Free · Certificate included
AI for Nonprofit Leaders
Use ChatGPT and other AI tools to do more with less — without putting your donors, mission, or reputation at risk.
What you’ll learn
- Explain in plain language what generative AI is, what it is good at, and where it fails
- Apply AI to real nonprofit work — drafting, grants, donor communications, social media, and meeting notes — with a human-in-the-loop
- Write clearer prompts and protect donor and client PII when using public AI tools
- Recognize hallucination and bias risks and lead your team to a simple, written AI policy
Screen your volunteers for $5
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Create a free account →Course outline
- 1
What generative AI actually is
You have heard the buzz: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot.
6 min Quiz Interactive - 2
Practical use cases that save real hours
Nonprofits are chronically short on time and staff — which is exactly why AI is appealing.
7 min Quiz Interactive - 3
Prompt-writing basics
A "prompt" is just the instruction you give the AI.
6 min Quiz Interactive - 4
Donor data, client PII & privacy
This is the module that protects your organization.
7 min Quiz Interactive - 5
Hallucinations, bias & accuracy
Because an LLM predicts plausible text, it will sometimes produce confident, well-written statements that are simply false.
7 min Quiz Interactive - 6
Human-in-the-loop review
Everything so far points to one principle: keep a human in the loop.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 7
Building your AI policy
Surveys suggest roughly half of nonprofits have no written AI policy — which means staff and volunteers are already using these tools with no guardrails.
7 min Quiz Interactive
Sources & further reading
- NTEN — AI for Nonprofits Resource Hub & Generative AI Use Policy template
- Candid — Getting started on a responsible AI use policy for nonprofits
- Stanford HAI — AI Index Report — Responsible AI (bias, hallucination, governance)
- Stanford Social Innovation Review — 8 Steps Nonprofits Can Take to Adopt AI Responsibly
- Anthropic — Usage Policies (acceptable use of AI assistants)
VolunteerBadge Academy courses are provided free for general educational and informational purposes only. Every course is researched from reputable, authoritative sources (cited on the course), but VolunteerBadge and ScreenForge Labs, LLC make no representations or warranties of any kind — express or implied — as to the accuracy, completeness, currentness, reliability, or suitability of the content for any purpose. Content may contain errors or omissions and may become outdated, and laws, regulations, standards, and best practices vary by jurisdiction and change over time. This material is not legal, medical, mental-health, clinical, financial, safety-certification, or other professional advice, and completing a course or earning a certificate creates no professional relationship, license, accreditation, or endorsement and is not a substitute for training, certification, supervision, or policies required by law, your organization, your insurer, or a licensing body. Always follow your organization's own policies and applicable law, use your own judgment, and consult a qualified professional (such as an attorney, licensed clinician, or medical provider) about your specific situation. In an emergency, call 911 (or, for a mental-health crisis, 988). To the fullest extent permitted by law, VolunteerBadge and ScreenForge Labs, LLC disclaim all liability for any loss or harm arising from reliance on this content or participation in any course.

