Oct 4, 2026 · 16 min · 8 segments
What can AI actually do for an arts fundraiser—and what should remain firmly in human hands? In this episode of **Fundraising Growth Now!,** Catherine Heitz New talks with RSC Associates Project…
Katie EllisGuest
Catherine Heitz NewHostNicki InmanGuest
While I can't speak for a funder or the funders' world in general, I will say that they are each unique.
I've heard stories of how funders will acknowledge that organizations are using AI in their proposal development.
They'll acknowledge it outright in training webinars as one prepares for an upcoming cycle.
Other funders will ask, they'll even include a checkbox in the proposal where they'll have organizations disclose that they did use AI in preparing the proposal and also explaining how they used it.
So we see both extremes in that world of proposal development and what we're hearing from funders.
Have you noticed any risk of proposals sounding generic? I asked Nikki a similar question.
And again, it goes back to the art of preparing a proposal really relies on the individuals and the organizations, the teams and the relationships.
Another risk I do see is that when organizations rely heavily on AI to produce messaging and produce responses, we can find that sometimes they pull that messaging from research outcomes, and I think we need to be very careful on sourcing those and referencing those sources appropriately.
I've seen an instance where a panelist raised a question of whether AI was used in a particular response and if it was used word for word from a research study.
So we just have to be very careful in how we use it, and again, use it as a tool and not the primary source.
How close are we to that, and do you see it changing in the next few years?
I see AI continuing to evolve in how writers use it and how we use it as fundraisers.
We are in the arts, and I still affirm that there is a true art to writing and proposal development, especially for foundations and institutional giving.
The ownership still falls on the organization and the individuals to draft compelling proposals and reports and reviewing all of those proposals before they go out the door.
We are an industry that relies so heavily on relationship-based fundraising as a best practice, and AI cannot replace those relationships.
While I can't speak for a funder or the funders' world in general, I will say that they are each unique.
I've heard stories of how funders will acknowledge that organizations are using AI in their proposal development.
They'll acknowledge it outright in training webinars as one prepares for an upcoming cycle.
Other funders will ask, they'll even include a checkbox in the proposal where they'll have organizations disclose that they did use AI in preparing the proposal and also explaining how they used it.
So we see both extremes in that world of proposal development and what we're hearing from funders.
Have you noticed any risk of proposals sounding generic? I asked Nikki a similar question.
And again, it goes back to the art of preparing a proposal really relies on the individuals and the organizations, the teams and the relationships.
Another risk I do see is that when organizations rely heavily on AI to produce messaging and produce responses, we can find that sometimes they pull that messaging from research outcomes, and I think we need to be very careful on sourcing those and referencing those sources appropriately.
I've seen an instance where a panelist raised a question of whether AI was used in a particular response and if it was used word for word from a research study.
So we just have to be very careful in how we use it, and again, use it as a tool and not the primary source.
How close are we to that, and do you see it changing in the next few years?
I see AI continuing to evolve in how writers use it and how we use it as fundraisers.
We are in the arts, and I still affirm that there is a true art to writing and proposal development, especially for foundations and institutional giving.
The ownership still falls on the organization and the individuals to draft compelling proposals and reports and reviewing all of those proposals before they go out the door.
We are an industry that relies so heavily on relationship-based fundraising as a best practice, and AI cannot replace those relationships.
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