In honor of Canada Day and Apra Canada's 25th anniversary, Jennifer Moody and Jeff Walker sit down with Canadian prospect development professionals in the latest Connections article. Experts Amber Palmer and Anna Mandic Vukovic share how they celebrate, the unique data-privacy hurdles facing Canadian philanthropy, and why the next decade will shift the field toward deeper strategic partnerships and AI.
In part two of this series on adopting new technologies, we dive into a realistic scenario that explores how cross-functional teams can effectively vet tools such as LLMs and Generative AI. Following a university director’s journey to investigate AI’s benefits and risks, the article highlights the necessity of a formal team charter and executive buy-in. By leveraging diverse expertise—from engineering to industrial process modeling—the team identifies critical risks, such as "hallucinations," that could impact donor relations. Ultimately, the story demonstrates how disciplined, collaborative research leads to strategic recommendations that prioritize institutional reputation over media hype.
Not-for-profits are increasingly interested in how Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI can help them achieve more with finite resources. This Connections article explores the use of cross-functional "improvement teams" to vet these novel technologies. By leveraging a formal charter, senior-leader champions, and subject matter experts, organizations can move past the hype to find objective, data-driven solutions for their specific missions