AI surrounds you. From predictive text supplied by your phone, personalized recommendations for your Spotify playlist, curated content on Facebook and Instagram, and recommended products on Amazon, you are most likely already interacting with AI multiple times a day in your personal life.

But what about at work? And what if you work for a Christian organization? Though historically late adopters of new technology, the rapid and disruptive pace of change demands faith-based nonprofits demonstrate agility and adaptability. While often struggling to allocate limited resources and navigating traditional operating models, the slow speed of adoption handcuffs organizations from harnessing the power of AI for operational efficiency and mission fulfillment. Instead, ministries must embrace the strategic uses of AI and serve as industry leaders in creating ethical frameworks to govern AI adoption and best practices.

Frontiers is guided by the mission statement, “With love and respect, inviting all Muslim peoples to follow Jesus.”1 We wrestle with the question of what it will take to bring the hope of Jesus to those who currently have the least access to the gospel: the remaining 393 unengaged Muslim people groups—the cities and villages where there are no pushpins in anyone’s missionary maps. So how can AI help us accomplish our mission? Here are some opportunities and challenges, along with practical next steps, for anyone wanting to utilize AI in their organization.

Opportunities

Predictive Analysis

AI-driven data analysis and data mining can be used to predict outcomes. For example, development staff can train AI using historical data about successful grant proposals to discover patterns and features connected with success.2 While often constrained by staffing limitations, predictive analysis can open doors to connect nonprofits with donors who care deeply about their purpose and values, allowing them to focus their development efforts on people likely to embrace their mission.

Jump-Start Communication

Effective communication is crucial for nonprofits. AI can spark creativity for a missionary crafting an update for supporters, a marketing team developing campaigns, a mobilizer designing webinars for potential candidates, or a digital strategist generating content for social media platforms.
By providing insightful suggestions for meaningful communication with different generational cohorts, it can help you craft your message to successfully connect with distinct audiences.

A word of caution: Nonprofits should never rely solely on AI to create content. Generative AI makes mistakes and can “hallucinate” by generating decisions or content that may sound reasonable and yet be false. Always have a subject-matter expert evaluate AI-generated material to ensure it is accurate and aligned with your brand. It may provide a helpful start, but human eyes should always evaluate the final product.

Demonstrate Impact

Donors desire to know their contribution is making a difference. Measuring and demonstrating impact is a crucial aspect of nonprofit communication. By analyzing data from various sources, AI can assist organizations to better understand their programs’ effectiveness, highlighting areas of impact and identifying areas for improvement.

Data-Driven Decisions

AI can come alongside nonprofits to provide summaries of multiple data points such as an auto-generated visual dashboard that is continually updated by AI. This type of dashboard can collect and synthesize data from multiple sources including program metrics, financial data, and stakeholder feedback. This enables nonprofit leaders to see “real-time, holistic views of organizational performance.”3 These insights support data-driven decision-making and help to identify potential places where change or improvements are needed, empowering leaders to make better decisions based on hard facts.

Media to Movements

AI not only assists home staff but can help field workers, as well. The outreach strategy known as Media to Movements enables field workers to accomplish broad seed sowing through targeted media campaigns to help them find people seeking Jesus much more quickly than using traditional means.4 AI tools are increasingly being used to create compelling media and even translate that content into various languages. Field workers or others helping with the media campaign put ads on social media (e.g. “Have you had a dream about a man in white?”).

As curious people respond, they interact with an AI-driven chatbot which walks them through a customized journey of discovering Jesus and the Scriptures until they have been vetted. The next step is often to meet with a field worker face-to-face. As missionaries have limited capacity to follow up with everyone responding, the chatbot enables immediate engagement with high numbers of respondents, freeing missionaries to focus on those who are ready for in-person discipleship.

Potential Challenges

Loss of Trust

Mission organizations beware: While nonprofits often enjoy a greater level of trust than other sectors, this trust can quickly evaporate because of inappropriate or careless AI use.

