Are you using AI in your consulting business?
Here at Funding for Good, we’re not yet big AI users. But we also know that AI is here whether we are ready or not!
To shed some light on AI for consultants, we surveyed nonprofit consultants about how they’re using AI and brought together three subject-matter experts (Philip Deng of Grantable, Josh Hirsch, and Chuck Gallagher) to have an open conversation about using AI as a consultant. You can grab the replay of our consulting conversation here.
The biggest takeaway from the experts: the secret of using AI in nonprofit work and consulting is human judgment.
Strategies for Using AI Effectively as a Consultant
- As Grantable’s Phil Deng shared, “Writing a good grant application requires as much or more good judgment today with AI as it did before AI.” Getting a GOOD product with an AI tool requires infusing your own judgment, decision-making, and insights throughout.
- A great starting point for using AI is building logic models, metrics, KPIs, etc. for a program’s impact—once you already have a strong program design and proposal narrative.
- Invest the time in training your AI model so that it’s not generic but reflects the voice and persona of each nonprofit organization you work with.
- There IS a learning curve to using AI well. Be prepared and really invest. For example, getting super specific with your instructions or prompts to AI takes lots of practice but is the key to getting a better outcome.
- Summarizing data and creating takeaways is an area where AI is saving people an enormous amount of time. For example, you can record stakeholder interviews, have AI transcribe them (with interviewee consent), and then ask your AI tool to provide topline summaries and takeaways. Some AI tools can even do the same with video—transforming multiple long interviews into snappy clips for websites, annual reports, email newsletters, social media, and more.
- “Think of AI as an augmentation and not a silver bullet.” It is still YOU driving the content and owning the final product.
- Ethics and guardrails matter. If you’re using AI in your business or organization, be sure you have an AI usage policy!
If you’re looking for resources for each of these areas (and more), the replay of our consulting conversation about using AI comes with expert-recommended resources.
Top 5 Ways Consultants Are Using AI
Using AI as a brainstorming partner
Brainstorming is one of the top ways consultants are using AI.
If you’re stuck trying to come up with catchy marketing slogans, lead magnet calls to action, or business names, AI can be a great brainstorming partner.
AI tools like ChatGPT can quickly produce a dozen ideas that you can then pick and choose from—and edit freely.
Using AI to draft materials
Consultants are using AI to write first drafts of everything from formal client proposals to outlines to summaries of longer documents. For example, you could plug in your notes from a workshop and ask AI to provide a summary with top takeaways. Or you could list out deliverables for a new client and ask AI to draft the formal proposal.
Two big lesson we’ve heard from other consultants are that:
1) AI-supported text is better when you START with original content and treat AI as your writing partner. In other words: Don’t ask AI to draft content unless you are feeding in existing materials and have a vision for the final product.
2) AI-generated text still needs editing. The editing stage is important because you want to be sure the final product reflects your own voice and unique expertise.
Using AI to edit all kinds of text
Another common use for AI is editing everything from blog posts to emails to scopes of work. This is much like asking for a “second set of eyes” on your materials.
Imagine you’ve drafted your own blog post, but you’re feeling insecure about whether it’s too long or too wordy. AI can provide edits and feedback on a VERY quick turnaround.
Using AI to create graphics and images
Consultants are using AI to quickly create usable graphics and images for blog posts, videos, and more.
In the larger world of marketing, AI-created graphics have been grabbing headlines but not always for the right reasons! AI can create realistic-looking images that mislead people (like the fake photo of the Hollywood sign in flames). In some cases, companies using AI-created images have received backlash from consumers, though many more have likely gone undetected.
Not using AI at all
There are also still many consultants who are not using AI at all!
If you haven’t jumped straight into integrating AI into your workflow, that is perfectly fine. But it’s also okay to be curious about which tools you might want to use in the future
Let’s chat about your consulting business!
Each month, Funding for Good hosts open networking and strategy conversations for nonprofit consultants. We cover topics like using AI in your consulting business, creating effective contracts, raising prices, and more! Check out the full Consulting Conversations series and grab your seat.
