The inaugural annual report · Publishing April 2027
The nonprofit sector is entering the AI era unmeasured. We're changing that.
The State of AI Readiness in the Nonprofit Sector is the first national and global study of how ready nonprofits, philanthropies, and the funders around them actually are for AI. Not how much they use it. How ready they are to use it well. The research is underway now. The first report publishes in April 2027.
A national study by QriusAI Foundation. Evidence-first, independent, and free to the sector.
Why this research
India's nonprofit sector has been last in line for every technology wave before this one. Early signals say AI is repeating the pattern. This time, we intend to have the evidence to stop it.
Across an estimated three million-plus registered nonprofits, digitisation, cloud, and structured data each arrived late and unevenly. AI is arriving faster than any of them, and the sector risks being left behind again unless capacity building is grounded in evidence rather than assumption. Three patterns are already visible.
Adoption without readiness.
Usage is growing, but it's informal and ad hoc, while policy, governance, and risk practice lag far behind. Using a tool is not the same as being ready to use it well.
A widening divide.
Early adopters skew larger, better-funded, and urban. Grassroots organisations are largely absent from the AI conversation, and the gap is widening, not closing.
Momentum without evidence.
India's national AI push and CSR and philanthropic capital are moving fast, but funders have no reliable, sector-wide evidence base to target that capital, risking a repeat of the pattern where support flows to the already-strongest organisations.
This study moves the sector conversation from anecdote to a credible, structured baseline that funders, government, and networks can act on.
It builds directly on the same evidence-first capacity building approach behind every program we run.
Global and national context
Globally, AI has moved from novelty to something close to standard infrastructure in nonprofit work, extending capacity through automation, analysis, and planning rather than replacing people. Yet a real confidence gap remains: most nonprofit professionals still feel unprepared to use AI to its full potential, and governance has not kept pace with use. That gap between adoption and readiness is exactly what this study measures.
In India, the IndiaAI Mission and national efforts are working to make AI open, affordable, and accessible at scale, and national bodies have made the case that AI can expand healthcare, education, skilling, and financial inclusion for the same informal workforce much of the sector already serves. Yet nonprofits remain largely invisible in national AI-readiness assessments, which focus on government, industry, and skilling. The organisations closest to the people AI could most help are the ones current data says the least about. That is the gap we are stepping into.
The framework
Introducing the Nonprofit AI Readiness Index
Readiness is not usage. An organisation using a generic AI tool occasionally is not necessarily ready. Another with strong infrastructure, governance, and leadership buy-in but little current use may be highly ready. To measure the difference honestly, we built the Nonprofit AI Readiness Index: six dimensions, each scored on a maturity scale from Unaware to Embedded.
01 Leadership & Strategy
Is AI part of how leadership plans and decides, or an afterthought?
02 Data & Digital Infrastructure
Does the organisation have the data and digital foundation AI needs to work?
03 Skills & Human Capacity
Do the people have the skills and confidence to use AI well?
04 Financial Resources
Is there funding to adopt, sustain, and grow AI capability?
05 Governance, Ethics & Data Protection
Are there guardrails: responsible use, ethics, and data protection?
06 Use-Case Application
Is AI actually applied to real work, in ways that create value?
Maturity scale
Scored together, the six dimensions produce a single composite AI-Readiness Index, the first of its kind for the sector.
Developed and stewarded by QriusAI Foundation
How the study works
Built for rigor, designed for the whole sector
Step 1
Desk review & framework validation
Benchmarking against global and Indian studies, pressure-testing the six dimensions with expert consultation.
Step 2
National quantitative survey
A stratified survey, online and by phone, in English and regional languages, reaching organisations across geographies and connectivity levels.
Step 3
Qualitative deep-dive
Interviews with leadership, programme and tech staff, and funders, plus facilitated discussions with grassroots organisations.
Step 4
Ecosystem mapping
Mapping funders, CSR programmes, government schemes, and tech intermediaries in nonprofit AI capacity building.
Step 5
Synthesis & index construction
A statistically validated composite Index, feeding the report, a policy brief, and public tools.
We deliberately oversample the segments prior studies miss, including the North-East, rural, and grassroots organisations, so the segment most likely to be AI-unready is not also the segment most likely to be excluded from a study measuring readiness. All data collection follows India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, with informed consent and anonymised reporting throughout.
This is an evidence-first study, not an adoption pitch. It is built to say honestly where readiness is low, or where AI is not yet the right answer.
Contribute to the research
Add your organisation to the baseline
Whether you run a grassroots nonprofit, direct a foundation, or lead CSR or ESG at a company, your organisation is part of this picture. The survey takes a short while, works in English and regional languages, and shapes the first real baseline of AI readiness for the sector.
Every participating organisation gets a free AI readiness audit.
In return for taking part, we'll walk you through where your organisation stands across the six dimensions, where the gaps are, and where AI could realistically add value to your work. A clear, practical read on your own readiness, at no cost.
Survey embed loads here
Not ready to take the survey yet?
Be first to receive the 2027 reportWhat this produces
A public evidence base, not a private report
The flagship report
The annual publication. The inaugural edition publishes April 2027.
A policy brief
A concise brief for funders and government, translating the findings into action.
A public dashboard
An open, ongoing view into the sector's AI readiness as the baseline grows.
A free self-assessment tool
Any nonprofit can score its own organisation against the Index, at no cost.
The sector's first AI-readiness baseline is being built right now. Be in it.
Every organisation that takes part makes the picture truer, and gets a free readiness audit in return. The evidence starts with you.