6 Ways Philanthropists Can Help Shape the Future of AI So That It Serves People, Not Just Profits
By funding smart research, strengthening nonprofit infrastructure and collaborating with other donors, philanthropists can play a vital role in ensuring that AI development prioritizes the greater good.
AI has already affected how we learn, work and govern ourselves much faster than research, regulation or nonprofits can keep pace.
While businesses and governments scramble to respond, philanthropists hold a distinct and underutilized advantage: The flexibility to fund what others won't, invest where we still need evidence and work across sectors without commercial pressure.
Here is how to leverage your advantages as a donor.
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1. Sharpen your nonprofit due diligence
AI-generated misinformation makes vetting organizations harder than ever. Donors can raise their standards by:
- Identifying ratings from Charity Navigator, the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and GuideStar's Seals of Transparency before committing funds
- Visiting local organizations in person — no rating system replaces direct observation of a program in action
- Asking nonprofits you regularly support how they manage AI-related data risks before your next significant gift conversation
2. Fund nonprofit AI capacity — not just programs
Most nonprofits use AI primarily for basic productivity: Drafting emails, summarizing meetings, writing grant applications. The real leverage lies in mission-critical AI deployment — but getting there requires infrastructure most nonprofits lack, and the risks of moving forward without it remain severe.
Unlike corporations, nonprofits face the same cybersecurity vulnerabilities with far fewer resources. They routinely manage donor financial data, personally identifiable information, health records and confidential beneficiary files.
Large language models like ChatGPT and Claude collect and store user data indefinitely — meaning a nonprofit that uploads sensitive files to an AI platform may lose ownership of that data entirely.
Cybercriminals also actively use AI to make attacks harder to detect. A single breach can devastate fundraising, damage community trust and trigger regulatory consequences under state, federal or international privacy law.
To empower nonprofits to function effectively with AI, you may:
- Fund general technology budgets. IT infrastructure upgrades remain chronically underfunded, yet are essential for safe and effective AI use. Consider directing unrestricted gifts specifically toward this gap.
- Sponsor AI education and policy development. Nonprofit leaders identify four priorities: Staff training on AI fundamentals, dedicated software funding, technical development opportunities and guidance on how AI affects the communities they serve.
As a result, you can free up charities to make truly transformational changes. For instance, the MacArthur Foundation's recent $100 million award funded an AI-driven global infectious disease surveillance system, a model for what becomes possible with the right infrastructure in place.
3. Support publicly available AI research
It has become clear that AI will affect jobs across every sector — augmenting some roles, restructuring others and eliminating others. Yet workforce impact data remains fragmented, with no uniform standards for measuring AI exposure, adoption or economic effect across sectors.
Educators and employers commonly agree that student preparation for an AI-embedded future entails independent decision-making, problem-solving and media literacy, rather than task completion. In essence, students need to be taught how to think, not what to think.
However, educators have had to make high-stakes technology adoption decisions with insufficient evidence.
As labor markets shift, demand will rise for portable access to healthcare, education and job retraining.
For instance, potential ideas such as portable benefits, decoupling health insurance and retirement savings from traditional employment, require rigorous, publicly available research to move from concept to viable policy.
As a result, AI research remains "in the first inning."
Donors can accelerate the learning curve to keep up with industrial changes by:
- Funding research based on multiple perspectives, including those of teachers, parents and students, on AI's impact on learning
- Prioritize studies that remain open to the public, so other researchers can replicate and build on findings
- Support workforce transition research, particularly around portable benefits and safety-net access for workers in AI-disrupted industries
4. Strengthen civic voices in developing AI policy
Most workers and communities recognize the efficiencies offered by AI, understand their benefits and don't want to eliminate them.
Instead, they simply want a seat at the table in deciding how AI applies to them. In fact, more than half of U.S. adults (55%) say they want greater control over AI in their lives.
That demand extends to transparency about AI's environmental footprint and corporate accountability on data privacy.
Philanthropy has a direct role in amplifying a community's civic voice by:
- Funding local and independent journalism to ensure communities receive accurate, accessible information about AI's local implications
- Supporting civic participation initiatives that bring residents, not just industries, into community-level AI policy and land-use decisions
5. Align your financial investments with your philanthropic goals
Ideally, your investment portfolio and your philanthropic priorities would reinforce, and not negate, each other. Accounting for environmental, social and governance factors may improve long-term returns by unlocking value and achieving resilient, long-term investment success.
You can adjust your investment and philanthropy alignment by:
- Reviewing your current AI-related holdings and their impacts in the areas that you care about most as a philanthropist
- Consulting with your investment adviser on frameworks for considering environmental, social and corporate governance factors
6. Team up with other donors
AI's societal scale exceeds what any single donor can address. Philanthropists who coordinate with peers can multiply their impact, reduce duplication and gain access to shared due diligence.
In collaborating with other donors, you may:
- Explore foundation coalitions like Humanity AI to review their vetted grantee list and potentially identify organizations aligned with your priorities
- Join or convene a donor working group focused on AI's impact in your areas of giving — education, workforce, health or civic participation
The philanthropists who move now can help influence AI for good. In funding research, nonprofit capacity and broad civic engagement and working with other donors, you can advance the positive impact of AI and mitigate its challenges for decades ahead.
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