Empowering nonprofits with AI

ServiceNow.org recently partnered with research firm ThoughtLab to survey more than 300 nonprofit executives worldwide to find out what progress they’ve made using technology to remake their organizations. We examined what the most successful organizations—which we call Pacesetters—are doing differently and how others can improve their strategies to enhance their missions.

Our research demonstrates how digitization will reshape nonprofits over the months and years ahead, helping them raise more funds, address collaboration challenges, and ensure long-term viability. 

From our findings, 92% of nonprofits are aware of the value that digital transformation presents, but they’re unsure how to take advantage of it. We found that only 53% of senior leaders understand the latest advancements, such as low-code tools, which a mere 11% say they are currently using. The barriers for nonprofits in their commitment to digital change are real, with 52% of nonprofits lacking dedicated innovation budgets.

Pacesetters are ahead of the rest of the sector in four crucial areas of performance: top-line growth, efficiency and cost savings, innovation, and strategic position. And AI is not just in the experimentation phase; it’s driving Pacesetters’ transformations. Two-thirds of Pacesetters are midway or advanced in using AI to improve their performance, about 10 times as many as other nonprofits. In three years, that figure will rise to nine out of 10 Pacesetters. 

Over half of nonprofit leaders report being confident that recent advances in AI will dramatically transform their ability to drive productivity, engage donors, and deliver on their missions. But for most, AI is still in the experimental stage. This is shown by ServiceNow’s recent AI Index report, in partnership with Oxford Economics, which showed that only 10% of nonprofit executives say they are leveraging the full transformational value of AI.

While larger nonprofits face more regulatory and data privacy hurdles, smaller nonprofits have less access to funds and fewer tech-savvy leaders to embed the change.