Tag

planning

Nov 24

The AI Questions Foundations Will Ask In 2026 (And Why That’s Good News)

By Sponsor Insight

By Lauren Bickham, Assistant Vice President and Fund Director at Black Onyx Management

Artificial intelligence isn’t just transforming how nonprofits operate—it’s expanding their potential. Nearly two-thirds of nonprofits now use AI—organizations of all sizes find it accessible and are identifying practical ways to incorporate it into their work. Additionally, philanthropy is making unprecedented investments to ensure AI’s transformative power benefits the organizations tackling society’s most pressing issues.

A $500 MILLION BET ON AI FOR IMPACT

In October, ten of America’s most influential foundations—including MacArthur, Ford, Omidyar Network, Mellon, and Packard—announced Humanity AI, a $500 million initiative dedicated to ensuring AI delivers for people and communities. The coalition will begin aligned grantmaking this fall, with pooled grants starting in 2026.

This represents a fundamental shift: philanthropy is moving from cautious observation to active investment in AI as a force multiplier for social impact.

HOW FOUNDATIONS ARE SUPPORTING AI ADOPTION

The sector is recognizing that nonprofits shouldn’t navigate AI alone. Yet a significant opportunity exists: while capacity building is common in philanthropy, a 2025 study by the Center for Effective Philanthropy found that nearly 90% of foundations don’t yet offer AI implementation support to grantees. This gap is changing rapidly as leading foundations demonstrate what’s possible:

Capacity Building Grants: KPMG Foundation committed $6 million to help nonprofits integrate AI into operations. GitLab Foundation offers $250,000 grants plus six months of technical support from OpenAI engineers, API credits, and peer learning networks.

Skills Development: The AI for Nonprofits Sprint aims to bring 100,000 nonprofit staff to baseline AI literacy in 2026. Microsoft, OpenAI, and others have launched free training specifically designed for nonprofit professionals.

Collaborative Funding: Foundations increasingly favor multi-partner proposals that bring together nonprofits, universities, and tech organizations—sharing both resources and expertise.

Infrastructure Investment: The National Science Foundation is investing over $700 million annually in AI research, with increasing focus on AI ethics, digital equity, and applications for social good.

WHAT FOUNDATIONS WANT TO SUPPORT

When foundations evaluate AI-inclusive proposals in 2026, they’ll be looking for organizations that demonstrate:

  1. Mission Alignment: How does AI amplify your impact rather than simply automate tasks?
  2. Responsible Implementation: What safeguards ensure AI enhances rather than replaces human judgment and relationships?
  3. Equity Focus: How does your approach address bias, ensure transparency, and promote digital equity?
  4. Sustainability: Who maintains and improves the AI system beyond the grant period?
  5. Data Stewardship: What governance protects the communities you serve?
  6. Learning Orientation: How will you share what works (and what doesn’t) with the sector?

These aren’t barriers—they’re guideposts for maximizing AI’s positive impact while minimizing potential harms.

THREE WAYS TO EXPLORE AI’S POTENTIAL FOR YOUR MISSION

You don’t need technical expertise or a big budget to start exploring AI for your organization. Here’s how to get started:

  1. FOCUS ON PROBLEMS, NOT TOOLS
    Where does your staff spend time on repetitive tasks instead of high-value work? Where could personalization improve outcomes but seems impossible at scale? What data could inform decisions but remains unused? These questions identify AI’s most valuable applications for your organization.
  2. TAP INTO FREE SUPPORT
    The sector is investing heavily in making AI accessible. Free training through Microsoft Learn’s AI Skills for Nonprofits, OpenAI Academy, and IBM SkillsBuild can boost your team’s confidence. Many offer certificates that demonstrate growing expertise.
  3. JOIN LEARNING COMMUNITIES
    The Technology Association of Grantmakers is launching learning exchanges for organizations developing AI strategies. Fast Forward and other intermediaries connect AI-powered nonprofits for peer learning. You don’t have to figure this out alone.

THE OPPORTUNITY AHEAD

Philanthropy is making a bold bet: that AI, when used responsibly and equitably, can help nonprofits achieve breakthrough impact on society’s most difficult challenges. With $500 million in new funding starting in 2026, along with comprehensive training and technical support, the sector is creating an unprecedented opportunity for mission-driven organizations.

The question isn’t whether AI will change social impact—it’s how your organization can help shape that change in ways that boost your mission and benefit your community.

PARTNERING FOR AI-ENHANCED IMPACT

Black Onyx Management assists nonprofits in exploring and clearly articulating how AI can enhance their impact. Whether you’re thinking about your first AI implementation or creating a detailed strategy, we combine philanthropic insight with technical knowledge to support you:

  • Discover high-value AI applications aligned with your mission and capacity
  • Develop compelling narratives that show foundations how AI amplifies your impact
  • Design responsible implementation frameworks that protect the communities you serve
  • Build proposals that position your organization for AI-inclusive funding
  • Create strategic plans that integrate AI thoughtfully into your theory of change

The foundations investing in AI aren’t just funding technology—they’re investing in organizations ready to reimagine what’s possible. We help you become one of them.

