Why Are Charities Hesitant to Adopt AI
(Despite the Benefits)?

Most people working in charities and hospices have heard the buzz about artificial intelligence (AI). It’s almost common knowledge by now that AI can improve efficiency, save time, and cut costs. In fact, experts note that AI holds tremendous potential for charities to better allocate staff resources, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. AI tools can automate routine tasks, analyse huge data sets for insights, and even predict future trends. With such promise, one would expect nonprofits to be jumping on the AI bandwagon. Yet, adoption in the social sector has been slow – even slower than in the business world. For example, while an estimated 86% of companies are using some form of AI, fewer than 3% of hospice and home health organisations have embraced AI solutions. US Source. Clearly, there’s a gap between understanding the benefits and actually implementing AI. So, what’s causing this hesitation?

Nonprofit teams recognise AI’s potential to streamline operations and analyse data, freeing up staff for more human-centred work. Despite these clear benefits, many charities feel significant hesitation about beginning their AI journey.

The truth is, knowing that AI can help and doing something about it are two different things. Many hospices and charities are intrigued by AI’s potential to supercharge their impact, yet they hold back. Below, we explore four main challenges behind this reluctance.

 As you read, consider whether any of these, sound familiar to you and your organisation.

Feeling Overwhelmed by the Process

Does diving into AI feel like standing at the base of a mountain, not sure where to start climbing? If so, you’re not alone. With all the hype and technical jargon, many nonprofit leaders feel overwhelmed at the prospect of adopting AI. The noise is everywhere – news, conferences, vendors promising “revolutionary” AI solutions – and it can be paralysing. Where do we even begin? This sense of overload is a very common barrier. As one nonprofit advisor put it, “Starting something new can often feel overwhelming, and for many nonprofit leaders, figuring out where to begin with AI is no different.” The AI landscape can indeed seem vast and complex, especially if your expertise is in care or community work rather than technology. It’s no wonder that many charity professionals feel stuck at the starting line, unsure which tool or use-case to tackle first.

Feeling overwhelmed can also stem from not wanting to “get it wrong.” Introducing AI isn’t as simple as flipping a switch – it’s a project. There are questions about strategy, ethics, data, training, and integration. For smaller organisations or hospices with limited IT support, that laundry list can look intimidating. When you’re already juggling fundraising, service delivery, and tight budgets, the idea of adding one more big project (AI adoption) might cause you to shelve it for “later.” Ironically, this means many nonprofits delay exploring AI even though they know it could help, simply because the process feels daunting. But remember, you don’t have to tackle everything at once – even a small start (like piloting a single AI tool) can demystify the process and build confidence.

Fear of AI’s Impact

For some in the charity sector, the word “AI” doesn’t spark excitement so much as anxiety. There’s a natural fear of what AI might mean for the people and culture of our organisations. You might wonder: Will AI change the personal, human touch we have with our beneficiaries and donors? Will it replace jobs? Could it make decisions we don’t understand? These are valid concerns, and many nonprofit staff share them. In fact, staff often worry that AI will end up replacing them, viewing AI as some “unstoppable force” that could render human workers obsolete. This fear of job loss or devaluation of human expertise can create resistance to any form of AI adoption. After all, charities and hospices are deeply human enterprises – built on compassion, trust, and personal connection – so anything that might diminish that can feel threatening.

Fear of AI’s impact isn’t only about jobs. It’s also about maintaining trust and quality. Nonprofit leaders worry about AI making a wrong decision or a tone-deaf communication that could upset a donor or harm a vulnerable person. Concerns about bias in AI systems, data privacy, or just the unknown consequences rank high among leadership’s worries. For example, if an AI tool inadvertently sent out an incorrect message to families in a hospice program, the results could be damaging. Additionally, charities have a hard-earned trusted voice in society – and they are cautious about anything that might jeopardise it with misinformation or impersonal interactions. It’s telling that in one recent nonprofit tech survey, privacy, security, and accuracy were among the top concerns about AI (even as organisations acknowledged its benefits) . In short, there’s a bit of an “AI bogeyman” in our imaginations – a worry that introducing AI could do more harm than good by changing our culture or causing errors.

If you recognise this fear in yourself or your colleagues, take heart: these impacts can be managed. Successful charity adopters often emphasise that AI is a tool to support humans, not replace them. They focus AI on tasks that free up staff to do more human-centered work, and they implement checks (like human review of AI outputs) to maintain quality and trust. By starting small and being transparent, organisations find that AI can be introduced without eroding the human touch – in fact, it can strengthen it by allowing staff to spend more time on personal interactions.

