As Chief AI Officer at Virtuous, and someone deeply invested in the future of generosity, Iโve had the privilege of walking alongside nonprofit leaders who do work that is nothing short of extraordinary. Yet, in many of those conversations, thereโs a striking pattern: leaders readily describe their mission as extraordinary but often hesitate to say the same about themselves.
That humility is understandableโฆbut itโs also incomplete.
Because in truth, what makes the nonprofit sector so powerful isnโt just the missions we serve. Itโs the people behind those missionsโindividuals who give their energy, intellect, and heart to making the world more just, more compassionate, and more connected.
You are not ordinary. You never were.
And now, the tools available to you arenโt ordinary either.
In this article, Iโll explore how todayโs nonprofit leadersโextraordinary peopleโcan begin to wield extraordinary toolsโparticularly artificial intelligence (AI)โto reimagine generosity in an age where connection has never been more needed, and where the cost of disconnection has never been greater.
But first, a story.
Ordinaryโor Extraordinary?
More than a decade ago, I overheard someone offer a phrase thatโs stayed with me ever since, though not for the reasons they may have intended: โOrdinary people can do extraordinary things.โ
It was meant to be upliftingโa reminder that remarkable outcomes can emerge from humble beginnings. But the phrase landed differently with me.
Not because I questioned the possibility it pointed to, but because I never accepted the premise. I have never believed in the concept of an โordinary person.โ Not then. And certainly not now.
There is no such thing as an ordinary person.
To be human is to be inherently remarkable. Our biology alone is staggering in its complexityโour brains orchestrating electrical symphonies of thought and memoryโour bodies adapting, regenerating, growing, surviving.
But beyond physiology lies something even more profound: our capacity for empathy, invention, wonder, and connection. We are, each of us, worlds unto ourselves. Not average. Not uniform. Certainly not ordinary.
Thatโs why that phrase always felt like a missed opportunity. Over time, I found myself reshaping it, trying to rescue its spirit without accepting its framing. What emerged became a kind of mantra for my work and my worldview: If ordinary people can do extraordinary things, imagine what extraordinary people can do with ordinary things.
It wasnโt about overstating ability or glossing over hardship. It was a quiet reminder of the everyday brilliance that lives inside people doing meaningful work with limited means.
AI: An Extraordinary Tool for Nonprofits
For years, this felt like the right lens for the nonprofit world in particularโa world full of mission-driven professionals, volunteers, and donors accomplishing extraordinary things with scarce resources and imperfect tools.
But as the world and tools around us have fundamentally changed, how we think about human potential must also evolve.
We are no longer living in an era defined by modest means or limited by our experiences or imagination. The age of ordinary tools is behind us. We now inhabit a new technological landscape, one in which the instruments available to us are not only powerful but unlike anything that has come before.
We have entered the age of artificial intelligence, not as a speculative future, but as a present-day reality. And this shift is not incremental. It is exponential.
Artificial Intelligence is not just another digital tool. It is not a spreadsheet with better formulas or a CRM with power-boosted automation, precision, and personalization. It is a class of technologies capable of augmenting thought itselfโsystems that can summarize complex ideas, detect subtle patterns, translate languages, write stories, analyze sentiment, and simulate conversations with uncanny fluidity.
When used responsibly, these tools have the potential to extend the reach of our minds and accelerate the pace of both our personal effort and our organizational missions. For the first time in history, we are not merely deploying tools to enhance efficiency or productivity. We are beginning to engage with tools that expand our minds in terms of whatโs possible.
In this context, my old mantra must evolve, taking on new relevance. If extraordinary people once had to do more with less, what becomes possible now that we have more? What happens when people with big hearts, strong convictions, and deep expertise gain access to tools that can amplify those qualities at scale?
The early answers are already revealing themselves in so many amazing nonprofits with the courage to embrace new and often daunting technology.
- In healthcare, AI is being used to anticipate disease outbreaks weeks before symptoms emerge, allowing for interventions that save lives.
- In education, teachers are beginning to tailor instruction to each studentโs pace and styleโnot theoretically, but practically, with AI helping parse data points too complex for any one person to manage.
- In humanitarian relief, machine learning is routing supplies more efficiently than traditional logistics models ever could.
These are not tech demos. They are glimpses of what becomes possible when advanced tools are placed in the service of human flourishing.
Within philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, the implications are equally profound. We have long operated in a world of limited capabilities that have often lacked personalization and precision. And as participation in giving continues to decline, itโs becoming clear that these methods, however well-intentioned, are no longer enough.
