AI Resilience Report forFundraising Managers

The good news for fundraising managers is that AI is mostly showing up as a helper, not a replacement. A new benchmark study from Virtuous and Fundraising.AI finds that 92% of nonprofits are using AI tools in some capacity, yet just 7% report major improvements in their organizational capability — a gap described as an "efficiency plateau." In other words, lots of fundraisers are experimenting with tools like ChatGPT, but the work itself is still being done by people.

What is AI actually doing right now? Mostly the routine writing and research parts of the job. According to Nonprofit Tech for Good's 2026 statistics roundup ^[1], 82% of nonprofits are using AI informally/ad-hoc, mostly to generate content like drafting donor emails, and 63% of fundraisers are unsure about using generative AI for donor communications because it seems less personal, but 82% are comfortable using AI for donor research.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that for years, predictive AI has helped fundraisers identify who is most likely to give, when to reach out, and how much to request. Generative AI, on the other hand, can write compelling, human-sounding outreach. Some organizations are even testing autonomous tools — while tech companies have laid off employees claiming AI makes their jobs unnecessary, we haven't seen that yet in the nonprofit sector.

However, we have seen organizations with big fundraising teams using an AI fundraiser that interacts with donors and raises money. So far, the higher-stakes work (relationship-building, major-gift meetings, strategy) is still firmly human.

Adoption is happening fast on the surface but slowly underneath. The tools are cheap and easy to get — ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini are inexpensive or free, which makes the cost of experimenting tiny compared to staff salaries. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ^[2] still projects that overall employment of public relations and fundraising managers is projected to grow 5 percent from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average for all occupations.

About 10,200 openings for public relations and fundraising managers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. That's a healthy labor outlook, not a shrinking field.

Several things are slowing deeper adoption. Eighty-one percent of organizations report using AI individually and on an ad hoc basis, while only 4% say they have documented, repeatable workflows. In practice, experimentation often remains personal rather than institutional.

Governance gaps compound the issue. Nearly half of the respondents report having no formal AI policy. Trust matters too: a 2026 outlook in The Chronicle of Philanthropy ^[3] notes that a recent Mission Partners–Chronicle of Philanthropy survey found that just under half of nonprofits were using AI, though three-quarters agreed or strongly agreed AI would have a positive impact on nonprofits.

And as the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 ^[4] highlights, employers across sectors are investing more in AI skills training — meaning the people who learn to use AI well are the ones who'll thrive.

The honest takeaway: AI will keep eating the routine drafting, data lookup, and email work. But donor trust, ethical judgment, storytelling about real people, and face-to-face relationship building — the heart of fundraising — are exactly the human skills AI can't fake. If you're curious about this career, lean into those, learn the new tools, and you'll be in a strong spot.