Nonprofit AI field guide
Reviewed July 21, 2026Run a small evidence-first pilot
Test quality, burden, risk, and mission fit before a broad rollout or purchase commitment.
Write the comparison
Capture how the work performs today: time, rework, delays, error patterns, accessibility, staff experience, and the result people receive. A baseline prevents novelty from becoming the success measure.
Choose a small set of representative cases and a review rubric before using the tool. Keep the same cases available for later comparison when the model, prompt, policy, or workflow changes.
Observe the whole workflow
Measure preparation, prompting, review, correction, documentation, escalation, and follow-up. A quick first draft may create more work downstream, especially when reviewers must verify unsupported claims or rebuild tone and context.
Record failures and near misses as evidence, not embarrassment. Note the input condition, output, human response, consequence avoided or experienced, and the change needed before another test.
Make an explicit gate decision
At the agreed review date, compare the evidence with the mission result, boundaries, staff capacity, cost, accessibility, security, privacy, and support requirements. Do not expand because a trial period is ending.
Choose stop, revise, continue at the same scope, or scale under new controls. Record the owner, rationale, unresolved questions, and next review trigger.