The AI NOW Playbook

Two years. Two cohorts. Fifteen charities at very different stages of their AI journey.

What emerged wasn't a race to adopt the latest tools. It was something more grounded. Organisations building confidence, putting principles in place, and finding that when AI is used well, it gets people back to the work that actually matters. Less admin. More time for the thinking, the relationships, the human stuff.

But this isn't a story of easy wins. The risks are real. Trust, accuracy, bias, authenticity. And doing nothing carries its own risk too, as Jeremy Worrell from NDCS put it: "Sometimes not adopting AI can be unethical too, where there's beneficiary gain at stake."

This playbook is built from two years of actually doing this with fifteen charities. Experimenting with them, learning with them, and challenging them . It's not a finished answer. The landscape moves too fast for that.

But doing nothing isn't the safe option. AI is already being used across most organisations. Ignoring it doesn't hold the line, it just means someone else is setting the terms.

The opportunity is significant. So is the responsibility.