Sink or Swim? AI Is Here and Nonprofits Are Diving In Without A Safety Net

This article is published in collaboration with Infoxchange.

The nonprofit sector is often stretched thin, working across complex social issues with limited time and resources. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a tantalizing promise: to do more with less.

Across the Asia and the Pacific, organizations are diving into this technological opportunity and beginning to experiment. In Australia and New Zealand, Infoxchange’s 2025 Digital Technology in the Not-for-Profit Sector report found that the use of AI by nonprofits has doubled between 2024 and 2025, with organizations using generative AI tools to write funding proposals, generate ideas for programs, automate administrative tasks, and even triage enquiries.

But here is the challenge—many of these organizations are working without understanding of the risks, moving faster than guardrails can be applied. Infoxchange’s 2025 report found that only 14% of nonprofits in Australia and New Zealand have an AI policy or governance framework in place. The pace of experimentation is accelerating, but the policies, safeguards, and skills required to ensure AI is used responsibly are not keeping up.

Without attention, the very communities these organizations serve—often marginalized, vulnerable or digitally excluded—risk being further exposed. We see an urgent need to drive ethical, well-governed and inclusive AI adoption in the social sector.

Why Now is the Time to Improve AI Literacy and Capability

While governments and businesses invest heavily in AI strategy, too often, nonprofits are left out of the conversation or supportive funding announcements. And yet, they have the most at stake, carrying sensitive client information and providing essential services in areas like health, education, disaster response, and social inclusion. 

Improving AI capability in this sector cannot be an afterthought. With the pace of change, AI must be a foundational consideration to regional development. Better digital tools mean safer communities, but also faster service delivery, better data for decision-making, and reduced administrative burden.

Capability without care is risky, particularly with AI. When used unethically, these tools can amplify bias, spread misinformation, and make opaque decisions with real human consequences.

Three Steps to Ethical, Impactful AI Adoption

To ensure AI is used for good in the community sector, we believe nonprofits need support in three key areas: 

1. Build foundational AI literacy: Staff and volunteers within these organizations need the confidence to know what AI is (and is not), what it can do, and where it should be avoided.
2. Develop ethical guardrails: Organizations need clear guidance on policies and risk assessments, alongside cultural awareness to avoid harm.
3. Focus on real-world, practical skills: Staff need hands-on learning they can apply directly to their work, from writing smarter prompts to best practice with data to detecting AI-generated misinformation.

Singapore’s Model AI Governance Framework provides a practical reference point for how transparency, accountability, and human oversight can be embedded into AI use. We recommend you follow the national guidelines relevant to your country, and if not available, refer to regional leading guidelines.

A Regional Initiative to Build AI Capability

To help meet this need, Infoxchange has launched the AI for Social Justice: 2026 Essentials Bundle, designed specifically for nonprofit staff who are curious, cautious, or just beginning their AI journey. It is also a good primer for nonprofits that want to facilitate more advanced workflows using AI, ensuring they are confident in using AI ethically in their everyday work. 

Participants learn how to:

• Use AI tools like ChatGPT to generate content, automate tasks, and summarize information;
• Apply prompting techniques and critical thinking in real-world tasks;
• Identify risks such as bias, hallucinations, and misinformation;
• Understand their ethical responsibilities in an AI-enabled workplace; and
• Strengthen digital capability through applied, context-specific learning.


This bundle is part of Infoxchange’s broader commitment to regional nonprofit capacity-building and is designed with flexibility in mind—so busy staff can fit it around their schedules while still gaining the insights they need to lead with confidence.

We are already seeing organizations like Edufarmers in Indonesia building AI chatbots to transform their One Egg a Day child nutrition program, providing personalized guidance via WhatsApp and helping to cut severe stunting by 32% in just 6 months in one community.

In India, Dharmalife’s chatbot Roshni is transforming rural education, offering 24/7 support in more than 20 languages and helping women, youth, and trainers access skills, guidance and safe learning environments. 

In Australia, nonprofit organization Clean Up Australia is now automating litter analysis with AI, turning a tedious 70-item form into a quick photo to unlock faster, more reliable environmental insights.

We Must Collaborate on AI Literacy Together to See Positive Impact

If we are serious about inclusive digital transformation in the Asia and the Pacific, then we must ensure the community sector is not left behind. 

That means investing in capability, building governance, and ensuring frontline organizations, from local NGOs to regional service providers, are empowered to lead.

Because when AI is used well in the hands of trusted, community-based organizations, it is not just about efficiency, it is about impact, inclusion, and justice.