Contact Black Onyx Management to explore how AI can expand your impact and how we can help you communicate that vision to funders. Visit blackonyxmanagement.com or contact lauren@blackonyxmanagement.com.

Dec 16

Organizational assessments: What are they and why does your organization need one?

By Sponsor Insight

by Erin Hedges, founder and president, Hedges

It’s that time of the year again … the time when we get to say, “Let’s circle back on that after the holidays” or “We’ll regroup in the new year.” It’s the time for forecasting and budgeting … for reflecting on what was accomplished and what goals we should set for the future.

Nonprofit leaders constantly balance day-to-day management with long-term strategic thinking, but the end of the year always brings that task to bear in unique and time-sensitive ways. As the page turns from Q4 back to Q1, nonprofit executives are often wondering, “Is my organization on track and how do I know?” At Hedges, our recommendation for answering this question is simple: Like any successful employee, organizations need an annual review to measure their health, effectiveness, and growth. We call this an organizational assessment.

What is an organizational assessment? An organizational assessment is a measurement tool designed to assess your organization’s current standing — both in areas of strength and areas where there are critical gaps. Ultimately, it should capture your organization’s key strengths and challenges across the core functions of a nonprofit.

At Hedges, we call these the Four Pillars of Organizational Health. These pillars are Programs & Impact, Leadership & Culture, Marketing & Communications, and Finance & Development. Using this Four-Pillar framework, Hedges benchmarks organizations against 30 Organizational Indicators aligned with leading industry standards and informed by our experience in partnering with more than 140 nonprofit organizations over the last 20 years.

This 30-indicator assessment includes overarching questions such as:

  • Are there systems and processes in place to measure the organization’s impact?
  • Do the individuals impacted have opportunities to inform program delivery?
  • Does the organization have strong staff satisfaction and retention?
  • Is the board of directors high performing?
  • Does the organization have a clear brand voice and strong digital media presence?
  • Does the organization have diverse revenue streams and partnerships?

Who is involved in an organizational assessment? The most effective organizational assessments include input from multiple directions. We recommend that organizational assessments include input from staff, board members, and the individuals your organization impacts. Staff members can provide input through a simple staff satisfaction survey and board members may complete a self-evaluation of themselves and the entire board.

These results can then be compiled with client feedback that is captured through existing program evaluation methods or through a separate client satisfaction survey. Critically, you should be able to draw a direct line between the questions you ask in a survey or evaluation and the indicators you use to make your organizational assessment.

Organization leaders such as the executive director or the board chair should oversee the organizational assessment process, but they may also tap into contractors and consultants who specialize in nonprofit operations and governance.

What are the benefits of an organizational assessment? Not only does an organizational assessment answer the question: “Is my organization on track?” but it also provides the following three key benefits:

  1. An organizational assessment can give you helpful data to use for setting measurable goals. For example, you may have a general goal of improving staff satisfaction in 2023. In an assessment process, you may discover that 80 percent of staff feel like the culture at your organization is positive but only 20 percent describe communication as strong. Now, thanks to this assessment data, you can make you 2023 goal much more specific and measurable with concrete baseline data to inform your year-end goal (i.e., from 80 percent to 100 percent) with a clear area for improvement (i.e., communication).
  2. An organizational assessment can make your funding requests more competitive. Self-awareness is a great character quality in people and in organizations. It shows authenticity, humility, and responsibility — all things that supporters love to see from nonprofit organizations. An organizational assessment is a quick, simple way to demonstrate self-awareness, that you take your mission seriously, and that you want to be honest about where you are excelling and where you have room to grow. The data you glean from an organizational assessment not only strengthens your internal goal setting but should also strengthen your grant requests and donor appeals. For example, in an assessment process, you may learn that 100 percent of the individuals you impact say you make a positive difference in your life, or 80 percent of staff see themselves working at you organization in three years. Those are great data points that will ensure your organization stands out in the crowd.
  3. An organizational assessment sets the tone for a positive, transparent culture. More and more, employees want to see their employers take accountability for the culture and dynamics that are present in their workplace. An organizational assessment is a tool that says, “We hear you.” By conducting an organizational assessment process, especially with the help of a third-party facilitator, your organization can get a holistic picture of both the pain points that are holding you back and the strengths you didn’t know were there.

If you’re looking ahead to 2023 and wondering what your organization should focus on and where you need to invest your energy, consider starting with an organizational assessment. Having concrete data to describe where you are now is the best way to articulate where you want to be.

