For UK charities and purpose-led organisations

Responsible AI,
at scale

Helping charities build the principles, people and capability needed to scale AI responsibly.

From identifying opportunities and developing leadership confidence, to embedding practical governance and trusted ways of working.

The reality

UK charities are under
unprecedented pressure

Costs rising

Operating costs climbing while budgets remain flat. Every team asked to do more with less.

Income squeezed

Fundraising income under pressure. Competition for every pound of voluntary income intensifying.

Demand growing

More people need your services. Waiting lists lengthening. Beneficiary expectations rising.

AI looks like the answer

Automate tasks. Personalise engagement. Predict behaviour. Free up teams. The potential is real.

76%

of charities using AI in 2025

61%

were using AI in 2024

<25%

have any AI governance in place

* Charity Digital Skills Report 2025

the problem

You’ve been here before with
every technology transformation.

1. Leadership wasn’t aligned

The board, CEO and senior team weren’t on the same page about what the technology was for, what resources were required, or what it would and wouldn’t do.

2. Data wasn’t ready

The data going into the system was incomplete, inconsistent and ungoverned. None of the structure, permissioning or documented lineage that lets you trust what it produces.

3. Governance was missing

Nobody defined who was responsible, how decisions would be made, how risks would be managed, or how success would be measured.

“AI amplifies this pattern. Bad data in a CRM produces bad records. Bad data in AI produces bad decisions. At scale, at speed, and with the appearance of authority.”

The Insight

Every tool you’ve installed
had a finish line.
AI doesn’t.

AI is not a tool, it is a resource. A tool is installed and finished. A resource has no finish line, and neither does the judgement that governs it. What the data can be trusted to do, what you will and will not allow, who stands behind each call. Not settled once at a milestone, but for as long as you use AI. Governance is not a stage. It is the thread through everything.

responsiblE AI

What responsible AI takes

Start with leadership and shared principles

Your board and senior team need a shared view of AI, and of what the organisation will and will not do with it. Principles are set with the people and missions you serve and those who serve them, not handed down, because their trust is what you’re protecting.

Assess risk proportionately

A clear method for deciding how much governance each use case actually needs. Enough to be safe, never so much that it paralyses. Low-risk uses move quickly, higher-risk ones get the scrutiny they warrant, and everyone knows which is which and why.

Build the structures and foundations that make it real

Governance lives in more than documents. The roles and accountability, the data and context that decisions draw on, the training and working practices that turn principles into daily decisions. This is how capability starts to build across the team, rather than sitting with one person who understands it.

Scale on an operating model

With the foundations in order and confidence growing across the team, the question shifts from whether to use AI to where to deploy it next. Aligned pilots prove value against a real outcome, then you scale what works, all running on an operating model for AI rather than a series of one-off decisions.

The solution

The Responsible AI Accelerator

The operating model for responsible AI — a governing capacity, not a transformation programme and not a framework bolted on after. It builds principles, capability and people in parallel, so responsible adoption becomes your own way of working, embedded and compounding.

01DiscoverReadiness & use cases

02PilotRapid, low-risk pilots

03ActivateFirst deployments

04BuildFoundations & capability

05ExpandAI across every function

06LeadFrontier leadership

Governance runs through every phase — minimum viable governance: enough to move safely, never more than the risk requires, maturing as adoption grows.

Built in parallel, at every stage

Principles

A living set of commitments on how AI will and won’t be used, who’s accountable, and how risk is judged proportionately — owned by trustees, understood by the frontline. Not a policy in a folder.

Capability

The ability to spot opportunities, test them safely and embed what works — so each governed deployment makes the next one easier, safer and cheaper. An operating rhythm that compounds, not a programme with an end date.

People

The leaders who will govern AI — not technical specialists, but people with the judgement to oversee increasingly autonomous systems on behalf of the communities you serve.

A frontier charity isn’t the one with the largest AI budget. It’s the one that built the governing capacity to use AI responsibly, repeatedly and at scale.

Become a frontier organisation

Leadership training

Trustee and leadership
AI training

A structured half-day engagement that equips your entire board and senior leadership team with the practical understanding they need to govern AI with confidence. Designed so the whole leadership team leaves with the same understanding, the same language, and the confidence to make informed decisions.

What AI is and isn’t

A pragmatic, jargon-free guide to what AI is, and isn’t in a charity context – so every trustee and member of the leadership team can engage with confidence, not just the ones with a tech background.

7-dimension classification

A repeatable method for classifying any AI system and determining proportionate governance. The question the regulators raise but don’t answer.

Authority × Autonomy matrix

Map human oversight requirements to specific use cases. From advisory AI to autonomous systems – what level of control is appropriate?

4-stage maturity model

Shows the board where you are today and what the journey to confident, governed AI adoption looks like. Turns compliance into strategy.

One programme. Three regulators. One afternoon.

