Spring Summit
March 26th – 28th
3 days giving you the latest on AI for nonprofits, advocacy, and social impact organizations.
- Training, strategy, & insights to expand your digital strategy.
- Streaming Live and Fully Interactive Online Summit.
- All sessions are recorded and available to stream on-demand.
AI for Nonprofits and Advocacy Summit
Spring 2025
AI is already making a major impact in the workflows and capacity for organizations around the world. With AI moving so rapidly we’ll offer multiple summits this year kicking off in March.
Join us for three days hearing from experts and practitioners alike about how they are leveraging AI for positive change in the world. AI isn’t just changing how we do digital engagement, marketing, and fundraising.
We’ll dig into how organizations can use AI for:
- Expanding Capacity
- Strategic planning
- Making better sense of data
We’ll be bringing together leaders from a variety of nonprofit, advocacy, and political organizations to share with you.
Sessions
The Summit kicks off at 1pm ET / 10am PT on Wednesday, March 26th
Sessions are typically 30-60 minutes
Most sessions occur 12 ET/ 9amPT and 5 ET / 2PT
All sessions are subject to change.
Wednesday March 26th
Welcome Conversation - The State of AI for Nonprofits & Advocacy
- Informed discussion on where we are in March of 2025
- Hot takes on what is working now
- Insights into what is next
More Info
Join event host Brad Caldana and featured speakers and guests for a conversation on what is next in AI for Nonprofits and Advocacy.
Brad Caldana
Founder & President @ Center for Digital Strategy
How Are Organizations Actually Using AI?
- AI enables immediate response to breaking events - from hours instead of days
More Info
Progressive organizations across sectors are leveraging AI to overcome common challenges while staying true to their missions. From ArtsWave’s small team juggling multiple content needs to Mission Telecom’s rapid response during Hurricane Helene, AI is transforming how these organizations operate without replacing the human element.
These organizations face similar challenges: limited staff, overwhelming information volumes, and pressure to respond quickly to emerging situations. By implementing AI, they’ve transformed these constraints into opportunities.
The result isn’t just efficiency—it’s expanded impact. Organizations are covering more issues, responding faster to breaking news, and freeing staff to focus on strategic work rather than administrative tasks.
Tareq Alani
Co-Founder @ Chorus AI
Advanced AI Writing for Nonprofit Communicators
- Spot and eliminate common AI-generated content patterns.
- Maintain your and your nonprofit’s unique voice.
- Use personas and a custom GPT to refine messaging and ensure consistency.
More Info
Advanced AI Writing for Nonprofit Communicators
AI can be a powerful tool for nonprofit communicators, but it can also undermine your credibility. This session will help you avoid tell-tale signs of AI writing, refine messaging using personas, and maintain brand consistency with a custom GPT. Learn how to preserve authentic human connection in your communication while using AI effectively.
Learning Outcomes:
- Spot and eliminate common AI-generated content patterns.
- Maintain your and your nonprofit’s unique voice.
- Use personas and a custom GPT to refine messaging and ensure consistency.
Join us to perfect your AI-assisted writing!
Anne Murphy
Founder @ #SheLeadsAI
Ethical AI in Communications: Five Questions to Guide Nonprofit Use
- Understand the benefits and risks of using AI in a nonprofit setting.
- Apply specific actions to ensure AI use matches your nonprofit's mission and values.
- Determine priority uses for AI that will benefit staff and stakeholders the most.
More Info
Learn how to ethically integrate AI into your communication strategy while maintaining your organization’s mission and values. This session covers key ethical questions and actionable steps to ensure transparency and reduce bias. Ideal for nonprofit communicators looking to incorporate AI responsibly.
Brenda K. Foster
Chief of Innovation @ Vanguard Communications
Thursday March 26th
AI Access for All: Perspectives from the Field on How Nonprofits Are Ethically and Strategically Benefitting From AI
- Be informed about how organizations are currently using AI and where further investment is needed to increase impact.
- Hear firsthand experiences and recommendations from a leading civil society advocates on how they are using AI to strategically and ethically increase their productivity and impact.
- Learn an AI evaluation framework for assessing strategic value of AI tools and programs, with specific AI toolset recommendations to get started. Discuss the risks of AI and potential mitigation strategies.
More Info
Working with civil society organizations of all types in over 60 countries, including through our recently launched “AI Access for All” initiative, we’ve seen firsthand how organizations can tap the power of AI to multiply their impact for social good.
