Reducing AI bias: A path forward

Jeff Raikes of the Raikes Foundation and Dale Pfeifer of Giving Compass explore how reducing AI bias can create a more equitable philanthropic future.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform almost every field of human endeavor, and philanthropy is no exception. By leveraging AI tools, nonprofits can reach more potential donors, boost donors’ engagement, and free up their workforce to focus on challenges requiring a human touch. At scale, AI can even help rebalance the philanthropic ecosystem so the field isn’t dominated by the most prominent, wealthiest organizations. 

But these benefits are not inevitable. While AI may herald our future, it still too often embodies the structural injustices of our past and present. If these tools are used without care, biases embedded in data and rooted in historical inequities risk amplifying funding disparities, souring employees and donors, and leaving grassroots, community-led organizations behind.

At Giving Compass, we are working to tackle these challenges head-on. Guided by Impact-Driven Philanthropy (IDP) principles—equity, effectiveness, and systems change—our system empowers donors by providing tailored recommendations and curated educational content to inspire more impactful funding decisions. Because we use AI tools to help facilitate this, we work hard to ensure they move us in the right direction toward a more just and inclusive philanthropic future.

The danger of bias in nonprofit data

Bias in nonprofit data arises when historical inequities, such as underrepresentation or skewed metrics, are embedded in the datasets that AIs are trained on. AI systems built on bad datasets can exacerbate these biases, prioritizing well-established organizations with extensive historical visibility while overlooking smaller, community-led nonprofits.

For example, AI-driven tools might unintentionally favor organizations with more publicly available data, reinforcing systemic inequities and creating significant funding gaps between the biggest entities and newest entrants in the nonprofit sector. As a result, that sector becomes stagnant—the established players stay on top while underfunded nonprofits struggle to gain recognition and access critical resources.

Put simply, the consequences of AI bias for the nonprofit sector include:

• Amplification of inequities: AI systems can inadvertently deepen disparities by marginalizing underrepresented organizations.
• Erosion of trust: Underserved communities lose confidence in philanthropic systems that fail to address their needs.
• Resource disparities: Smaller, community-led nonprofits cannot compete for funding, limiting their ability to address critical challenges effectively.

Combating data bias

We try to tackle data bias in philanthropy through a combination of verified data, accessible tools, and donor education, thus empowering funders to make more equitable and impactful giving decisions. Rooted in the IDP principles, Giving Compass’ approach prioritizes equity, effectiveness, and systems change—guiding the development of tools and strategies that elevate underrepresented, grassroots organizations.

To mitigate against potential prejudicial outcomes, we vet datasets used by our AI tools for structural inequities, flag potential sources of bias, and engage diverse stakeholders to review and validate our data inclusivity. Our AI-powered recommendation systems are trained to identify and reduce possibilities for systemic bias, spotlight underfunded nonprofits, and prioritize equitable outcomes. 

To ensure accuracy and inclusivity, we use a robust online-offline verification process for philanthropies that combines insights from 800 million nonprofit data points and 40,000 hand-curated articles. This comprehensive, transparent process offers clarity and confidence to donors who seek to discover nonprofits aligned with their giving interests and empowers them to take meaningful action. 

At the center of all our work is Your Guide to Good, a resource designed to support donors at every stage of their giving journey. It provides tailored recommendations based on donor interests and values; educational content to help donors learn about key social issues; and actionable tools to map their journey, set goals, and measure their impact. By guiding donors to high-impact, underfunded organizations, the guide helps level the playing field, empowering grassroots nonprofits and driving systemic change.

Real-world impact

Our tools and resources create measurable increases in donor engagement and drive support to grassroots, community-led nonprofits. Our users are more than twice as likely to increase their donations compared to donors relying on traditional tools such as general internet searches in subsequent weeks. In addition, donors are also more likely to take prosocial actions beyond financial contributions, such as volunteering, helping out in their communities, supporting local initiatives, or signing petitions.

The road ahead

Giving Compass’ AI-enhanced tools seek to inspire donors to engage deeply, increasing funding and support for underfunded, high-impact organizations. By connecting donors to nonprofits of all sizes doing transformative work, we’re helping rebalance philanthropy and using AI to drive equity and systemic progress.

Yet, while we are pleased with how our AI tools respond to potential bias, there is always more work to be done, and it becomes ever more important as AI becomes the industry standard. As such, we encourage the development of a coalition in the nonprofit sector centered on ethical and transparent AI use—one that advances research and best practices to scale equitable data solutions. Structural bias can be especially hard to root out in large, complex datasets, so we need more nonprofits focused on these issues.

For all its potential upsides, AI is a tool like any other—its effectiveness depends on how it is used. By working together, nonprofits can reduce the risk of AI bias and help transform generosity into equitable change.  

The views and opinions of third party content providers are solely those of the author and not Fidelity Charitable. Fidelity Charitable does not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided by such third parties.