Erin Hedges is the founder and president of Hedges, an Indianapolis consulting firm that advances social change by strengthening Indiana’s philanthropic sector. Contact Erin at erin@hellohedges.com to learn more about Hedges’ 30-Indicator Organizational Assessment.

Jan 24

Looking back to move forward in 2022

By Feature

With an unprecedented demand for services, the Urban League and Coburn Place outline plans to support critical community needs, employees and partnerships

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

“Unprecedented.” That’s the word that immediately comes to mind for many Central Indiana nonprofit leaders in addressing the new challenges in carrying out their mission in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And many of those experiences are now critical in shaping how nonprofits are shaping plans to operate in 2022, including new ways to approach donors, addressing employee burnout and collaborating with other nonprofits, according to two local nonprofit CEOs.

The Urban League of Indianapolis, which promotes economic empowerment among underserved communities through education, job training and workforce development, unexpectedly entered into new terrain during the pandemic, according to Tony Mason, CEO and president. 

“At the onset of the pandemic, we started receiving calls from the senior living communities who were concerned about how their residents were going to get food,” Mason recalled.

After connecting some of the senior living communities to Gleaners, Second Helpings and other food banks, Mason assumed that request had been fulfilled. The team continued to focus on how to shift its operations to a virtual format. 

“But the calls kept coming in,” Mason said. “And they were coming from citizens. We had to do something.”

As a result, the Mason conferred with the rest of the Urban League team about launching a plan to operate as a drive-through food and resource distribution center. Assuming that the drive-through operations would only last a couple of months, the team decided it would serve as a good opportunity to engage and connect with the community while meeting an urgent need, Mason recalled. 

However, by the end of 2021, the Urban League  had continued to provide the service for more than 80 consecutive weeks, at times distributing food to up to 900 households each week, Mason said.

For Rachel Scott, president and CEO of Coburn Place, those challenges included serving an increasing number of victims of domestic violence, a trend that was reflected nationally and globally in response to lockdowns.

“We were inundated with new clients due to an unprecedented increase in domestic violence,” Scott said. “This meant not only hiring and training new staff, but redefining how we serve survivors. We were already set up for mobile advocacy, but suddenly that was all we had. Our staff had to be creative. They did intakes by phone with abusers in the next room because meeting at a coffee shop wasn’t an option.”

Adjusting to growing domestic violence needs

At the same time, Coburn’s development team was forced to turn away donations.

“For the development team, the in-kind donations we rely on to furnish safe homes for families disappeared because we could no longer have people dropping off items in our building, and of course, we couldn’t accommodate our regular volunteers,” Scott said. 

“We produced volunteer opportunities people could do virtually and found other ways to make up for the loss of in-kind donations. We found that many of the things we did because we had to are things we will continue — creative advocacy, engaging volunteers remotely, virtual support groups and new partnerships.”

The team also relied on innovation to meet needs.

One of the answers to meeting the needs of domestic violence survivors was to develop individualized housing safety plans during the lockdown, Scott said. “We worked with other organizations to create solutions for survivors, like hotel stays so they could get to safety immediately,” she recalled. “Our support groups went to a virtual format.”

While delivering programming is critical, it also is important to focus on internal needs, Scott said.

“Nearly every nonprofit organization that provides direct services to the community was pushed to the brink of its capacity in the last two years. We need to prioritize the well-being of nonprofit staff so we can continue to give our best to the people we serve,” Scott said. “That likely means addressing the mission creep many of us have experienced during this time. We all need to step back and make sure we are the best option for clients and, if they would be better served elsewhere, work with other organizations to make sure their needs are met.”

From the perspective of the Urban League, one of the most critical developments from the pandemic has been the formation of collaborative partnerships, Mason said.

“We established partnerships with some of our neighborhood-based, grassroots organizations, such as CircleUp, MD, Before You Fall, Purpose of Life, and Ministries of the Street,” he said. “We had about 10 to 12 organizations which would, from week to week, would come and would also pick up resources and take them back to their congregations or to people in the neighborhoods. We recognized that everyone can’t come down here.

“In some ways, it became an important part of what we’re doing because it positioned us to where we were collaborating more and with emerging and existing grassroots neighborhood-based organizations that would have probably in the past not considered being connected to us.”

Mason said those relationships will continue to be instrumental in meeting the needs of the community in 2022 and beyond.

“It allowed me and my team to better understand who else is out there on the ground doing this work, people who are committed to it,” he said. “People need help 24/7. It doesn’t change. We have pockets of poverty all over the city. Poverty is everywhere. So it’s important to have  this level of connectivity and be in relationships with groups that are doing this work all over the city.”

Scott also said it is important to be transparent when talking to donors. “See and speak the truth about where you are as an organization — not just what seems impressive,” she said. “What a donor wants is tangible ways to help and partner, not just have their own egos inflated. Be candid with your closest donors and supporters. Let them partner more deeply by letting them in on the areas where you need help.”