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Save the Date: Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit in 2025
We are excited to announce next year’s Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit on March 25-27, 2025. The in-person event will be in Bellevue, WA, with select sessions available virtually. We look forward to convening tech innovators plus nonprofit leaders, sparking valuable conversations on responsible AI, accelerating social impact, and the possibilities offered by AI innovation. To get an invitation and upcoming announcements on speakers and sessions: Sign up to get invited! We'll notify you when registration opens. Follow us on LinkedIn to get updates
My four take-aways from the conference.
I left the recent Microsoft Nonprofit Leaders Summit energized by the potential of AI as well as a clearer understanding of things we should be considering as this new technology becomes available. Here are my key takeaways from the amazing keynotes, panel discussions, breakouts, and thoughtful conversations with attendees: The Coming AI Capability Gap AI technology has the potential to lead to a large gap in performance between nonprofits with these capabilities and those without. In order to take advantage of AI, early investment will be critical. That investment is not only in AI tools and services themselves, but also the security, data governance, and expertise to effectively utilize AI. This may imply that larger, well-funded nonprofits will lead the way. But many of these organizations are more complex, with more data, larger governance issues, and overall slower to implement change. Perhaps smaller organizations with a strong foundation in technology and data management can accelerate their growth above their larger peers. AI may provide them with the opportunity to develop unique insights and efficiencies, ultimately allowing them to raise more money and deliver programs more effectively. Solve problems, use case by use case AI is big! But right now, it can best be applied when we have a specific challenge that can be addressed. Identifying these use cases and applying AI, one at a time, provides a manageable yet meaningful approach to adopting AI. And I have a small example. I recently met with a client who described their growing global workforce and the challenges with managing team members across different time zones. On Wednesday, Microsoft shared how Copilot has a feature that allows you to query holistically across Teams Messages, Outlook Emails, and Sharepoint Documents. Beyond simple search, this feature allows you to quickly see the questions your staff member has outstanding or summarize what work they have completed. Tackling one use case at a time with AI will ultimately add up to major change. As a starting point, using AI to save yourself and your staff time can solve immediate challenges while also building up comfort levels with AI tools. Your Nonprofit is likely already using AI While nonprofits leaders are considering where and how to deploy the use of AI, their staff have already started. We heard story after story of how nonprofit staff members have already begun using not only ChatGPT, but also countess other AI tools to help them with everything from note taking, to photo creation, to translation. Having a vision for how AI fits into your mission and values, along with the guidelines and policies to reinforce this will be critical. The time to craft a framework is now. We are all Beta Testers We have become accustomed to technology being rolled out in a deliberative way, with a lot of testing before launch, perhaps with a dedicated Beta round, and then only brought to market once all (or most) of the bugs have been worked out. By the time the average user gets their hand on a new tool, how it works and how it should be used is already well understood and documented. We will not have this benefit with AI. AI is being brought to the market as an in-process technology. The philosophy seems to be that this tool is so powerful and can already deliver such impactful results, that getting the tool into the hands of users is the most important thing to move AI forward. That means we will all be the beta testers for AI. Let’s get ready to work with a tool that never gives the same answer twice, that has to be reminded what capabilities and data it has access to, that benefits from a little encouragement, and reminds us that a please and thank you doesn’t hurt.Trevor Noah: Q&AI
Trevor Noah and Kate Behncken, CVP, Microsoft Philanthropies, talk about the role of curiosity and questions in the midst of the big changes and challenges that AI transformation brings. How are you fostering a sense of curiosity and a growth mindset at your organization? Respond to Trevor's insights and add your own ideas and questions here! Thanks for being a part of the Summit.Recap Global Summit with Copilot!
