AI Tools vs AI Teammates

Read time: 3 min

👋🏾 Hey! I’m Sid and this is The Philanthropy Futurist, a weekly advice column preparing you for the future of the nonprofit sector. Each Friday, I tackle reader questions about measuring impact, driving growth, and managing your nonprofit.

This Week’s Newsletter at a glance:

• AI Tools vs AI Teammates

• Philanthropy News From This Week

• Sid’s Book Recommendation

AI Tools vs AI Teammates

Science fiction is probably my top 2 favorite genre of film.

That said, this week’s newsletter is going to feel a lot like a movie you haven’t seen yet.

Imagine walking into your Nonprofit’s office and being greeted not just by your colleagues, but also by your AI teammates— reliable assistants who manage everything from volunteer schedules to real-time program evaluations. Some will sit in the cloud and help you brainstorm your next campaign, others will walk beside you in the field like robotic aides.

Right now, this future might be perceived as science fiction, but I’d argue this reality is coming much sooner than we think.

In a fully autonomous world, AI won’t just draft your thank you letters or summarize board meeting notes (though it’ll do that too, lol). But picture your Development team having an AI teammate that can run wealth screenings, identify giving patterns, and suggest personalized outreach strategies— all before you drink your morning tea or coffee.

Meanwhile, your Program team will be able to work with an AI team member that can analyze service delivery data in real-time, flag potential bottlenecks, and even carry out tasks you message them on Slack (or whatever internal chat you use).

There’s a long list of opportunities across all team functions, and if you can’t already tell… I am very excited about this future!

But note: this isn’t about replacing your team, it’s about freeing your team.

Freeing your team to dream bigger, move faster, and ultimately, solve more problems. That way you can truly be in the moment and focus on the work that matters most. A future world like this will increase our ability to scale compassion and create change like never before.

AI can’t replace the human heart behind your mission, that part is up to you!

At this point, I think it’s pretty obvious that AI will boost productivity in the workplace. But not enough people are asking: How will AI help us solve the world's hardest problems?

Whether that’s homelessness, poverty, climate change, inequality, and the list goes on…

That’s where you come in.

So, be curious and use your imagination. The possibilities are endless.

There’s still so much to explore here— from governance to ethics to implementation and more— but that I’ll have to unpack in another newsletter (or maybe over on LinkedIn). But the bottom line is:

AI won’t save the world, but it will give you more time to do the work that might.

That’s it for this week y’all. Until next time! ✌🏾

Have questions you want answered? Submit questions using this form and I’ll work hard to get you the answers by way of this newsletter.

Philanthropy News From This Week

• Giving in 2025 expected to increase, but still unpredictable

• Major Tax Package Advances in Senate! Call Your Members of Congress

• Demand for nonprofits rising amid financial constraints, Report finds

• Poetry Foundation launches $3 million Sustainable Futures initiative

Sid’s Book Recommendation

Each week, I recommend a book or film that has impacted my life in a positive way. My recommendation this week is:

Change Your Paradigm, Change Your Life by Bob Proctor

This book explores how our deeply ingrained mental programming (aka paradigm) shapes every aspect of our lives, from our habits and beliefs to our success and fulfillment. This week, I am sharing this as my book recommendation because as a sector, we are in a dire need to shift our paradigm. Learn more.

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