Curious about AI, but not sure where to begin? You're not alone.
This is the first of a short series of blogs. More to follow in the weeks ahead.
This summer, Thrive Marketing delivered AI in Action for Charities: From Uncertainty to Confident Use, a six-week programme with Charities Institute Ireland. It sold out, with more than 50 professionals from charities and not-for-profits across the island of Ireland taking part.
In our very first session, we asked everyone to describe how they felt about AI at work in one word. As expected, the answers covered the full range from hopeful to uncertainty, overwhelmed to excitement and without a doubt fearful. That mix is exactly where most charities are right now.
Throughout the session we covered a range of topics, here's what we shared with the group about where to begin.
1. Uncertainty Is the Right Place to Start
Concerns about accuracy, trust and data protection aren't a reason to stay away from AI. They're the right questions to ask. Charities hold sensitive information and rely on the trust of their supporters, so caution is a strength, not a weakness.
2. Think Assistant, Not Expert
AI can help you draft, summarise, organise and brainstorm. What it can't do is make decisions for you, understand your organisation without guidance or guarantee that it's right.
Think of it as a capable assistant, not an authority. It can get you started and improve a draft, but you (the human) remain responsible for the final result.
3. Know What Never Goes In
Donor details, beneficiary information, health records, HR files and safeguarding information should never be entered into an AI tool. On the course, we used a simple traffic light approach to decide what's safe to start with, what needs careful review, and what's off limits.
If you remember one rule, make it this one: if you wouldn't paste it into a public search engine, don't paste it into an AI tool.
4. Start Small and Low Risk
The goal isn't to use AI everywhere. It's to use it where it adds value and takes away repetitive work. Rewriting a generic email, creating a checklist or brainstorming ideas for an event are all great places to begin.
Confidence comes from doing, not from learning about AI in theory.
Coming Up Next
In the next blog in this series, we'll look at why so many people's first attempts with AI fall flat, and the simple shift that changes the results.
Interested in AI training for your team? Get in touch at hello@thrivemarketing.ie.