AI will be one of the most transformative technologies of our time—but only if its benefits reach beyond the organizations with the biggest budgets and the most technical expertise. That’s what drew me to Anthropic, a public benefit corporation whose mission is the responsible development of AI for the long-term benefit of humanity.
That belief is now being put to the test. AI is accelerating research, reshaping industries, and creating enormous value. But for the organizations working on some of society’s hardest problems—nonprofits fighting hunger, expanding access to healthcare, tutoring underserved students—the technology remains largely out of reach.
This isn’t because they don’t want it. In our conversations with nonprofits, we’ve heard a consistent story: small teams know AI could help, but learning to use it sits at the bottom of an endless to-do list. And when they do consider adoption, the stakes feel high—these organizations serve vulnerable populations and handle sensitive data. They can’t afford to get it wrong.
On Giving Tuesday—a day dedicated to global generosity—it’s worth asking what it would mean to give these nonprofits their capacity back.
The potential is significant. AI can draft proposal narratives, synthesize program data into impact statements, and adapt language to funder priorities—compressing 100 hours of work into 20. Development teams can automate donor segmentation, generate personalized letters, and identify major gift prospects. Organizations can match clients with programs faster and free staff to spend more time on human connection and less on administrative burden.
Over the past year, we’ve worked with almost 100 organizations to build a new AI program for nonprofits. Today, the Epilepsy Foundation is providing 24/7 support through Claude to 3.4 million Americans living with epilepsy. The International Rescue Committee is using Claude to communicate more effectively with local partners in time-sensitive humanitarian settings. Robin Hood is using Claude for coding and administrative work that would otherwise require significantly more resources.
Our work with these organizations has shaped what we think helpful AI actually looks like. Staff need courses they can complete in 15-minute increments, with examples drawn from their actual work and ongoing support—not a manual. AI needs to integrate with the tools and processes organizations already use. These insights shaped how we built AI Fluency for Nonprofits, a free course on Anthropic Academy designed for sector-specific workflows and constraints. They also informed our decision to help create three new connectors to nonprofit tools.
Making AI trustworthy and accessible requires more than just ensuring it’s available. It requires understanding mission-driven organizations from within and adapting our tools to their reality. That begins with listening before building.
For Anthropic, this work is central to our mission as a public benefit corporation. But it also serves our broader work in AI development. The lessons we learn deploying AI to organizations serving vulnerable populations—lessons about privacy, trust, and responsible use—inform how we approach deployment everywhere.
This is a critical moment to ensure these organizations aren’t left behind—and to learn from their example as we shape how AI serves the public good.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