This session will spotlight our recent survey of civil society organizations in over ten countries in the Global South, featuring insights from prominent civil society leaders in a panel discussion.
We will also share insights into how high-performing organizations are approaching AI adoption, and our framework for how to approach and assess new and existing AI tools.
Why AI Access for All
Key findings from our recent survey of organizations in over 10 countries underscore both the potential and the urgent need for support in navigating the expanding AI toolset, especially in resource-constrained organizations and movements.
• 100% believe AI will be valuable to achieve their goals in next 12 months
• 81% of organizations are concerned about the risks AI proposes
Conversation topics will include:
• Impact of AI tools: The necessity for AI tools in their work and how they see AI continuing to impact the sector in the next 3-5 years.
• Challenges and Opportunities: Real-world examples of how they currently navigate the challenges and risks associated with AI adoption.
• Call to Action: Need for funders to increase dedication to improving AI literacy within the civil society sector, multiplying the impact of their investments.
Jesse Danzig
President @ Global Wave Digital
Panel: The AI Leadership Playbook: Leading with Empathy
- Understand the challenges of AI adoption and how to guide teams through change.
- Identify key leadership struggles in AI implementation and strategies to address them.
- Explore real-world AI pain points and how to navigate them in your organization.
More Info
Leadership is human—and the AI revolution reminds us of that on a daily basis. Social sector leaders must navigate uncertainty, support diverse stakeholders, and ensure ethical implementation as AI reshapes the way we work. This panel, led by She Leads AI founder Anne Murphy, brings together women at the forefront of AI to share real-world strategies for leading with empathy.
Learning Outcomes:
• Understand the challenges of AI adoption and how to guide teams through change.
• Identify key leadership struggles in AI implementation and strategies to address them.
• Explore real-world AI pain points and how to navigate them in your organization.
Join us for a conversation on how to lead AI teams—and the future—with empathy.
Anne Murphy
Founder @ #SheLeadsAI
AI for Coalitions: How to Leverage Generative AI to Align Efforts & Eliminate Meetings
- Learn how coalition AI works
- Explore the benefits of a coalition AI platform
- Learn how to deploy a coalition AI platform
More Info
Organizing as a coalition has always been hard. Coordination is time-consuming and maintaining message alignment is hard. Change Agent’s deployment of the New Mexico Progressive AI System (NM-PAIS) makes coalition organizing far easier through the power of generative AI. Come learn how your coalition can leverage generative AI and make it easier than ever to amplify impact as a collective.
Aram Fischer
CEO & Cofounder @ Change Agent AI
Ethical AI in Communications: Five Questions to Guide Nonprofit Use
- Understand the benefits and risks of using AI in a nonprofit setting.
- Apply specific actions to ensure AI use matches your nonprofit's mission and values.
- Determine priority uses for AI that will benefit staff and stakeholders the most.
More Info
Learn how to ethically integrate AI into your communication strategy while maintaining your organization’s mission and values. This session covers key ethical questions and actionable steps to ensure transparency and reduce bias. Ideal for nonprofit communicators looking to incorporate AI responsibly.
Brenda K. Foster
Chief of Innovation @ Vanguard Communications
Building an AI-Ready Culture: Practical Steps for Mission-Driven AI Adoption
- Understand key mindset shifts that make AI adoption more intentional, practical, and aligned with your mission.
- Learn small, low-risk actions you and your team can take right away to build confidence and curiosity around AI.
- Recognize AI adoption as a reflection of organizational culture and use this moment to strengthen collaboration, learning, and trust.
More Info
AI is making its way into nonprofit and advocacy work, but the real challenge isn’t just choosing the right tools—it’s making sure they are used in a way that strengthens your organization’s mission, values, and people. The way a team approaches AI, whether with excitement or hesitation, often reflects broader organizational habits around learning, collaboration, and change. This moment isn’t just about technology. It’s an opportunity to build a culture that embraces learning, psychological safety, and thoughtful experimentation while keeping the mission front and center.
This session will offer practical strategies and simple but meaningful actions to help organizations move from AI awareness to intentional, impactful use.
Participants will:
– Explore key mindset shifts that support a thoughtful and mission-driven approach to AI.
– Learn simple, low-risk ways to start experimenting with AI while strengthening collaboration and trust.
– Build a habit of critical curiosity, developing the skills to stay informed, engaged, and adequately skeptical without feeling pressure to adopt every new tool.
