Study: Nonprofits Cautiously Embrace AI
Use among Christian ministries mirrors broader trends
A new study conducted by technology firm Bonterra in partnership with Hanover Research suggests the nonprofit world is rapidly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) even as concerns about the technology’s potential pitfalls remain strong.
Study Results
Based on an August survey of 845 people, including both nonprofit leaders and funding decision-makers, Bonterra’s “AI Readiness Path” report noted that 69% of nonprofit respondents are already taking advantage of AI tools, while 91% of funder respondents “expect to see positive impact from AI within the next three years.”
What’s more, a full 78% of nonprofit responders said they were “interested in using the technology at work,” and 87% of funder responders agreed AI has “potential” as a tool on the grantmaking and corporate social responsibility side.
However, the eagerness to embrace AI’s benefits was tempered by worries about issues such as privacy and accuracy. Just over one in five nonprofit leaders said they “trust AI to deliver accurate results,” and 92% admitted to being “concerned about how AI might use their data.” Meanwhile, 40% of funders indicated concern about “over-reliance” on automation, and the majority agreed nonprofits should be transparent regarding AI usage.
“AI adoption isn’t some distant goal on the horizon, the majority (69%) of nonprofits are already using the technology,” the report concluded. “Both funders and nonprofits prefer AI that summarizes, visualizes, or recommends — not decides for them.”
AI and Ministry
Earlier this year, the State of the Church Tech 2025 report found a similar trend among Churches.
“Churches, like virtually every other organization in 2025, are riding the wave of enthusiasm for artificial intelligence solutions,” explained the report produced by Pushpay, a payments and engagement solutions provider for nonprofits. “Since last year, AI usage has jumped 80% across all ministries.”
The study’s results, based on a survey of about 8,000 church leaders in February, showed this boost in usage has been concentrated toward particular tasks.
Access to MinistryWatch content is free. However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here.
“While adoption has increased, leaders remain reluctant to rely on AI for pastoral content,” the report noted. “Last year’s report revealed that less than one quarter of AI users applied the tool for developing devotionals, sermons, or ideas for pastoral care; that pattern still holds true today. The vast majority of AI use cases revolve around content generation and editing of communication materials like emails, imagery, and social media posts.”
Responding to the growing demand for AI, one tech firm is marketing generative AI software directly to Christian ministries. Resi, a Texas-based subsidiary of Pushpay, is promoting its new Studio AI product as a convenient way for ministries to create short-form videos.
“The Church specifically, they want to reach people where the people are with the Good News. And so, the rise of short-form video provides a new field to sew in, but ministries are running into problems as they do this,” Resi product manager Justin Huang told the Christian Post. Those problems—the time and skill needed to produce content—are what Studio AI was designed to solve.
While many Christian leaders wade into the deep end of cutting edge AI, other voices are calling on believers to slow down or even jump out of the water entirely.
Responding to news that some churches are now using AI chatbots, including an AI Jesus that worshipers can talk with and confess their sins to, teacher and author Justin Peters expressed alarm in a November 16 social media post: “If your ‘church’ is even considering the possibility of doing this—even for merely a fleeting moment—run like the wind. You don’t have a church and the leaders are not qualified.”
At the Centennial Impact Summit in September, AI pioneer Tim Estes warned the new technology has a dark side.
According to ChurchLeaders, Estes praised AI’s potential, but also called it a “digital narcotic that fosters false relationships, uses the deepest human needs to create dependency, and erodes our capacity for stillness and time with our Creator.” He challenged Christians to be “defenders of the human heart” against those who would reduce human beings to their digital selves, saying, “There cannot be virtue if there’s no source of human dignity.”
Christians Against A.I. (CAAI), which has garnered 594 followers on Facebook, describes itself as a grassroots group of Christian professionals united to alert the church to the “dangers of an unchecked AI revolution that attempts to replace God with man-made creations.”
“The training & development of A.I. must be stopped immediately,” CAAI states on its website, warning the technology is an open door to misinformation, manipulation, data privacy violations, intellectual property theft and even war.
In May, evangelical leaders were among signatories of a letter urging President Trump to consider the potential dangers of AI. Signers included Assemblies of God General Superintendent Doug Clay and American Association of Christian Counselors President Tim Clinton, among others.
TO OUR READERS: The mission of MinistryWatch is to help Christian donors become more faithful stewards of the resources God has entrusted to them. Do you know of a story that will help us fulfill our mission, or do you want to give us feedback about this or any other story? If so, please email us at [email protected].
