Buzzbold is excited to announce a new offering for nonprofit organizations: we’re gearing up to help mission-driven groups leverage the power of artificial intelligence and help them with efforts to secure funding to do it. OpenAI has opened applications for its “People-First AI Fund,” a $50 million grant program supporting nonprofits that want to use AI to advance their missions[1]. With the application deadline approaching (October 8, 2025), Buzzbold stands ready to partner with you from start to finish – from brainstorming an AI solution for your needs, to writing a winning proposal, to implementing the technology if the grant is won.
Why AI, and why now? In recent years, AI tools like machine learning and intelligence have become more accessible and affordable. However, many nonprofits haven’t had the chance or resources to explore them. We believe AI can be a game-changer for nonprofits: it can automate routine tasks, analyze complex data for insights, personalize services for your community, and free up your staff to focus on what matters most – the people you serve. In short, AI can help nonprofits do more good, more efficiently. For example:
- Imagine a literacy nonprofit using an AI tutor to provide personalized reading support to children after school.
- Imagine a food pantry using an AI forecasting tool to predict demand and reduce waste.
- Imagine a community health center offering a 24/7 Agent to answer common health questions, so clients get information anytime.
These are not far-off dreams, they’re achievable projects with today’s AI, especially with Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Data Cloud and Agentforce. The People‑First AI Fund specifically wants to back ideas like these that help communities build skills, improve access to services, and create economic opportunity[3]. It’s a rare opportunity for nonprofits to get funding and expert help to launch innovative AI initiatives.
Buzzbold’s role: We are a technology consulting firm with deep experience in the nonprofit sector. Our team has worked for years to accelerate and optimize nonprofit operations through smart technology solutions – from CRM implementations to workflow automations. Now, we’re bringing that expertise into the era of AI. We’ve been hands-on with platforms like Agentforce, Streamlit, and n8n, platforms that allow us to integrate AI into everyday processes.
Agentforce: This is Salesforce’s AI agent framework (native to the Salesforce ecosystem) that can power conversational assistants and automate actions within your CRM. If your nonprofit uses Salesforce, we can deploy AI “agents” directly into your database and systems. For instance, an Agentforce bot could help answer donor inquiries or guide a volunteer through onboarding steps, all inside Salesforce.
n8n: An open-source workflow automation tool that we love to use for creating custom automations. With n8n, we can connect various apps and include AI services (like GPT-5, Gemini, Claude, and even open source models) in the loop. It’s like a digital assembly line for knowledge, analytical, and research work. We’ve used n8n to, for example, automatically generate complex analytical reports from multiple raw data sources and branch the outputs to multiple channels depending on the findings. The beauty of n8n is that it’s highly flexible, offers thousands of templates, and app connections, and it can be self-hosted, which can be a cost-saver for nonprofits.
Buzzbold has expertise in operationalizing AI through these platforms and more. That means we not only understand the algorithms, but we know how to embed them into your daily work in a practical, sustainable way. We create solutions that your team can actually use and maintain, whether it’s offering AI agent support on your website or setting up a research and writing pipeline that saves your staff hours each week.
How AI can advance your mission: Every nonprofit is unique, but many face common hurdles: limited staff capacity, mountains of data or paperwork, and the need to personalize support for each individual they help. AI can tackle these issues. Here are a few examples of how AI might help:
- Education & Literacy: AI-powered tutoring programs can provide one-on-one practice for students, adapting to their level, so no one falls through the cracks.
- Healthcare & Counseling: AI virtual assistants can do initial intake or answer FAQs, triaging who needs urgent help and who can be directed to resources – thereby extending the reach of healthcare providers.
- Workforce Development: AI resume reviewers or job matching algorithms can help job seekers (especially in underserved communities) improve their resumes and find better job matches, at a scale human counselors alone can’t manage.
- Community Services: Natural language processing can analyze feedback or community survey responses en masse to highlight trends, helping organizations respond faster to community needs.
The key is that AI is not about replacing the human touch, but enhancing it. A well-designed AI tool takes over the repetitive or data-heavy tasks and hands the insights or freed-up time back to your staff and volunteers, so they can focus on personal engagement and expert decision-making. It’s like adding a super-smart assistant to your team.
