Trust is on the decline

Americans have declining trust in institutions (Recent Gallup polling). And while philanthropy is not on the list, there is a growing body of criticism about the way that philanthropy is conducted.

“Philanthropy is just another way of perpetuating inequality.”

“Relationships between grantors and grantees are predicated on proposals, budgets, and impact reports, NOT trust.”

While these arguments have merit, philanthropy has also had an incredibly positive impact for millions of individuals and communities in the past century.

And, with the tide-turning advent of large language models and the way that AI will inevitably be used in our everyday lives, we can utilize AI as a tool to build trust-based relationships between grantors and grantees to have a lasting impact.

Or will the use of AI in funding decisions and grant writing exacerbate the current challenges?

I would love to hear your perspective in the comments.