By Heather Mansfield, Founder and Editor-in-chief of Nonprofit Tech for Good
The most recent Nonprofit Tech for Good Survey reveals that the vast majority of nonprofits are not using AI for fundraising. In fact, the nonprofit sector has barely entered the early adoption phase, as visualized by the Rogers’ Technology Adoption Curve. If you are a nonprofit professional who has worried that your nonprofit is moving too slowly to adopt AI, worry not! There is still ample opportunity to reap the benefits of early adoption, provided your nonprofit has a budget to experiment with new AI fundraising tools and staff who are enthusiastic and empowered to deploy these new tools.
In 2026, the adoption rate of AI in fundraising will grow as nonprofit professionals increase their AI literacy and fundraising platforms expand their AI toolsets. However, it’s worth noting that currently, 60% of nonprofits report a lack of in-house expertise to assess AI tools, and only 4% have AI-specific training budgets, according to the must-read 2025 AI Equity Report. At that level of investment in AI, the nonprofit sector is at risk of remaining stuck in curiosity mode, or worse, willfully illiterate in AI despite “AI Literacy” being named the fastest-growing skill of 2025 by LinkedIn.
All that said, here are five key findings about AI for fundraising from the most recent Nonprofit Tech for Good Survey completed by 826 nonprofits:
1) 4.5% of nonprofits utilize smart donation forms.
Smart fundraising software uses predictive AI to personalize donation form amounts by processing the donor data (PII) in your CRM, or for anonymous website visitors, non-PII data, such as web browser, zip code, etc. Slowly, more fundraising platforms are offering smart fundraising, also known as intelligent fundraising, and in the years to come, all fundraising platforms will have to roll out smart fundraising software or risk becoming obsolete.
2) 4.1% of nonprofits utilize smart email sending.
Smart email sending uses predictive AI to analyze each subscriber’s past open and click activity to determine the best time to send them emails. It’s an affordable paid upgrade offered by most email marketing platforms. Email is a powerhouse for online fundraising and growing monthly giving programs, so experimenting with smart email sending is a must for nonprofits in 2026.
3) 2.3% of nonprofits utilize predictive AI to identify donors who are most likely to become mid-level or major donors.
Predictive AI fundraising software can analyze the data in your CRM to identify the donor prospects who are most likely to become mid-level donors, major donors, and planned givers. Until recently, utilizing this AI fundraising method required investing in a third-party fundraising software, but in the years to come, this type of predictive AI fundraising software will become standard and offered by most fundraising platforms.
4) 1.3% of nonprofits use real-time fundraising intelligence software.
Fundraising Intelligence software uses machine learning to analyze donor data in real-time to visualize giving trends and forecast revenue. A handful of fundraising platforms offer fundraising intelligence as a paid upgrade, but a new platform named Avid is the fundraising intelligence tool to watch in 2026.
5) 1.2% of nonprofits use agentic AI software for fundraising.
2026 will be the year of AI agents, or so we’ve been told. Currently, only 1.2% of nonprofits are utilizing AI agents, such as Salesforce Agentforce or OpenAI Operator, and even then, at the most basic level. Using AI agents to automate intermediate and advanced fundraising workflows hasn’t begun yet, and 2026 will start to reveal whether AI agents can be deployed effectively to streamline nonprofit fundraising.
The 2026 Certificate in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Marketing & Fundraising program provides an honest, balanced approach to using AI for nonprofit marketing and fundraising—and illuminates why AI literacy is a must-have skill for 2026 and onward. Customized for nonprofit professionals, this webinar series will expand your skill set, advance your career, and help transition your nonprofit into the age of AI.
