/american-psychological-association-on-generative-ai/

https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/preliminary-report-on-dangers-of-ai-chatbots

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

Director of Client Services Jennifer Huftalen answers questions about the IT Business Manager role at Community IT. How is an IT Business Manager different from a vCIO or an account manager? Learn more from this conversation.

The takeaways:

• The IT Business Manager is a unique role in the sector and at MSPs serving nonprofits. A combination of technology expertise and a business background make Community IT’s IT Business Managers ideally suited to help our clients undertake strategic planning and management of their IT.
• Similar to a vCIO, like an account manager but so much more, the IT Business Managers work with the primary contact to manage and understand the costs and strategies of IT investment in addition to supporting the help desk team provide day-to-day support.
• The IT Business Manager comes in at onboarding and helps analyze the initial assessment. IT Business Managers at Community IT can spot trends, identify duplicate tools, extra licenses, help the client create an accurate inventory of devices and licenses, and basically work in manageable stages to move the nonprofits’ IT to a “steady state” of well-managed IT.
• Community IT considers our clients our partners in managing IT. Nonprofits know what their ideal IT would look like. We find that a part time vCIO who parachutes in monthly or quarterly can’t develop the deep understanding of that client’s needs and pain points and help them invest wisely and manage change. The IT Business Manager at Community IT monitors trends in help desk tickets and identifies ways technology can make the nonprofit more efficient and secure. And the IT Business Manager documents everything, so you can ask any questions and understand how your processes work and what IT you are using.
• The IT Business Manager has a long term relationship with your organization and can develop 3-5 year planning in conjunction with your executive team that can be used for grant applications and funding support. For just one example, check out our case study on how an adult charter school in DC was able to implement a 4 year plan in 3 months to move all their students to remote learning in 2020.
• Using Community IT and having access to an IT Business Manager solves the nonprofit problem of trying to hire for this leadership position and find people with a technical AND business background and be able to retain these unique people. And the IT Business Manager at Community IT has the entire team as a resource and their experience at other clients, so you get the benefit of that network of information and expertise.

Navigating the complexities of IT management doesn’t have to be a solo journey for nonprofit leaders. By bridging the gap between high-level strategy and daily operations, the IT Business Manager ensures your technology is an asset rather than a cost. At Community IT, we believe the strongest solutions come from this kind of deep, human-centered partnership. To learn more about how our unique approach to IT management supports long-term mission success, we invite you to listen to our podcast episode or reach out to start a conversation today.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

Whether you are an AI novice wondering how to catch up quickly, or an AI early adopter always looking for a new tool you can use at your nonprofit, we hope you will join us every Tuesday for another quick update on what is going on in the world of Nonprofits and AI.

Takeaways and resources from Ep 2:

Microsoft

TechSoup https://www.techsoup.org/: A membership driven nonprofit IT resource, particularly for discounted licenses, with a large knowledgebase on many IT tools nonprofits use. AI resources for Microsoft tools, including training: https://techsoup.course.tc/catalog/exploring-ai-with-microsoft-tools

Google

Generative AI training and help: extensive resources on using Gemini, including nonprofit-specific use cases and examples.

The Human Stack

Built around up-skilling your existing nonprofit staff to better manage IT, offers affordable workshops and classes, including a 60 minute course for getting better at AI. https://thehumanstack.com/

Perplexity and Charity Navigator

Perplexity is an AI tool that announced a partnership with Charity Navigator to use the Charity Navigator database to improve outputs when asking about nonprofits. https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/research-nonprofits-with-charity-navigator-on-perplexity

As with all AI tools, follow your nonprofit's guidelines and policies when logging into non-enterprise accounts - enterprise licenses are more secure and offer more privacy, so use them when you can!

Claude and Candid

Claude is Anthropic's AI tool, and has partnered with Candid to improve outputs when researching nonprofits, grants, foundations, etc. To learn more: https://candid.org/blogs/claude-for-nonprofits-candid-mcp-connector-access-nonprofit-data-ai-assistant/

Q&A

Want to ask a question about nonprofit AI and get an answer on a future episode? Got a use case you want to share? A cautionary AI tale you want to warn other nonprofits about? Let's grow this community! Get in touch with Carolyn here, on our website, or on reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/NonprofitITManagement/

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.