For UK charity boards AND leadership teams
AI governance is
AI strategy
Why the charities that get AI governance right will be the ones that scale with AI successfully.
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.
And it didn’t work.
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. Without structured, permissioned, lineage-documented data, AI doesn’t solve the problem – it reproduces it at scale, with the appearance of intelligence.
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
Governance is not the thing that slows you down.
It’s the thing you skipped last time that caused the failure.
That’s why AI governance is AI strategy. Not because compliance matters (though it does), but because governance is the operational prerequisite for AI that actually works.
The solution
What AI governance actually looks like
01
Get leadership on the same page
Your board and senior team need a shared understanding of AI. What it is, what it requires, and how to make informed decisions. Not one tech trustee. The whole leadership team.
02
Assess risk proportionately
A method for determining what level of governance each AI use case requires. Without it, you either over-govern (paralysing adoption) or under-govern (exposing risk).
03
Build the artefacts that prove it
Published AI policy. Risk assessments. Documentation of decisions. Not compliance paperwork – practical tools that demonstrate you made deliberate, informed choices.
04
Create conditions for what’s next
Once governance is in place, the conversation shifts from “should we use AI?” to “where should we use AI first?” A fundamentally more productive conversation.
Leadership training
Trustee and leadership
AI governance 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.
AI governance maturity assessment
Know exactly where
your charity stands.
A 30-minute structured assessment evaluating your AI governance across 7 dimensions – grounded in requirements from the ICO, Charity Commission, and Fundraising Regulator. Designed for CEOs, Directors, and senior leaders with a whole-organisation view.
£495 Includes assessment, detailed written report and 1-hour expert consultation
Get in touch to discuss the assessment and arrange access.
What’s included
Three deliverables.
One payment.
01
The assessment
28 questions across 7 governance dimensions. Complete at your own pace, approximately 20–30 minutes. Immediate results on screen.
02
The report
A detailed written analysis of your results, benchmarked against the 4-stage maturity model. Priority actions clearly identified by dimension.
03
The consultation
A 1-hour video call with J Cromack to walk through the findings, discuss priorities, and agree your first steps. Booked at a time that suits you.
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 organisations 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 determines 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, you 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 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 peoples 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 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.
Governance-First Philosophy
The conviction that AI governance is AI strategy, not a compliance overhead but the foundation for confident AI adoption. Every engagement is built on this principle.
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
01
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.
02
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.
03
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
Ready to start the governance conversation?
Whether you want to book a discovery call, ask about the training programme, or find out more about the assessment – get in touch.
