Interim analysis of the more than 240 responses so far to this year’s Charity Digital Skills Report survey has revealed some new AI trends.
The rate of adoption, which had already increased last year, shows no sign of slowing in 2026. Our interim results revealed that 88% of charities are using AI daily as part of their work. This represents significant year-on-year growth. In 2025, 76% of charities were using AI, compared to 61% in 2024.
In addition, this year, 46% of charities told us that they are actively or strategically using AI, almost double the 25% in 2025 who were using the technology in this way. Both of these data points mark a significant leap forward in not only the growth of AI adoption across the sector but its strategic importance to charities.
In last year’s report we were pleased to see that 48% of charities had an AI policy. This had increased hugely from the 16% of charities in this position in 2024, so we were wondering if growth might slow this year.
However, our interim analysis indicates that 60% of charities now have, or are developing, an AI policy. This finding, read alongside the numbers on growth and strategic value, says that charities understand the potential that AI offers and are also making efforts to govern their use of it.
Small and large
We were also very encouraged to read in our early stage findings that the gap between AI adoption that we had seen open up between charities of different sizes is narrowing. In our 2025 report, 89% of large charities were using AI compared to 72% of small organisations. However, we are now seeing little difference between the rate of adoption between large and small charities.
This finding could mean a number of different things, which we won’t know until we write the final report. It may mean that small charities are tapping into the potential of AI to create efficiencies and save time. It could also mean we will see some exciting AI innovations from small charities. AI technologies could open up pathways to new capabilities and the ability to develop new products and services for small charities.
AI applications
Not only have we seen changes in the numbers and sizes of charities using AI, but there are also shifts on what they are using it for. Some 71% of charities now use AI for managing tasks, creating meeting notes and writing reports, compared to 48% last year. This suggests AI has become the cornerstone of administration and project management for the majority of charities.
In addition, 40% of charities are using AI to create content, including posts, images and video. A similar proportion (39%) are using the technology for monitoring and evaluation, more than doubling the 17% who were using it in this way last year.
Given how embedded AI now is in charities’ work, we wondered if we might see an increase in the number of charities using AI for grant fundraising proposes, yet this number is similar to 2025 levels at 37%. We hope to understand more about why this is the case when we write the full report.
What also stood out to us from the interim findings was the increase in the number of charities using agentic AI. These are tools that can undertake tasks autonomously, such as organising events, developing and running fundraising campaigns or monitoring email inboxes.
Last year, just 11% of charities were planning for AI developments such as agents automating tasks. This year, 29% of charities are using or exploring agentic AI. This could mark a step change in how our sector delivers on its mission.
Concerns remain
While it is exciting to see this level of adoption and potential for innovation, charities also have concerns about AI. Some 55% of charities said that limited skills and technical expertise is the biggest barrier they face in AI adoption. Both large and small charities share this challenge.
Almost half of the charities we spoke to were worried about quality concerns and accuracy of AI generated answers, up from one in three last year.
Charities have a number of other concerns about AI, including worries about its impact on the environment (39%), and the potential for bias and discrimination (38%).
All of these findings show how AI is reshaping not just how charities work day-to-day, but their strategies, governance and how they think about risk.
Charities have until 20 April 2026 to respond to the Charity Digital Skills Report survey, ahead of publication in July.