Data Security

We also need to grapple with the ethical concerns around data privacy and the sharing of personal information. Whether it’s donor information or the location of workers on the field, nonprofits must employ robust data protection regulations to protect sensitive data.

Bias

Bias in AI algorithms means that depending on how the Large Language Model (LLM) was trained, it may perpetuate bias, as Amazon’s Assisted Job Matching AI tool did when it recommended fewer women for technical positions. It relied on historical data when developing the system, reflecting the gender imbalance in the tech industry. In this example, generative AI not only failed to address the gender imbalance but it also amplified it.5 We must regularly assess for bias, “use diverse datasets, and implement fairness audits to ensure equitable treatment by AI systems.”6

Volunteer Opportunities

Nonprofits historically rely on volunteers, but as routine tasks become automated, the nature of volunteer opportunities may shift, leading to a decrease in the roles and ways that volunteers have traditionally contributed. This could lead to volunteers feeling less connected to the organization, which may result in decreased volunteerism.

Looking Ahead

A Balanced Approach: AI as a Tool

The Christian leader plays a critical role in AI adoption, guiding staff to take a balanced rather than fear-based approach. As Christian leaders overcome their reticence to embrace AI and future technology, they can empower their staff to overcome hesitation and reluctance to adopt new technologies, unleashing them to innovate and remain competitive.

Encourage staff to view generative AI not as distant, impersonal, or evil, but rather as a tool, that “when wielded with wisdom and vision, can profoundly amplify organizational potential and impact.”7

Lead with a Moral Compass

Our distinctive Christian worldview ensures we see the challenges and opportunities of AI through the lens of God’s timeless truth. While the Bible obviously doesn’t mention AI, it does provide enduring values and principles that provide a foundation as well as guardrails for AI policy. God’s Word is a light to our path in every situation, even complex discussions around AI.

Christian leaders should not shy away from engaging in discussions about AI and its impact. It is crucial for faith-based organizations to lead by example and provide a way forward that honors God and accelerates the fulfillment of the Great Commission. If we forgo the opportunity to get involved, we “relinquish our voice, allowing corporations and politicians to dictate the trajectory of technical evolution without the balance of our moral compass.”8 Seek opportunities to join advisory boards or contribute in other ways to the discussion around AI policy and implementation.

Create an AI Ethics Framework and Oversight

Leaders should work with stakeholders to create an AI ethics framework, detailing ethical principles and guidelines that help the organization make decisions about AI use. Ensure human oversight in AI decisions, establish clear responsibilities, and provide staff training for effective AI management. Keep a watchful eye on AI tools, regularly audit them, and don’t hesitate to adjust or discontinue using them if they fail to meet ethical standards.

Reallocate Resources to Train Staff

While historically investing little in technology or digital training, leaders of nonprofits should consider reallocating some of their resources to train staff how to use AI for the most benefit and impact. If we fail to get ahead of the curve, we may find ourselves irrelevant. With millions dying daily without Jesus and other faiths actively embracing AI to promote views contrary to the gospel, this is not an option.

Experiment

IT staff should come alongside teams to examine business processes and workflows. They can suggest ways for individual teams to use AI to create more efficient processes or a superior final product. Create small experiments that complement your organization’s vision and mission. Try feeding your HR policies for Home Ministry Assignments into a secure language model and watch it turn a stale document into an easily digestible podcast! Become a learning organization as you take calculated risks, fail fast, learn, adapt, and iterate. Resources are available for nonprofits who want to experiment.

Conclusion

In the seeming blink of an eye, AI has begun integrating into the very fabric of life, and our organization, like yours, needs to adapt. As we grow in awareness and understanding of the challenges and threats, let us also consider together, as the Body of Christ, how we might maximize the use of this technology for God’s greater glory and the advance of his kingdom. As we pioneer in bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth, let’s lead the way in pioneering the use of the latest tools and technologies to amplify our impact and accelerate the fulfillment of the Great Commission.