The proportion of charities using artificial intelligence (AI) tools has grown substantially over the past year, though many say that their overall AI skills are lacking.
These were some of the findings in the new edition of the annual ‘Charity Digital Skills Report’, which delves into digital and AI adoption, skills, attitudes, funding and support needs across the sector.
The 2025 report found that just over three quarters (76%) of all charities are now using AI tools compared to three-fifths (61%) in 2024.
Despite this increase, more than a third (36%) reported that their chief executives have poor AI skills and 44% said the same of their board.
This could begin to change over the next couple of years, however, with nearly half (49%) of charities surveyed saying that developing their strategy for digital, data and AI was a priority.
Nearly three quarters (74%) said they recognised that AI developments are relevant to them, while half (48%) are currently in the process of developing an AI policy.
The report’s authors said that these figures suggest that the charitable sector could be at “an exciting – and pivotal – moment of change”.
A bigger proportion of larger charities are using AI tools
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a bigger proportion of larger charities are using AI.
89% of large charities reported that they are using AI, compared to 72% of small charities.
The top day-to-day use for AI is for documents and reports, with it being used for tasks such as drafting or structuring of content.
Half (50%) of the charities utilising AI use it for documents and reports, with the next most common uses of it being administrative tasks (48%) and developing online content (36%).
Just over a third (35%) are using AI for idea generation and 29% are using it for research and information gathering.
At an organisational level, the top use for AI was in administration and project management (48%), followed by grant fundraising (36%) and communications and fundraising (34%).
Only a small proportion of charities utilising AI are using it for things such as strategic planning (9%), service delivery (7%), and recruitment and HR (5%).
Report co-author Zoe Amar, the founder of Zoe Amar Digital, said: “Our sector is changing, and AI could make it look very different in a few years’ time.
“We need to accept that, work with and influence the change we want to see, not resist it.”
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