Too busy for AI? Start with the next thing on your list
Year-end is the reason most teams give for waiting on AI. It's also the best place to start, one task at a time, with work you were already going to do.
Why do nonprofits feel too busy to start using AI?
Because in the busiest season, AI looks like one more project. Grant deadlines, year-end appeals and GivingTuesday land on top of the normal work, so a new tool feels like something to schedule for January. Underneath that, most leaders I talk with are unsure where the starting line even is.
In early September an executive director told me that everything between then and January belonged to year-end and GivingTuesday. We could talk after that. I understood completely. I've sat in that chair, and the extra load that comes with the fourth quarter is real.
A few weeks later Scott and I ran a three-day intensive for local nonprofits, and the same feeling filled the room. I described it to Scott afterward.
Colleen Cook · Recorded conversation, Sep 30, 2026it's this tension between feeling like they have no capacity and yet seeing that this can get them capacity, but maybe just feeling a bit afraid about where to start.
People can see that AI would help. What stops them is the blank page of how to begin.
Is lack of time really what's stopping you?
Usually it isn't. You'll write the appeal, prep the board and answer the emails this season with or without AI. The work is fixed. What's missing is a clear picture of how to do that same work with different tools, and that's a much smaller problem to solve than finding spare hours.
Scott put it in a way I keep repeating to teams.
Scott Williams · Recorded conversation, Sep 14, 2026you still have to do the work. AI, no AI. You still have to do the work. The only thing that's different is that when you do the work the next time, use different tools.
Once you see it that way, AI stops competing with your to-do list. It becomes a different way of getting through the list you already have.
What's the smallest way to start using AI at a nonprofit?
Pick one piece of work that's already on your plate and do it AI first from start to finish. Choose something you're willing to do with a little trial and error. One real task, done all the way through, will teach your team more than a month of reading about tools.
Here's how I said it when Scott and I talked through this exact objection.
Colleen Cook · Recorded conversation, Sep 14, 2026if you're looking at a heavy workload, like pick one thing that you're going to do AI first and do it all the way AI first now
I'm always looking to kill two birds with one stone. Treating AI as a holistic, organization-wide initiative on day one is too much to bite off. A single task you were going to do anyway costs you almost nothing extra to try.
Scott's version is even simpler.
Scott Williams · Recorded conversation, Sep 14, 2026What you need to do is do the next thing that you are going to do, but do it differently. That's what I mean. So it's not about doing one more thing.
His example was year-end strategy. If you usually stand at a whiteboard to plan the appeal, do that, but record yourself talking it through out loud. Then give the transcript and a photo of the whiteboard to your AI tool and keep working with it there.
What does doing a task AI first look like?
It looks like your normal task with a new first move. Before you open a blank document, you open your AI tool, give it everything you know about the job, and work through the task together. The first round is slower. The payoff comes the next time that task comes around.
An executive director I spoke with in September did this with her board report. She fought the tool on the outputs, back and forth, until she got the report she wanted. That first one took about as long as her usual process. But she walked away with a repeatable process, and she expected the next month's report to take about 10 minutes. By her count, that's about three hours back every month from one task.
Here's a starting list. Pick one row, the one closest to your week.
| Work already on your desk | Do it AI first this time |
|---|---|
| Year-end appeal strategy | Record yourself talking through goals, audience and the ask. Give AI the transcript and ask for a plan you can react to. |
| Monthly board report | Give AI last month's report and this month's numbers. Fix what's wrong, then save the steps so next month starts there. |
| Donor thank-you notes | Share a few notes you're proud of plus this week's gift list. Edit drafts instead of starting from a blank card. |
| Social posts for a campaign | Hand AI the campaign story and ask for a week of posts in your voice. Keep the best, cut the rest. |
| Meeting follow-ups | Record the meeting, give AI the transcript, and ask for the recap and next steps. |
Why is year-end a good time to start with AI?
Because the work is already scheduled. You don't have to invent a pilot project or find a quiet month. The appeal, the GivingTuesday push and the thank-yous are coming either way, so each one is a ready-made chance to work AI first.
I said it this way to Scott.
you're looking at the end of the year, and you're saying like, we are spread way too thin to even begin to think about using AI. Our argument is, there's never been a better time.
Scott compares it to the moving walkway at an airport. When you step on, you can keep walking and get there twice as fast, or you can stand for a minute and catch your breath. Either way, you have to step on while you're already walking toward the gate.
How do you keep your first AI project from eating your week?
Keep the scope tiny and the tools simple. One task, a time box and whatever plan you can afford are enough. Expect the first attempt to feel clunky, and judge it by whether the second attempt gets faster.
A few guardrails I give teams:
- Use what you have. In our intensive I told people to "get started with a free plan if that's all you can do." Waiting for budget is one more way to wait.
- Time box it. Give the first try an hour. Scott likes to point out that at worst, you've lost half an hour.
- Expect the setup to be the slow part. I'll be honest about this one with anyone: "The worst part is the setup." It gets easier fast.
- Save what worked. Keep the prompt, the files you uploaded and the steps you took. That's your repeatable process.
- Pick the next task. Once one task runs faster, choose the next one from the same list.
If you want more habits for protecting your hours, read reclaim 5 hours a week with these AI habits and the overwhelmed fundraiser's guide to saying no. When you're ready to widen the circle beyond one task, your first 30 days with AI lays out a team rollout, and the 5 workflows every nonprofit should automate first gives you a short list of where to go next. You'll find more like this on the time back hub.
If you want a short, practical idea like this in your inbox each week, join the newsletter. And if you'd rather learn AI first work alongside other nonprofit teams, with your real year-end work as the practice, get on the cohort waitlist.
Frequently asked questions
How do you start using AI at a nonprofit when you have no time?
Start with a task you already have to do this week, such as a board report, an appeal plan or thank-you notes. Do that one task AI first from start to finish. The work was already on your calendar, so the only new thing is the method, and the next round of that task goes faster.
What's the best first task to try with AI?
Pick something recurring that you know well, so you can judge the output quickly. Monthly reports, donor thank-you notes and meeting follow-ups are good choices. A recurring task pays you back every time it comes around, while a one-off only helps once.
Should we wait until after year-end to start with AI?
You don't have to. Year-end is full of work you're already committed to, which makes it a natural place to practice. Choose one piece of the campaign, like the strategy or the social posts, and do it AI first. Keep the rest of your plan as it is.
How long before AI actually saves us time?
Expect the first attempt at a task to take about as long as your usual way, because you're learning and setting things up. The time savings show up the second and third time you run that task. Saving your prompts and steps after the first try is what makes that happen.
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