This is where AI offers a different pathโnot one paved with automation for its own sake, but one that enhances our ability to listen, understand, and respond with care.
The Virtuous Approach to AI
At the heart of our approach at Virtuous is a framework we call Responsive Fundraisingโa philosophy rooted in human connection, not transactional efficiency. Responsive Fundraising challenges the traditional one-size-fits-all playbook. It replaces static campaigns with dynamic, personalized experiences. It means listening before asking, honoring motivations before modeling behaviors, and treating every donor as a whole person, not just a potential gift.
Responsive Fundraising is about being present at the right moment with the right messageโnot to optimize clicks, but to deepen connection. Itโs a mindset that elevates relationships over revenue and emphasizes trust over tactics.
With Responsive Fundraising, we can see traditional fundraising barriers melt away. It can help a fundraiser:
- Listen: Spot early signs of disengagementโlike fewer gifts, lower email clicks, or paused volunteerismโto intervene before donors lapse.
- Connect: Personalize outreach using giving history, passion points, and communication preferencesโnot just demographicsโto foster Radical Connection.
- Suggest: Recommend the right ask at the right time based on past behavior, capacity, and life stage.
- Learn: Close the loop by tracking results, testing messages, and learning what drives deeper generosity and lasting relationships.
With AI added to this philosophy, Responsive Fundraising becomes even more powerful, unlocking unprecedented precision, personalization, and purpose at scale. It can help us do this not by replacing our humanity, but by making our humanity scalable.
At Virtuous, our work is grounded in the belief that AI should be both responsible and beneficial. These arenโt marketing terms. Theyโre moral commitments. Responsibility means transparency, equity, and dignity, built into the system from the start. Beneficial means that AI must leave people more engaged, not more confusedโmore known, not more categorized. We believe this is possible, but only if we are as intentional about the design of these tools as we are about the missions theyโre meant to serve.
Of course, this potential comes with risks. AI is a double-edged force. It can distort reality as easily as it can reveal it. It can entrench bias as easily as it can illuminate truth. Thatโs why our field must approach this technology with clear eyes and stronger ethics. We cannot afford to treat AI as a savior. It is a servantโa powerful one, but still a tool. We must ask ourselves not only what it can do, but what it should do. And most importantly, who it serves.
At a time when the number of people giving to 501(c) organizations is declining and civic trust is eroding, we cannot afford to build systems that further abstract people from one another. If we do this rightโif we lead with our values and not our vanityโAI could be the only scalable solution capable of reversing the Generosity Crisis. Not by optimizing transactions, but by strengthening relationships. By helping organizations show up at just the right moment with just the right message, not for efficiency, but for meaningful engagement.
This, I believe, is the true promise of AI: not to make us faster, but to make us more fully ourselves. More responsive. More reflective. More connected. It is a promise that hinges on how we choose to wield it.
Extraordinary People, Nonprofits, Missions & Tools
And so the mantra must evolve once again.
If ordinary people can do extraordinary things, then imagine what extraordinary people can do with extraordinary tools. This paradigm shift is no longer abstract. Itโs the work of this modern era. The tools are already in our hands. The only question that remains is whether weโll use them to build a future that reflects the best of who we are.
What lies ahead isnโt an iteration of whatโs been done before; itโs a departure. AI didnโt knock gently at the door of tradition; it tore the hinges off. Now itโs up to us to decide whether we cling to comfort or chase possibility.
The world we serve has changed, and so must the way we lead within it. Letโs refuse to be custodians of yesterdayโs thinking. Letโs question everything that begins with โweโve alwaysโฆโ and replace it with โwhat ifโฆ?โ Because the greatest limits weโll face are the ones we donโt challenge.
The future is generous to the bold. So, letโs be bold, together.
The Next Step Towards AI for Your Nonprofit
At Virtuous, weโre passionate about empowering nonprofits to start using AIโwithout getting overwhelmed or consumed by technical details.
โHow Ready Is Your Nonprofit for AI?โ is a practical guide I created to help nonprofits evaluate their AI readiness across 7 key areasโfrom leadership and data to ethics and impact.
Each section includes simple checklists to assess where you are today and where you can grow next.
Download the readiness guide HERE.
Lastly, if youโre ready for AI-powered, enterprise-grade fundraising platform, check out Virtuous CRM+ to reimagine personal connections with your donors, automate your workflows, discover data insights, and inspire a movement of generosity.
Book your personalized demo now to see our AI-powered CRM in action.