This session is designed for nonprofit and advocacy leaders who want to integrate AI in a way that is practical, inclusive, and aligned with their mission and values. Participants will leave with tangible steps they can take right away, plus a fresh perspective on how AI adoption can be an opportunity to strengthen—not disrupt—their team and organization.
Valerie Ehrlich
Founder & Principal Consultant @ Mission Bloom, LLC
Michael DePass
Faculty @ Center for Creative Leadership
Friday March 28th
Right Message, right time, right people.
- How do we segment without using PII?
- How do we create a compelling narrative?
- Which tools can help drive the message?
More Info
Wrangling Large Data Sets
We need to be able to get the right message to the right people, at the right time. How can AI help? Let’s explore!
Rachel Kimber
Technology Futurist and Nonprofit Executive
Rapid Response with AI for Nonprofits
- Learn how AI enables rapid, personalized responses in urgent advocacy situations.
- Discover real-world examples of AI-driven success in nonprofit campaigns.
- Understand how to integrate AI into your workflow for faster, more effective engagement.
More Info
In this session, we’ll explore how Quiller’s AI-driven platform helps nonprofits quickly craft personalized responses to urgent issues. With AI’s ability to analyze data and engage supporters in real-time, you can scale your messaging efforts and stay agile in fast-moving advocacy campaigns.
Zack Doherty
Chief of Staff @ Quiller
Fast, accurate insights from open-ended comments at scale
- Strategies and tools for leveraging open-ended survey data at scale, so you can deepen understanding, improve engagement, and amplify your impact
- Discover real-world examples of AI-driven success in nonprofit campaigns.
- Understand how to integrate AI into your workflow for faster, more effective engagement.
More Info
Understanding your audience is crucial—whether that’s members, donors, media comments, or public opinion. Yet, analyzing open-ended feedback at scale has historically been a prohibitively challenging task. The volume of responses can be overwhelming, and traditional methods of manually reviewing and coding this data are time-consuming and resource-intensive.
But with advancements in AI-powered tools like Fathom, it’s now possible to efficiently analyze large volumes of open-ended feedback with speed, accuracy, and nuance—transforming what was once a burdensome task into an actionable strategy.
Together we’ll explore how analyzing open-ended data at scale enables you to listen to members, donors, online commentary, and public opinion. And we’ll show you how Fathom helps organizations analyze open-ended data quickly, accurately, and meaningfully—without the need for overwhelming resources.
Tovah Paglaro
Co-founder @ Fathom
AI - Beyond the ChatGPT Age
- Moving beyond just access ChatGPT
- Reimagining your processes with purpose-built AI applications
More Info
The age of electricity wasn’t defined by bigger generators, but by the proliferation of devices that transformed electric power into real tools and appliances that provided value. Similarly, AI’s impact won’t be measured by more sophisticated models but by the explosion of tools that convert raw intelligence into practical tools and applications. Every organization now faces the same opportunity (and challenge): to start designing “AI toasters” that harness abundant intelligence to solve real problems. Just as factories that merely replaced steam engines with electric motors saw minimal gains until they redesigned around electricity’s unique capabilities, organizations must move beyond simply accessing ChatGPT to fundamentally reimagining their processes with purpose-built AI applications for their specific needs.
George Irish
Founder @ Fundraising with AI
Sponsors
FAQs
Is the event online?
Yes, to make the event as accessible as possible we offer our summits completely online so people can join from anywhere in the world.
Will sessions be recorded?
Yes, all sessions will be recorded and available immediately after the session. We will edit the recordings for a better playback for you when possible.
Will we be able to connect with others?
Yes! This event will give attendees, sponsors, and speakers the chance to connect. The live sessions and chat are all held inside of our new community site.
What type of payment methods do you accept?
You can pay with a credit card using the register link.
If you need to pay with an online check or invoice please email: [email protected]
Do you offer scholarships?
Yes, we offer scholarships for individuals and organizations who need them. Please use this form: https://centerfordigitalstrategy.com/scholarship
Why isn't it free?
I’ve seen free summits for nonprofits. Why isn’t this one free?
The majority of free summits and conferences make the attendees the commodity. What you end up with is a sponsor-centered event.
We have done away with attendee data sharing and are working to create more authentic connections between sponsors and attendees.
Will the schedule or content change?
Like any live event, the content and schedules are subject to change because the speakers are humans, and technology will always be complicated.
Hosted by the Center for Digital Strategy
