How can nonprofits move past the efficiency plateau to find real strategic value in AI? In this midweek check-in, Carolyn Woodard discusses statistics from the 2026 Nonprofit AI Adoption Report from Virtuous and Fundraising AI, which reveals that while 92% of nonprofits are using AI, only 7% see a major strategic impact on their mission.

The episode also explores the concept of AI hygiene and why cleaning up your digital files for humans is the first step. Carolyn also discussed Google NotebookLM, a "walled off" library that you can create from your own resources, restricting your AI tool to just your own documents and data.

Carolyn also highlights the community-led governance model of AI Ready RVA and reminds nonprofit leaders that they do not need a computer science degree to lead an AI-ready organization. Instead, they need a clear mission, clean data, and commitment.

Key Resources Included

2026 Nonprofit AI Adoption Report (Virtuous/Fundraising AI).
92% of nonprofits surveyed are individually using AI tools for productivity and efficiency vs 7% that report they are using AI as a teammate for transformation.
Data hygiene: cleaning your data and keeping it clean.
AI hygiene: Preparing your data and data architecture so that AI tools can return the best outputs quickly, without multiple prompts and investigation into accuracy.
NotebookLM. A tool within Google Gemini that can create a "walled off" library that AI will search within. Using vetted resources can help the AI be more trustworthy and return better outputs.
AI Ready RVA - a cohort model for local resources and networking to help manage the learning and funding for pilot programs and events.

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