Just beginning your AI journey? This free practical guide will help your organisation adopt artificial intelligence safely, effectively and step by step.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a technology reserved for large companies. NGOs, independent media, community initiatives and civil society organisations can already use AI to reduce routine work, improve communications, analyse information faster and free up more time for their mission.
To help organisations take their first steps, Digital Skills Coalition Belarus has published a new practical guide:
Artificial Intelligence for NGOs
The publication is based on materials from the AI4BY challenge and expert webinars delivered as part of the AI4NGO programme. It brings together practical approaches, tools and lessons from real AI implementation scenarios.
What you will find in the guide
- Why artificial intelligence matters for NGOs
- Digital security rules to follow before writing your first prompt
- How to choose AI tools and formulate useful prompts
- How to recognise hallucinations, bias and misleading content
- How to use AI for documents, reports and knowledge management
- How to create content, presentations, audio and video
- How to automate repetitive organisational processes
- How to introduce AI across an organisation
- A ready-to-adapt AI use policy template
- A catalogue of tools and practical checklists
Designed for organisations that are just beginning
The guide follows a gradual implementation path. It starts with digital security and basic prompts, then moves to practical use cases, automation and organisation-wide adoption.
Readers who are completely new to AI can follow the chapters in order. Organisations already using AI are encouraged to begin with the sections on security and implementation, as these are often the areas where teams lack clear and consistent rules.
Practical AI use cases for NGOs
The guide explains how artificial intelligence can support everyday work, including:
- drafting grant applications and donor communications;
- summarising reports, policies, legislation and research;
- translating and adapting content for different audiences;
- preparing social media posts and campaign materials;
- creating presentations, illustrations and audio content;
- analysing surveys and public information;
- fact-checking and identifying claims that require verification;
- automating monitoring, notifications and repetitive workflows;
- training team members and volunteers.
Why this matters
Small civil society organisations often work with limited time, funding and staff. Responsible use of AI can reduce routine work and help teams focus more attention on people, communities and their mission.
Security comes first
The publication emphasises that personal data, lists of activists or beneficiaries, internal organisational documents, donor contacts and sensitive cases should never be uploaded to public AI services.
For safer experimentation, the guide recommends:
- using anonymised or fictional examples;
- creating a separate account for testing AI tools;
- classifying organisational data by sensitivity;
- using local AI models for confidential information;
- protecting API keys as carefully as passwords;
- regularly reviewing access granted to third-party applications.
AI is an assistant, not a decision-maker
AI systems can invent facts, reproduce stereotypes and produce convincing but inaccurate answers. Every AI-generated result should therefore be treated as a draft.
Names, figures, dates, quotations and factual claims must always be verified by a human against reliable primary sources before publication or use in organisational decisions.
Download the guide
The guide is available free of charge for non-commercial use with attribution.
Download “Artificial Intelligence for NGOs” in English
Key takeaways
- Start with one small and repetitive task.
- Establish digital security rules before using AI.
- Never upload sensitive or personal data to public chatbots.
- Verify all important facts and decisions.
- Scale only the workflows that have proved useful and safe.
