Framework and Strategies for the Deployment of Artificial Intelligence in Public Welfare Organizations

Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently become widely accessible through the public availability of large language models, fundamentally altering how organizations engage with digital technologies.While AI has long been researched and applied in commercial and governmental contexts, little is known about how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engage with these developments.As key actors of civil society, NGOs operate under conditions of limited resources, strong normative commitments, and high accountability requirements, which shape both the opportunities and constraints of AI adoption.This paper examines the conditions and strategies for the use of AI in public-interest-oriented organizations, focusing on NGOs in Germany.It draws on data from the research project Artificial Intelligence in Non-Governmental Organizations (KINiro), conducted between 2023 and 2025, using a mixed--methods design.The empirical basis includes a scoping review, exploratory qualitative interviews, a nationwide quantitative survey (n = 343), and ten indepth expert interviews across different fields of NGO activity.The findings show that most NGOs are still at an early stage of engaging with AI.Current use is largely limited to low-threshold applications such as text generation, translation, and research support.AI adoption is predominantly driven bottom-up by technology-savvy staff and remains weakly institutionalized.Key barriers include limited time, financial resources, digital competencies, and unresolved governance issues, particularly regarding data protection and responsibility.At the same time, NGOs perceive significant potential for efficiency gains and workload reduction.Overall, the study demonstrates that AI functions less as a purely technical innovation and more as a catalyst for organizational and cultural transformation.Successful implementation depends on leadership support, iterative experimentation, competence building, and the development of enabling governance structures aligned with public-interest values.