First Day Podcast

In this episode of the First Day Podcast, host Bill Stanczykiewicz, Ed.D., is joined by Cherian Koshy, CFRE, CAP®, Vice President at Kindsight and co-author of the study Donor Perceptions of AI. The conversation discusses how donors perceive the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the nonprofit sector. This independently funded study surveyed over 1,000 U.S. donors who contributed between $20 and $200,000 over the past year, offering a rare look into their comfort level with AI and its potential impact on fundraising practices. Cherian explains that while many nonprofits remain uncertain about AI’s various use cases, donors are surprisingly well-informed, likely due to media coverage. The study revealed five key themes, with privacy and data security concerns (noted by 60% of respondents) among the top issues. However, an even more significant worry for donors was the loss of human connection in philanthropy. Despite these concerns, most respondents were optimistic about AI’s potential to enhance