The 5 Types of AI Solutions
(and How to Use Them to Solve Common Nonprofit Problems)
This is a guest post from Jake Porway, our entrepreneur-in-residence and a long-time AI-for-Good expert in the space.
Introduction
A wise person once said that a problem well-defined is half solved, and this couldn’t be more true than when it comes to building technology. I’ve spent fifteen years working on applying tech for good, and regardless of the tool or trend, the most common challenge I’ve seen hasn’t changed: understanding what, exactly, the new tech can be used for.
A wise person once said that a problem well-defined is half solved, and this couldn’t be more true than when it comes to building technology.
Many nonprofits are being nudged by their boards and funders to “use AI” without understanding how to apply it strategically across their organizations. This is why we spend so much time at Decoded Futures helping our learning cohorts define what an AI-shaped problem actually looks like.
We’ve worked with over 80 nonprofits on custom AI solutions, and in that process, we've identified five common use cases where Large Language Models (LLMs: tools like ChatGPT and Claude) or off-the-shelf tools can make an immediate difference.
Below, we’ll walk through each use case, identifying how to use AI in ways that truly maximize your impact.
1. Create and Communicate
“I need to write or create something to share with others.”
Whether you need to draft a grant proposal or write a bedtime story, this is a scenario where large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Claude really shine. Though you aren’t limited to writing alone; from donor communications to educational resources, LLMs can support nearly every type of content you’d want to share with stakeholders.
Take The Reading Institute: During one of our AI learning cohorts, the Institute trained a custom GPT to generate “decodable books,” a highly specialized phonics tool to support early readers. Creating these books would usually take months and cost upwards of $3,000. With the help of AI, the Institute produced high-quality versions in a fraction of the time and cost, getting critical resources into the hands of students much faster.
Tools for Content Creation
Gamma – for training materials and presentations
Canva (with AI features) – for visual materials
ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini – for written content
Prompting Tips
When using general tools like ChatGPT or Claude, we recommend a two-part prompt strategy:
Set the tone. Describe your organization’s voice clearly, or upload examples of existing materials so the AI can match your tone and style.
Structure the output. If you need content in a specific format (like sections of a grant application), break down your instructions by section. Using Markdown or JSON formatting can also help ensure consistent results.
2. Automate the Admin
“I keep doing the same tasks over and over, and it’s taking time away from more important work.”
Repetitive, language-based tasks with clear rules are ideal for automation; think of reviewing timesheets or copying data between systems. At NY Sunworks, staff had to manually check volunteer reports for an entire school system and email individuals whenever corrections were needed; a process that was tedious, time consuming, and required little to no critical thinking. By training a custom GPT to review the reports, flag issues, and summarize fixes, NY Sunworks saved their staff hours of work, freeing them to spend more time on meaningful, mission-driven projects.
Tools for Administrative Automation
Zapier for connecting systems and automating workflows
Make (formerly Integromat) for more complex sequences
Prompting Tips
To get started:
Clarify the rules. Explain what a human reviewer checks for and how they make decisions.
Design the workflow. Set up a system that sends data to the AI and uses the output to take action, such as flagging errors or sending updates. You may need light coding help or support from ChatGPT to get started.
3. Answer and Assist
“I get lots of questions and can’t keep up with answering them all.”
If you’ve ever run a volunteer program, you’ve likely seen that certain questions get asked over and over again. Rather than relying on a stretched-thin staff member to respond, AI-powered question-answering systems, or RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), can understand the question being asked and deliver a helpful, tailored response based on whatever internal information and resources you’ve supplied it with.
For example, Teach For America joined Decoded Futures to build a support tool for new teachers. With thousands of teachers onboarding each year, the TFA team needed a way to quickly answer common questions about training, school policies, and logistics. By uploading their materials to Google’s NotebookLM, they created a chatbot that could respond to teacher questions instantly, no coding required.
Tools for Q&A Automation
NotebookLM for internal knowledge-based answers
Chatbase for no-code chatbot setup
Zendesk Answer Bot for support integration
Prompting Tips
Upload core materials like policies, FAQs, and guides; excluding private data.
Share examples of strong and weak responses to train the model.
Map question types to structured responses or decision flows.
4. Sort and Scan
"I spend too much time reviewing information that follows a pattern.”