Lack of Time and Headspace

Another huge barrier is simply bandwidth. In a charity or hospice, everyone wears multiple hats. Who has the time or headspace to learn about AI, when the daily to-do list is already overflowing? Many organisations feel under-resourced and stretched thin, and this makes it hard to prioritise something seemingly “extra” like AI innovation. One nonprofit leader captured it well, saying “We feel like we don’t have enough time, money, resources, people to do all the things that we want.” Day-to-day operations in hospices and charities are intense – caring for patients, running programs, managing volunteers, reporting to funders – it can leave teams exhausted. When you’re constantly putting out fires or scrambling to meet targets, it’s tough to carve out mental space to experiment with a new technology. As data from a Google.org survey showed, nonprofits are often “stretched, under-resourced and weighed down by time-consuming administrative tasks” . Sound familiar?

The result is that AI adoption keeps getting put off. It’s not that teams don’t see the value – it’s that they literally can’t find the time to explore it. Learning about AI, researching vendors, training staff, tweaking processes – all that requires dedicated effort that feels like a luxury when you’re short on staff or funding. There’s also an emotional component: headspace is limited. If your team is burnt out or simply focused on immediate needs, the cognitive load of trying something new (and potentially complex) might be a no-go. As one expert noted, when nonprofit folks are tired and swamped, they are “not ready to engage with new systems” like AI until they can find the breathing room . Thus, lack of time and headspace becomes a vicious circle – without time to try AI, you can’t gain the efficiencies that would free up time!

Breaking this cycle might require reframing AI not as an “extra project” but as a gradual change that can start small. Even allocating a few hours a week for one team member to pilot an AI tool (perhaps an AI scheduling assistant or a simple chatbot) could demonstrate enough benefit to justify expanding the effort. The key is to see AI exploration as an investment into saving time down the line. It may feel like you don’t have time to innovate, but without innovation you may never have more time.

“It’s Too Complicated for Us” – The Skills Gap

The fourth big hesitation can be summed up as: “AI sounds great, but we’re not tech people – it’s too complicated to learn.” This belief is very common, especially in small charities or hospices where there isn’t a dedicated tech department. AI is often portrayed as cutting-edge computer science involving algorithms, data scientists, and lots of jargon. It’s easy to conclude that your team doesn’t have the expertise to use it. In surveys, nonprofit leaders frequently cite a lack of technical skills or knowledge as a primary barrier to AI adoption . To put a number on it, one large global survey found that two-thirds of nonprofits see unfamiliarity with AI as their biggest obstacle, and 40% have no staff educated in AI at all . That’s a significant skills gap – if no one on your team knows how these tools work, who will lead the charge?

This “too complicated for us” mindset can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Organisations assume they need to hire expensive experts or invest in big training programs before even trying AI, which further delays action. It’s true that AI involves a learning curve, but it might not be as steep as you think. Many modern AI tools (especially the user-facing ones like AI writing assistants or simple predictive analytics software) are designed to be user-friendly – often as easy as using a new app. There are also increasingly more resources to help non-technical folks grasp AI basics. For instance, free or low-cost courses (like Coursera’s “AI for Everyone”) are available to demystify AI for beginners . Some nonprofits create peer learning groups or task forces to explore AI together, so no single person has to be the expert from day one.

It may help to remember that you don’t need a PhD in machine learning to take advantage of AI in your organisation. The key is identifying a specific area where AI might help (say, automating your donor thank-you emails or sorting client inquiries), and then experimenting with a tool in that area. Start small and build confidence. As staff gain exposure, the intimidation factor drops. Over time, teams often realise that AI is just another software tool – one that can even be fun to experiment with. In short, AI is not magic; it’s learnable. And the sooner your organisation starts that learning process, the sooner you bridge the skills gap that seems so daunting now.

Real-World Examples: How Charities Are Benefiting from AI

Despite these challenges, many forward-thinking charities have taken the plunge into AI – and their success stories show that the effort is worth it. Let’s look at a few real-world examples from the charity sector (beyond hospices) that demonstrate how adopting AI can yield impressive benefits:

• Charity: Water – This nonprofit uses AI to analyse and segment its donor database. By leveraging machine learning to identify donor patterns and behaviours, Charity: Water can tailor its outreach and appeals to specific donor groups. This targeted, personalised approach has proven more effective in engaging donors and increasing fundraising results . In other words, AI helps the charity talk to donors about the projects they care about most, which boosts donor satisfaction and repeat donations.
• UNICEF (U-Report) – UNICEF created an AI-powered chatbot platform called U-Report to engage with young people around the world. Through U-Report (often accessed via messaging apps), youths can share their opinions and feedback on social issues and receive information. This AI chatbot allows UNICEF to gather valuable real-time insights from thousands of voices at once, something that would be impossible manually. The result is greater awareness and participation in UNICEF’s initiatives, and the data helps inform programs. It’s a great example of AI enhancing outreach and engagement, encouraging more people to get involved in the charity’s mission.
• American Red Cross – The Red Cross has deployed an AI-driven chatbot named “Hero” to assist potential blood donors. Hero interacts with the public by answering common questions, providing information on donor eligibility, and helping people find nearby blood drives. By automating these responses, the Red Cross made the blood donation process easier and more accessible. The AI chatbot has simplified the experience for donors and increased participation in blood drives and donation campaigns. This shows how AI can remove friction in a process (in this case, donating blood), leading to more people taking action and ultimately helping the cause.

These examples show that AI is not just a flashy concept – it’s a practical tool that charities are using right now to work smarter and amplify their impact. Whether it’s analysing donor data to personalise outreach or using chatbots to handle routine Q&As, AI solutions can drive real results like improved donor retention, higher engagement, and time savings. Importantly, each of these organisations started with a specific problem (donor segmentation, youth feedback, donor Q&A) and applied AI as a solution. They didn’t implement “AI for everything” all at once – they began where it made strategic sense. Over time, success in one area builds momentum (and confidence) to explore other AI use cases.

Breaking Through the Hesitation: Why Now is the Time to Start

If you’ve seen a bit of your own worries in the challenges above, take a moment to reflect: what would it take to move past those barriers? It might feel safe to “wait and see” until AI is more commonplace in charities, but the landscape is changing fast. In 2024, three in five charities were already using AI in some form, and that number is only growing. The question is no longer if nonprofits should use AI, but how to do so in a way that aligns with their mission. In fact, one industry survey concluded that the conversation in our sector is not whether to use AI but how best to deploy it to enhance our work. Every month, new tools are emerging that get easier to use and more affordable. Meanwhile, the longer organisations delay, the more they risk falling behind – not just behind other charities, but behind the expectations of supporters and clients in a world where AI-assisted services become the norm.

Embracing AI doesn’t mean tossing aside your values or replacing your people. It means augmenting your team’s abilities so you can achieve your mission more effectively. Imagine your staff freed from the most tedious paperwork, so they can spend more time with patients or donors. Imagine being able to quickly get insights from your data that now take days or weeks to compile. AI can make those possibilities a reality. And you don’t have to dive in blindly – you can start with a pilot project, learn from others (plenty of shared knowledge in the nonprofit community), and scale up carefully. As one nonprofit tech expert put it, engaging with AI is necessary and simply requires thoughtful preparation . With the right approach, you stay in control of the technology and guide it to serve your needs, not the other way around.

So, here’s a friendly challenge: make AI exploration a priority, even a small one, in the coming months. Rally your team, board, or volunteers and discuss your concerns – often just airing the fears can start to dissolve them. Identify one process that eats up a lot of time or one goal you struggle with and investigate if an AI tool exists to help with it. You might be surprised at how accessible some solutions are. Dip your toes in the water with free trials or demos. Upskill yourselves gradually (there are many beginner resources). Importantly, keep your organisation’s values at the centre of any AI initiative – focus on how it can enhance the human touch, not eliminate it.

Now is the time to act. The longer you wait, the more catching up you’ll have to do later. By starting now, you can shape your AI journey proactively: set ethical guidelines, build staff confidence, and integrate tools at a comfortable pace. The charities and hospices that begin adapting today will be the ones that thrive tomorrow, able to direct more of their precious time and resources to what truly matters – their mission. Don’t let being overwhelmed or fear hold you back from these opportunities. The benefits of AI (more efficiency, better insights, cost savings, and greater impact) are too important to ignore. Your cause deserves any advantage that can help drive it forward. AI is one such advantage – and it’s within your reach. So take that first step and start exploring the AI solutions that could lighten your load and amplify your impact. Your future self (and your beneficiaries) will thank you for it.

Call to Action: It’s crucial to start investigating AI for your organisation now. Read up on AI success stories in the nonprofit space. Talk to a peer who’s tried an AI tool. Experiment with a simple AI application relevant to your work. Every journey begins with a first step – take it. By breaking through hesitation and embracing a mindset of curiosity, you position your hospice or charity to work smarter, not harder. In a world where technology is rapidly evolving, stepping into AI thoughtfully and boldly will empower your organisation to achieve more for those you serve. Don’t miss out on the potential – plan your first AI step today.