The ICO’s requirement for accountable AI decision-making · The Charity Commission’s duty of care over technology risk · The Fundraising Regulator’s mandatory pre-use assessment for AI in fundraising

Beyond training

The governance toolkit

AI risk assessment framework

One process that satisfies the ICO’s DPIA requirements, the Fundraising Regulator’s mandatory pre-use assessment, and the Charity Commission’s duty of care. Scales from brief to comprehensive.

AI policy development

Board-approved AI policy that meets publication requirements, integrates with privacy notices, and is written in language your board, staff and donors can engage with.

Acceptable use AND staff training

Clear organisational boundaries for AI use. Tool-specific competence guidance. Because knowing ChatGPT doesn’t mean you know donor prediction AI.

Once AI governance foundations are in place, on-going audit assistance, data governance and strategy, and AI readiness services are available.

The foundation

AI is only as good as
what you feed it

Every AI system your organisation uses, whether it’s drafting communications, assessing beneficiary need, allocating resources or reporting on impact, draws on your data and your organisational knowledge. The quality, structure, and governance of both determine what AI can and cannot do safely and effectively.

But there is a third ingredient most organisations overlook: the unstructured knowledge that lives in your campaigns, your communications and your people, and that, properly curated, is what makes AI outputs feel trusted rather than generic.

Well-governed organisational data

Covers everything your systems hold on beneficiaries, supporters, staff, finances, campaigns and programmes. Without structure and quality controls, AI learns from noise, and then amplifies it.

Documented data lineage and consent

Shows where data came from, how it was collected, and whether it is in scope for the use case you’re now proposing. This is what makes an AI risk assessment credible rather than theoretical.

From unstructured knowledge to trusted intelligence

Your campaigns, communications, strategies and institutional memory exist as unstructured information scattered across documents, emails, physical guard books, and people’s heads. Curating this into a structured knowledge layer is what allows AI to produce outputs that are genuinely aligned with how your organisation thinks, communicates, and operates – rather than plausible-sounding responses that need constant correction.

This is the work that turns your assessment findings into action, and lays the ground for every AI capability you build from here.

Why we called it Curia

Governance is what makes enduring action possible.

A Curia was Rome’s governing forum — where collective judgement was exercised on behalf of the community. Institutions endure because they build mechanisms for judgement, continuity and accountability. Good governance isn’t a constraint on action; it’s what makes sustained, trusted action possible. That’s what Curia AI helps charities build: their Curia.

Why Curia AI

Built on 20 years of sector
leadership and data practice

Charity Sector Leadership

Leadership of Wood for Trees. 50+ charity clients including British Heart Foundation, Dogs Trust, Crisis, The Brain Tumour Charity. Deep understanding of the governance pressures and operational realities charity boards face.

Data Governance Heritage

Co-founder of MyLife Digital (35m+ users). Founding member MyData Global. DMA Governance Committee member. DataIQ Privacy and Trust Champion 2020. Privacy and governance are not an add-on.

Policy Influence

Supported the charitable soft opt-in in the Data Use and Access Act 2025 through evidenced analysis – an estimated £290m annual opportunity for the sector. We understand the regulatory landscape from the inside.

Responsible AI at Scale

We don’t stop at compliance. The goal is organisations confidently scaling AI across their mission — responsibly, and in a way that deepens the trust of the people they serve. Governance is how we get you there, not where we stop.

In their words

What clients and
colleagues say

“The sector leader in defining the standards for using customer data — combining deep technical expertise with ethical, human-centric data strategies, while never losing focus on commercial growth and integrity.“

“A genuinely rare find in the data world a sophisticated grasp of governance, data protection, privacy and the evolving AI regulatory landscape — translated into real commercial impact and growth.“

“Excellent at translating complex IT and data information into language that people outside of IT and digital transformation can really understand.“

“An impressive vision for how to maximise charitable fundraising — always innovating, and always delivering great outcomes for clients.”

READ THE RECOMMENDATIONS ON LINKEDIN

Resources

Practical tools for the
governance journey

The UK charity AI regulatory guide

A practical, consolidated guide to ICO, Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator AI expectations, brought together in one place so charity leaders can act with confidence.

AI governance maturity assessment

28 questions. 7 dimensions. 30 minutes to a clear, evidenced picture of where your charity stands – and a detailed written report and expert consultation to tell you what to do about it.

Next steps

Start here

Read the regulatory guide

Share our consolidated guide to ICO, Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator AI expectations with your CEO and board. Free download, no login required.

Download the Guide →

Take the maturity assessment

30 minutes to understand exactly where your charity stands on the AI governance journey – with a detailed report and 1-hour consultation. £495, everything included.

TAKE THE ASSESSMENT →

Book a discovery call

Speak with J Cromack about your organisation’s AI governance needs. 1 hour, no obligation. The right starting point for a bespoke governance programme.

Get in Touch →

Get in touch

Ready to start the responsible AI conversation?

Whether you want to book a discovery call, ask about the Responsible AI Accelerator, or find out more about the assessment – get in touch.

Responsible AI,at scale

UK charities are underunprecedented pressure