In Part 2 of the Nonprofit AI Governance Tips webinar, Carolyn Woodard and Nuradeen Aboki, Senior Consultant who has been helping nonprofits explore and adopt AI tools, cover the practical steps your organization can take to move from AI experimentation to intentional governance.

The conversation picks up with a closer look at what belongs in a nonprofit AI policy, who needs to be at the decision-making table, and how to make governance stick in day-to-day operations rather than just on paper. Nura shares a case study of a content-heavy nonprofit that built AI guardrails around their editorial process and came out ahead, and the two close with a question-and-answer session covering metrics, ethics, and the environmental impact of AI.

Haven't listened to Part 1 yet? Find it in your podcast feed.

This episode covers:

A good AI policy addresses acceptable use, data handling, compliance requirements, vendor vetting, human review, and staff training expectations — and it needs to evolve as the tools and your organization do.
Cross-functional governance works best when leadership, board oversight, IT, legal, HR, and end users all have a seat at the table. Research drawing on a national survey of 180 nonprofits found that organizations where staff and board co-developed AI principles launched 12 times more pilots and scaled AI more effectively.
One nonprofit built AI governance around their editorial workflow: updated style guides, required human review of every AI-assisted draft, and targeted prompting training. The result was faster writing without sacrificing voice or accuracy.
When things go wrong, the first step is a calm assessment: figure out who is using what, what went wrong, and whether the root cause was a training gap, policy vacuum, or misconfigured setting.
Making governance real means publishing your policy internally, raising AI use in staff meetings regularly, and creating spaces where people at every comfort level can ask questions and share concerns without judgment.

Resources Mentioned:

AI Acceptable Use Policy Template — Community IT Innovators — https://communityit.com/template-acceptable-use-of-ai-tools-in-the-nonprofit-workplace/
Dell Insights Report on Nonprofit AI Adoption — board.dev — https://board.dev/dell-insights-report-2/
Community IT AI Resource Library — communityit.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/
Community IT Governance Resource Library — communityit.com/governance/
TAG AI Framework — Tech and Service Organizations — https://tagtech.org/page/AI
AI Literacy and the Future of Work — U.S. Department of Labor — https://dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/ten-07-25
No AI Use Policy? What to Do — Candid — https://candid.org/blogs/no-ai-use-policy-what-to-do/
We Did the Math on AI's Energy Footprint — MIT Technology Review — https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116327/ai-energy-usage-climate-footprint-big-tech/
Securing Google Workspace for Nonprofits Webinar — Community IT Innovators — https://communityit.com/webinar-securing-google-workspace-for-nonprofits/

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