INSIGHT

How Foundations Are Using AI to Multiply Impact

Kristen Oshiro • August 13, 2026

Services: Agentic AI & Process Automation Industries: Foundations

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Foundations have always operated under a familiar tension: big missions, limited staff, and never quite enough hours in the day. Grant reviews pile up. Nonprofit financial reporting cycles repeat. Program staff spend time on administrative work that keeps them away from the relationships and decisions that move the needle. AI won’t solve every problem, but for many foundations, it’s starting to chip away at the right ones.

This article looks at where AI is making a difference, how foundations can protect data and maintain trust along the way, and why the human element remains the foundation’s most valuable asset.

Why Foundations Are Paying Attention Now

As BPM’s 2026 nonprofit mid-year outlook shows, the conversation around AI has shifted. A few years ago, most foundation leaders were watching from a distance, curious but cautious. Today, the technology has become harder to ignore. AI is woven into tools many staff already use daily, from document processing platforms to email and calendar applications. The question for most foundations is no longer whether to engage with AI, but how to do it responsibly.

For smaller foundations in particular, the appeal is straightforward. Staff teams are lean, and the administrative burden of grantmaking, reporting, due diligence, and communications takes up a significant share of capacity. AI tools can absorb some of that load, which frees up time for the work that requires human judgment and relationship.

Where AI Is Creating Real Value

The most practical gains are showing up in a few concrete areas.

• Grant proposal review and due diligence: Foundations are now using AI to process large volumes of proposals against defined criteria, flagging issues that need closer attention and surfacing patterns across applicant pools. This doesn’t replace program staff, but it does make the process faster and more consistent.
• Research and landscape analysis: AI tools can process and synthesize far more information than a single staff member could read in a week, including sector reports, news coverage, and grantee progress updates. Foundations use this to spot trends, identify gaps in their funding portfolios, and make more informed decisions about where to direct resources.
• Communications and translation: Foundations working across communities with different primary languages can remove language barriers, making it easier for more organizations to apply and engage.

Keeping Trust at the Center

One of the more thoughtful objections to AI in philanthropy comes from foundations committed to trust-based grantmaking practices. If the whole point is reducing burden on grantees and building real relationships, where does automation fit? Some funders worry that using AI to summarize grant reports or triage proposals removes something important from the process. The careful reading, the considered response, the sense that a person is actually paying attention on the other end. What’s emerging in practice, though, is that AI tends to create more room for those things, not less.

When staff spend less time on first-pass review or administrative coordination, they have more capacity for site visits, direct conversations, and the kind of ongoing engagement that trust-based philanthropy depends on. AI handles the volume; people handle the relationship. The key is being transparent about it. Foundations that share how AI fits into their processes, including where human judgment still drives final decisions, tend to preserve grantee trust rather than erode it.

Getting Data Privacy Right

Foundations handle sensitive information about the communities they serve, the organizations they fund, and the individuals who lead them. Using the wrong tools carelessly can put that information at risk. Consumer versions of many AI platforms may use uploaded content to train future models. That’s a meaningful concern when staff paste in grant applications, financial summaries, or grantee narratives.

Enterprise versions of the same tools typically offer stronger protections, including the ability to prevent data from being used for model training and clearer contractual commitments around how information is stored and handled. Before staff start experimenting, foundations need an AI compliance policy. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it should answer a few basic questions:

• Which tools are approved?
• What information can be shared with those tools?
• Who has authority to update that list as the technology evolves?

If staff are already using AI tools before a formal policy exists, don’t wait to address it. Put an interim rule in place now, no grantee names, financial details, or identifying information in consumer AI tools, and communicate it clearly while a full policy is developed.

The Human Touch Is Still the Point

There’s a version of this conversation that treats AI as a replacement for people, and it consistently misses the mark. The foundations getting the most out of these tools are the ones that keep humans in the decision-making loop, treat AI output as a starting point rather than a final answer, and stay focused on what they’re trying to accomplish.

Program officers still need to read the work. Executive directors still need to make calls about strategy and risk. Boards still need to exercise judgment. AI can do a lot to prepare the ground for those conversations, but it can’t substitute for them. A more effective team is the goal, not a smaller one.

Working with BPM

BPM’s Agentic AI & Process Automation services works with organizations of all sizes across the foundations industry on the financial, compliance, and operational challenges that come with advancing a mission. From audit and tax to outsourced accounting, HR consulting, and financial management, our team understands the pressures foundation leaders face and brings practical sector knowledge to every engagement.

If your foundation is thinking through how to position itself for growth, manage compliance across funding streams, or build stronger financial infrastructure to support its mission, contact us.