Only 3 per cent of charities are using artificial intelligence in their operations, new research from the Charity Commission shows.
The findings come from a survey of more than 2,500 trustees conducted online in February by BMG Research on behalf of the regulator.
The research, published today, shows the proportion of trustees who said their charity was using AI in its operations rose to 8 per cent among organisations with annual incomes of more than £1m.
AI was mainly being used to draft web content or communications, with 58 per cent of respondents selecting this as a key purpose of AI for charities.
Drafting internal documents was ranked second-highest, with 39 per cent of respondents selecting this as a use of AI, followed by research or information gathering at 37 per cent.
Researchers also found that two out of five trustees said their charity had encountered a banking issue in the past year, which was highlighted by the commission earlier this year as part of its campaign to raise standards in banking services for charities.
The survey found that of those respondents who had experienced a banking issue, 32 per cent said the issue was related to updating contact details of signatories, the most common problem.
It also found that 18 per cent of the trustees said they had difficulty opening a new account, 15 per cent said they had difficulty complying with identity requirements and 14 per cent said they had trouble understanding their bank’s requirements.
Charities with income between £10,000 and £100,000 were more likely to have experienced banking issues in the past year, with 47 per cent of trustees at these organisations saying they had encountered difficulties.
The research found that 30 per cent of charities with annual incomes of more than £500,000 said they had experienced banking issues during this period.
Trustees consulted were keen for the regulator to prioritise this issue, with some suggesting that the commission could work with the Financial Conduct Authority to encourage or enforce banks to behave in a more responsible way when working with charities of all sizes.
The survey also found there was a need for more immediate support from the commission on financial management and banking to help trustees resolve these issues.
The research found that most trustees had high expectations of conduct in charities, with 61 per cent saying that because of its registered status, their charity’s standards of behaviour should be higher than that of other organisations.
Trustees had a very high level of confidence in their roles, with 99 per cent saying they had total confidence in delivering their charity’s purpose; 98 per cent had total confidence in making decisions and 96 per cent had total confidence in reporting information.
Trustees were also very confident overall in their legal responsibilities, although those who had used the commission’s resources were better informed, the regulator said.
The research found that trustees were slightly less clear about what trustees should not be doing, including when it came to making decisions based on personal views. Although 53 per cent of the respondents said trustees should never make decisions based on personal views, 40 per cent said that it depends and 7 per cent said that trustees should always do this.
Just 38 per cent said that trustees should never try to make sure that decisions benefit other organisations they are involved in, with 33 per cent saying this depends and 28 per cent saying trustees should always do this.