On January 31 and February 1, 2024, Microsoft hosted its first-ever Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit in Bellevue, Washington. The summit was a two-day event that brought together nonprofit executives from around the world to learn, share, and collaborate on how to leverage technology and artificial intelligence (AI) for their missions. The summit featured keynote speakers, panel discussions, how-to sessions, demos, workshops, and networking opportunities with leaders across the nonprofit community. Some of the highlights included: Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, welcomed the attendees and shared Microsoft’s vision and commitment to empower nonprofits with technology and AI. Trevor Noah, Comedian, TV Host, and Author, entertained the audience with his witty and insightful Q&AI session, where he asked and answered questions about AI, ethics, and social impact. Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Professor and Co-Director of Stanford’s Human Centered AI Institute, inspired the attendees with her keynote on how to design and use AI for good, with a focus on human values, diversity, and inclusion. Hadi Partovi, Founder and CEO of Code.org, shared his story and passion for computer science education and how nonprofits can use AI to scale their programs and reach more people. Lauren Woodman, CEO of DataKind, moderated a panel of nonprofit leaders who shared their experiences and best practices on how they are using AI to enhance their work in areas such as fundraising, marketing, and program delivery. Jaime Teevan, Chief Scientist and Technical Fellow at Microsoft, introduced the Nonprofit Community, a new online platform where nonprofits can connect, learn, and access exclusive resources and opportunities from Microsoft and its partners. Afua Bruce, Author of The Tech that Comes Next and Founder and Principal of ANB Advisory Group, closed the summit with a call to action for nonprofit leaders to embrace technology and AI as a catalyst for change and innovation. The summit also launched the Nonprofit Community, a new online platform where nonprofits can connect, learn, and access exclusive resources and opportunities from Microsoft and its partners. The Nonprofit Community is a place for nonprofits to share their stories, challenges, and best practices, as well as get support and feedback from peers and experts. If you missed the chance to attend the summit, you can still watch the recordings of the virtual sessions by visiting the summit website and using the code VIRTUAL. You can also join the Nonprofit Community platform to learn, connect, and collaborate with the nonprofit community and Microsoft. The Microsoft Tech For Nonprofit Global Conference was a unique opportunity for nonprofit leaders to join the inspir AI tion and discover how to harness the power of technology and AI for social good. We hope you enjoyed the summit and we look forward to seeing you at the next one. 🙌 Here are few clicks;Looking forward to meeting everyone next week at the Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit
I'm excited to used this discussion space to get to know both virtual and in-person attendees coming to the Summit next week Jan 30-Feb 1. Tell me what you are looking forward to at Summit and what conversations you can't wait to be a part of. I am personally looking forward to Dr. Fei-Fei Li - I have just finished her book. I want to know about human agency and AI. I also am looking forward to hearing more about power platform and the potential use cases for nonprofit operations. Virtual registration is open. In-person is at capacity. Register here - Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit - Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit: Home virtual (PUBLIC) (microsoft.com)
Welcome to the Microsoft for Nonprofits Community!
We're excited that you're here. The Microsoft Tech for Social Impact (TSI) team is the team dedicated to serving nonprofits at Microsoft, and we have many experts available to help answer your questions. This community is a place for you to hear about product updates, share ideas, ask questions, learn best practices, register for upcoming events, and have direct interaction with the TSI team. Introduce yourself below and tell us how your organization is currently (or hoping to in the future) using technology to further your mission. We are looking forward to building this community with you as we remain committed to delivering relevant, affordable and innovative cloud solutions to help nonprofits tackle the world’s biggest challenges. Be sure to check out our https://aka.ms/nonprofitevents (scroll to the bottom of the page), our https://www.microsoft.com/nonprofit, and follow us on https://twitter.com/msftnonprofits
AI Use Cases and Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit
It was so great to have the opportunity to share our experiences at the Summit with WWF International on the Partner Panel, talking with Sam Harper about the global role out of their GMS solution (based on MC4N) and also looking ahead at new projects including Fundraising (F&E) and Business Central as well as their Data Strategy. Please reach out if you have any questions.Getting ready for Copilot?
We're so thrilled to be here, over from London UK. My colleague Adam and I are from https://www.smartdesc.co.uk/; a managed service provider specialising in Modern Work, 365, Azure and Security. We're a Microsoft TSI Partner and as a company, we are 100% focussed on the nonprofit sector. Our vision to help charities deliver more through better use of technology. Our mission is to help charities implement the right technologies, at the right price, backed up by professional and empathetic IT support, with appropriate cyber security, to exceed their objectives. We're hosting a lunchtime roundtable on Wednesday 12.45 in Cedar Ballroom B discussing how to get your infrastructure right to unlock AI, Copilot and all those exciting bells and whistles so many of you are thinking about right now. Looking forward to meeting you!How will AI impact your nonprofit's workplace culture? What is your strategic play to prepare?
AI Generated Image: Create a visual to represent these concepts The most recent AI research shows there are clear productivity benefits for getting stuff done, learning new things, and reducing overload. So, as we adapt to this new way of working, there could be https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bethkanter_workforcedevelopment-futureofwork-nonprofits-activity-7153030642245500928-3sP-?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop Early: The Persistent Tides A Future of Continuity: In this scenario, the impact of AI on the workplace is significant but not transformative. The workplace culture (slowly) adjusts to the integration of AI, leading to improved productivity, but the fundamental nature of most jobs remains unchanged. Mid: The Rogue Wave: A Future of Workplace Upheaval This scenario is a transformation in the workplace due to AI. It predicts a massive increase in AI power, leading to significant job changes, altering the nature of work, and requiring significant re-skilling and professional development efforts. Mature: Navigating the Changing Tides: Adjust To Work Integration of AI leads to a significant reshaping of work and finding new ways to work. It potentially leads to more sustainable work practices and a better balance work-life balance. AI becomes a force multiplier for serving stakeholders and increases impact. What is your strategy short-term and long-term to adapt your nonprofit to these changes?What do Trust, AI, and Curiosity mean to you? Help us visualize it in Bellevue!
Traveling to Bellevue next week? If you're joining us in person, swing by the https://teamheller.com/what-we-do-technology-strategy/implementation/microsoft lounge and contribute to a live painting! We'll have a local artist with us who is going to be doing a painting that captures what curiosity, AI, and trust mean to attendees. What words come to mind when you think about AI? Comment on this thread, and we'll weave them into the painting.
