From international aid organizations to professional mentorship groups, the nonprofit sector is vast and looking to technology such as artificial intelligence to streamline processes amid staffing shortages.
As nonprofits enter 2026, they will turn to AI to support areas such as HR onboarding, training and compliance and to reduce pressure on administrative workloads, according to Ruthbea Yesner, vice president of government insights, education and smart cities at IDC.
Nonprofits will respond to these challenges in 2026 and beyond by realigning roles around digital workflows and adopting automation, Yesner says.
“Over the next few years, I expect nonprofits to invest in low-code and natural-language app-building tools, allowing subject matter experts — not just IT — to digitize processes,” Yesner says.
AI will be top of mind along with data privacy and the need to protect sensitive donor data.
Here are four trends to look for in the nonprofit sector in 2026.
Nonprofits Will Adopt AI-Powered Operations and Impact Reporting
Look for nonprofits to turn to AI to power their customer relationship management systems, which already unify functions such as donor, volunteer and beneficiary data, according to Yesner.
Nonprofits are adding AI to their CRM platforms for donor segmentation, retention-risk scoring and personalized outreach, Yesner notes. A common data backbone improves operations throughout the whole process. She adds that AI-enabled CRM platforms provide a 360-degree view of donors, volunteers and beneficiaries. Nonprofits can access this data via email, web, mobile or in-person interactions.
“The next step is to make those AI capabilities routine across donor engagement, case management and impact reporting,” Yesner says.
As nonprofits move toward AI-powered operations, they will need more training in AI tools, Yesner observes.
“We see CIOs partnering more with HR to overcome resistance to change and implement training programs,” Yesner says.
WATCH: How AI will be used across industries in 2026.
Nonprofits use dashboards to display program and beneficiary data. Dashboards can convert real-time program feedback into visualizations for funders, Yesner says.
“In 2026, I expect this kind of AI-assisted reporting to become a baseline expectation for global NGOs rather than a differentiator,” she adds.
In 2025, nonprofits laid the groundwork to clean up business processes to build more visibility, and in 2026, AI tools will allow them to expand AI-powered back-office operations such as invoice processing, according to Amy Sample Ward, CEO of NTEN, a leading technology capacity-building nonprofit.
AI can also provide visibility into program operations to allow nonprofits to track whether people in their database might show up for a program such as housing assistance or drop out, Sample Ward says.
AI tools could also aid nonprofit programs such as food pantries in tracking the stock for their shelves.
Nonprofits Will Opt for Unified Platforms as Part of Their Digital Transformation
Nonprofits are moving toward unified data models and shifting away from spreadsheets and siloed databases, according to Yesner. By using unified data models, nonprofits can link donations to specific programs and service activities as well as outcomes in close to real time, she says.
The nonprofit sector has long considered whether to use separate tech tools or unify their platforms, according to Sample Ward.
“Do we move to a unified, all-in-one platform? Or, do we have best in class for everything they do? It's never been a sectorwide answer,” Sample Ward says.
Some nonprofits are consolidating fragmented solutions into unified cloud platforms that incorporate fundraising CRM, service delivery and field operations, Yesner says, citing IDC’s research.
“Instead of separate systems for donor management, casework and volunteer scheduling, they are building a single system of record with workflow automation and embedded AI,” she says.
Yesner expects nonprofits to simplify integration of the areas of finance, HR and data warehouses, and to retire redundant tools and reduce IT operating costs.
As nonprofits move finance and CRM applications to the cloud, they improve their decision-making, boost their efficiency and agility, and improve their compliance and accountability, Yesner says. She expects cloud financial services along with AI-embedded CRM to be a “de facto standard” for nonprofits to work toward as they aim for the efficiency and transparency that donors expect.
Nonprofits Will Choose Hybrid Engagement Models
Despite the push to return to in-person events, nonprofits are still interested in hybrid engagement models due to budget restrictions, both their own and that of their participants, says Sample Ward.
“They're really looking at 2026 as a hybrid approach to every type of gathering or fundraising event they might have,” Sample Ward says. “People could be in person at a conference, with some of the sessions on Zoom, but other sessions will be in person or in a breakout room.”
Hybrid engagement models provide flexibility in 2026 for nonprofits that are still trying to operate but don’t have the funding for travel budgets, Sample Ward adds.
The resilience that hybrid models offer nonprofits is critical because it diversifies engagement in case travel budgets tighten, disasters occur or funding is reduced, according to Yesner.
“Nonprofits can still cultivate relationships, steward major donors and mobilize communities through digital channels without losing the energy of in-person connection,” Yesner says.
READ MORE: The essential tech solutions for nonprofit organizations.
Nonprofits Will Engage AI for Cybersecurity and Data Privacy
Look for data privacy and cybersecurity to be a top concern for nonprofits in 2026. As nonprofits tackle complex regulatory environments and cross-border operations, compliance and risk management will be integral to decisions they make on technology, according to Yesner.
“Over 2026, I expect more nonprofits — especially those handling sensitive health, refugee or children’s data — to leverage confidential computing options in major clouds, which keep data encrypted even while it is being processed, adding a critical layer beyond ‘at rest’ and ‘in transit’ encryption,” Yesner says.
As nonprofits move further into AI, data privacy concerns will accumulate. Organizations fear introducing vulnerabilities when they add AI capabilities to their existing database or email service, Sample Ward explains.
“I think that's a place where organizations are really trying to reassure donors that they’re not just randomly connecting AI tools to the database that contains all their donors’ data and giving history,” Sample Ward says. “Nonprofits are really protecting your data as a donor.”
Organizations want to reassure participants that just because they use a food pantry, they will not end up on a random list.
EXPLORE: Security trends to watch in 2026.
In the coming year, nonprofits will also continue to fight cybersecurity scams even though they are short-staffed.
“I am worried about folks not taking the time to question that email or that phone call and not falling for social engineering or phishing attacks that are getting much more sophisticated,” Sample Ward says.
Data audits are helpful to help organization understand how they are using data, Sample Ward says. That entails examining email history to see where certain spreadsheets have been sent and investigating whether the organization is adhering to its data-sharing policies.
“I think part of maintaining data privacy is actually auditing and cleaning up and practicing the policy commitments you have,” Sample Ward says, adding that registration lists for galas that have already taken place should be deleted from email. Otherwise, the data is not being stored where organizations think it is.
Yesner notes that the National Council of Nonprofits emphasizes encryption, access controls and proactive cyber risk assessment as essential practices.
“Together, these capabilities will form the baseline for donor privacy and cybersecurity in the nonprofit sector by 2026,” she says.