About the People-First AI Fund: This grant program is specifically for U.S. nonprofits like yours. OpenAI – the group behind ChatGPT – created this fund to ensure AI’s benefits reach communities everywhere, not just big tech or big companies. They’re offering unrestricted grants to nonprofits with bold ideas on using AI in areas like AI education, community-driven innovation, and expanding economic opportunity[3][46]. The application is open until October 8, 2025 and does not require you to have prior experience with AI. In fact, they welcome newcomers with great ideas. What they want to see is a clear vision of how an AI project could make a difference for your community.
How Buzzbold can help save you time with this opportunity! We know that many nonprofits don’t have dedicated grant writers or IT strategists sitting around and this grant’s window is short. That’s where we come in:
- We will collaborate with you to identify an AI project that fits your mission and qualifies for the fund. Think of it as a mini innovation workshop where our experts learn about your work and brainstorm potential AI solutions with you.
- Buzzbold will then write the grant proposal for you (with your input and final approval). We’ll handle the narratives, the technical explanation of the AI idea, the budget, all aligning with the fund’s criteria.
- Our team is already studying the People-First AI Fund guidelines and ensuring we hit the key points (like how your project will involve the community and benefit underserved groups).
- We can either submit on your behalf or guide you through the submission – whichever you prefer.
- In the end, it will be your organization applying, with us as a partner. And we do this on a success-based model, our goal is to get you funded.
What happens if you win the grant: That’s where the real fun begins. If your proposal is selected (grants will be decided by end of the year 2025), you’ll receive the funding and Buzzbold will roll up our sleeves to build the AI solution for you. We will serve as your implementation partner to turn the idea into reality. We’ll do the heavy lifting on the technical side, while working closely with your team so the solution fits your context perfectly.
As part of the grant partnership, the funding will cover Buzzbold’s services (we allocate ~75% of the grant for the AI project implementation) and also compensate your organization (the other ~25%) for the time and effort you invest in the project. This means you can dedicate staff to work with us, attend trainings, and engage your community in the project without sacrificing your budget – the grant has that built in. It’s a win-win: you get a new AI capability and the resources to adopt it properly.
Why trust Buzzbold? We bring a unique combination of nonprofit savvy and tech know-how. Our team has worked with dozens of nonprofits and schools – we speak your language, from donor engagement to program outcomes. We also stay at the cutting edge of technology. We’ve been exploring AI tools and integrating them into workflows so that when something like the People-First AI Fund came along, we were ready to help others benefit from our knowledge. We understand concerns around AI too – like ensuring data privacy and avoiding bias – and we design solutions responsibly. Buzzbold’s track record includes projects like building integrations that saved nonprofits hundreds of hours in admin time, and improving data-driven decision making for community programs. We’re passionate about “AI for Good” and making sure technology serves the people on the ground doing the hard work.
Get involved: If you’re a nonprofit leader or staff member reading this and thinking “this sounds interesting but I’m not sure if our org is a fit,” we encourage you to reach out to us. A quick conversation can clarify how an AI idea might apply to your situation. Even if you’re completely new to AI, that’s okay, we love educating and finding accessible solutions. The grant is specifically open to those without prior AI experience. What matters is your mission and your ideas for impact.
Contact us today to schedule a chat (time is of the essence – Oct 8 is around the corner!). We can discuss your goals and see if pursuing this grant together makes sense. Whether it’s building an AI chatbot, an automated data pipeline, or something totally creative that we haven’t imagined yet – we’re eager to explore it with you.
At Buzzbold, our motto is Information Strategies for Smart Nonprofits. Embracing AI is the next frontier of that mission. We’re here to ensure that nonprofits, especially those on the frontlines of education, health, social justice, and community building, are not left behind in the AI revolution. Together, let’s operationalize AI in a people-first way and amplify the good you do every day.
Let’s put communities at the heart of AI innovation. 🚀
(For more details on the OpenAI People-First AI Fund, you can read OpenAI’s announcement [47]. And to learn more about Buzzbold’s services and past projects, visit our website or contact us directly.)