If you’ve ever had to review candidates or applications through the lens of a consistent rubric, you know that this is essential work, but repetitive and time-consuming. An ideal AI-shaped problem! AI can score and prioritize hundreds of items based on criteria you’ve supplied it with, surfacing top contenders and allowing you to more easily make final decisions.
Project Basta used to manually scan job boards to identify roles that would be good matches to their recent graduates. This meant a staff member had to comb through a given job site, parse what skills each job actually required (not all “data analyst” positions are the same, for instance) then match that job to a particular graduate. Through Decoded Futures, their team built a custom GPT that was able to do this same process with 95% accuracy. Their use case was so successful that they’re now scaling in a major way, creating a full-fledged AI system for their career coaches.
Tools for Filtering and Prioritization
Airtable AI for structured scoring
Monday.com AI for team-based evaluation
Gradescope for academic rubrics
Prompting Tips
Define your rubric clearly, including scoring scale and weighting.
Provide examples of what good, average, and weak entries look like.
Ask the AI to rate how confident it is in each assessment
Keep human review in the loop, especially for high-stakes decisions.
5. Learn and Decide
“I want to learn something new or make smarter decisions.”
Whether you're exploring a new strategy, analyzing survey data, or researching policy, AI can help gather insights, connect dots you might miss, and even act as a brainstorming partner, prompting you to think through complex issues.
CUNY’s K16 Initiatives needed to analyze a huge amount of student survey data; a perfect task for ChatGPT. They discovered that ChatGPT was able to transform qualitative answers into quantitative data. Their lead data analyst then used GPT to build a custom dashboard that grouped students based on response patterns. While other statistical software could also do this, it would have required far more time and technical effort, with no guarantee of outcome. Thanks to AI, the analyst had an easy, assured solution that didn’t rely on any specialized skills or niche programs.
Tools for Research and Analysis
Research
Perplexity for web-based research with sources
Wonder for fast, affordable research summaries
NotebookLM to analyze documents and reports
Data Analysis
Julius.ai for accessible data insights
ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for smart, reliable analysis
Prompting Tips
For Research
Ask AI to explore different sides of a question
Request pros and cons of key approaches
Prompt it to challenge its own assumptions
For Data
Upload data to tools with robust analysis capabilities like Claude or ChatGPT
Ask for both descriptive insights (what happened) and predictive insights (what might happen next)
Request visualizations to help communicate findings to stakeholders
You Can Start Now
You likely can relate to at least one of these use cases. The hope is that you now also feel more empowered to begin testing AI solutions. Start small, with low-stakes projects. As you build confidence, scale up to bigger ones. Don’t expect to become an AI expert overnight! The goal isn't to use AI just for the sake of it, but to free up time and energy that can be better directed towards your actual mission.
The question isn’t if AI will change nonprofit work. It’s how soon an organization wants to lead that change. But you don’t have to go it alone! If you’d like to learn alongside other nonprofits as we all step into this new world, join our next Decoded Futures cohort. Happy hacking!
The question isn’t if AI will change nonprofit work. It’s how soon your organization wants to lead that change.
Tools, Tips, & Takeaways
Apply
Nonprofit ENG(INE) equips nonprofits with dedicated AI engineering teams to build cutting-edge technology that advances social and economic opportunity goals. Register for the info session here (6/26, 5pm ET). Applications open on 6/16 and close on 6/30; apply here.
Decoded Futures Cohort: Work alongside nonprofit leaders with support from technologist volunteers to build foundational AI knowledge, integrate tools into your workflow, and discover transformative possibilities for your organization.
Attend
Decoded Futures+Tech:NYC Social Impact AI Showcase: This is a rare opportunity to witness what human-centered, purpose-driven AI looks like in action. You’ll hear directly from the people behind the work, and what it really takes to move from experimentation to long-term adoption. (6/6, 2-4pm ET, New York, in person)
IBM AI for Impact: Learn to incorporate ethical practices, explore real-world fundraising applications, and develop actionable steps to integrate AI into your nonprofit’s work. (6/11, 830am-4pm ET, New York; in person)
Nonprofit ENG(INE)'s Demo Day: Interested in applying to our summer 2025 cohort? Learn from current participants Planned Parenthood, Upsolve, Recidiviz, and Mobile Pathways, as they demo their latest product builds. (6/25, 12-1pm ET, Virtual)