Boards approve what they can see and measure. Give them one page and one result, and keep the strategy talk for later.
What is my board worried about?
Four things, and they will name them in this order.
- Mission. Will this change who we are, or put a machine between us and the people we serve?
- Donors. Will a major donor read about it and feel like the organization got cheap or careless?
- Data. Where do client names, case notes, and the donor list go when someone pastes them into a tool?
- Staff. Is this the first step toward cutting jobs?
Every one of those is a fair question. A board member who asks them is doing the job. Answer each one in writing before the meeting and the meeting goes differently.
What should I bring to the board meeting?
A one-page AI policy and one pilot with a number attached. The policy says what the organization uses AI for (drafting, data cleanup, the back office), what it never uses it for (decisions about the people you serve, anything a person needs to hear from a person), which tools are allowed, and what data stays out of them. The pilot is one task, one staff member, a few weeks, and a before-and-after count: hours on the grant boilerplate, days to get the newsletter out, duplicates removed from the donor list.
A forty-slide strategy presentation gives a cautious board forty things to table. One page and one result gives them one thing to approve.
What makes a good first pilot?
Pick something boring, internal, and easy to count.
- Grant boilerplate. Same organizational history, new funder format, every time.
- Donor data cleanup. Duplicates, dead emails, lapsed givers.
- The monthly newsletter. A first draft from the three things that happened this month, with a person editing and sending.
Keep it away from clients, intake, and anything a donor sees without a person reading it first. A pilot that touches none of the board's four worries is the easiest yes they will give all year. The nonprofit AI answer has more on where the tools help and where they stay out.
What happens in a board session?
I sit with the board, or the board and senior staff, for a half day. We go through the four worries out loud, look at the pilot result, and mark up the draft policy together until it says what they want it to say. They leave having written the policy themselves, which means they will defend it. Staff get a list of what to try next and what stays off limits.
What does it cost?
A half-day workshop is $1,500. A full day is $3,500 if you want the board session and a staff working session in one visit. A one-page AI policy on its own is $750. Nonprofits, co-ops, and arts groups can ask for my sliding scale, down to pro bono, two slots a quarter. If the board approves and you want help getting staff to use the tools week after week, that is adoption work.
Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.