The Smart Nonprofit - by Beth Kanter & Allison H Fine (Hardcover)

About the Book

"AI is here to stay. In fact, it will almost certainly be more widely implemented across multiple silos within numerous industries rather than scaled back or done away with. It has even made its way into the nonprofit sector, a traditionally human-centered industry. Still, in order to use AI smartly and strategically, nonprofits and the people who lead them need a good understanding of what AI is, how it operates, what could go wrong, and ... how to create a balance between technology automated tasks and those done by humans. It is critically important that organizations serving people are human-centered, meaning they elicit input from a variety of stakeholders to create a common understanding of the mission and goals of the organization"--

Book Synopsis

A pragmatic framework for nonprofit digital transformation that embraces the human-centered nature of your organization

The Smart Nonprofit turns the page on an era of frantic busyness and scarcity mindsets to one in which nonprofit organizations have the time to think and plan -- and even dream. The Smart Nonprofit offers a roadmap for the once-in-a-generation opportunity to remake work and accelerate positive social change. It comes from understanding how to use smart tech strategically, ethically and well.

Smart tech does rote tasks like filling out expense reports and identifying prospective donors. However, it is also beginning to do very human things like screening applicants for jobs and social services, while paying forward historic biases. Beth Kanter and Allison Fine elegantly outline the ways smart nonprofits must stay human-centered and root out embedded bias in order to success at the compassionate and creative work that only humans can and should do.

From the Back Cover

PRAISE FOR THE SMART NONPROFIT

"I can't imagine a more relevant and timely book, overflowing with practical advice. The Smart Nonprofit gives readers everything they need to know to leverage AI and other automated technology to its fullest (and safest) potential to enable nonprofit leaders to do what they do best: impact the world."
--MEG GARLINGHOUSE, VP of Social Impact, LinkedIn

"The Smart Nonprofit explores whether we are going to use smart tech--or whether it is going to use us. Smart tech cannot help us understand the nuance of race, class, gender, disability, and the intersections of those identities, but smart nonprofits can. Read this book to learn how smart tech can address systemic racism and classifications and ultimately power, and how can we use it for healing, accountability, connection and community."
--DESIREE ADAWAY, Racial Equity Practitioner and Principle of The Adaway Group

"The Smart Nonprofit is a splendid, timely book with important insights into our near future. Written in everyday, accessible language, this book enables people to listen more, relate more, build, plan, and dream together more--to be, in fact, more human."
--HALI LEE, Co-founder of Donors of Color

"Racing to adopt new automation in nonprofits can be dangerous. As Kanter and Fine discuss, the answer isn't that these new tools can't be used, but that they need to come with active anti-bias work inside organizations."
--AMY SAMPLE WARD, CEO of NTEN and co-author of The Tech That Comes Next

"The Smart Nonprofit delivers actionable insights and approachable, real-world advice that can help anyone in the C-Suite of a nonprofit update their organizational strategy for the 21st century. This is a must-read for smart leaders who plan to ensure their organizations remain both human-centered and impactful within this fluid, innovative era of AI and automation."
--CHERYL CONTEE, CEO of The Impact Seat Foundation and Founder of Do Big Things

"The Smart Nonprofit is essential reading. It takes on key trends and technologies that are changing all of our lives...for better and worse. This book will help you keep ahead."
--HENRY TIMMS, President of Lincoln Center, Co-founder of #GivingTuesday and co-author of the bestselling New Power

About the Author

BETH KANTER is a thought leader in digital transformation and well-being in the nonprofit workplace. She is the co-author of the award-winning Happy Healthy Nonprofit: Impact without Burnout and co-author with Allison Fine of the bestselling The Networked Nonprofit.

ALLISON FINE is among the nation's preeminent writers and strategists on the use of technology for social good. She is the author of the award-winning Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age and of Matterness: Fearless Leadership for a Social World.