The AI Blueprint
Decide where AI belongs before you buy any of it.
Four to six weeks with your team to find where AI would earn its place across your organization, what has to be true first, and the one decision your organization needs to make. A fixed fee, quoted before you commit, and a plan that is yours to keep.
11AI tools already in use4 on personal accounts
24Uses scoredAcross eight areas
5To start nowLow risk, on data that is ready
7Waiting on dataFix the record first
The decision: approve the one-page AI policy, and the first use, the renewal risk list.
One decision- 4 to 6Weeks from kickoff to a plan ready for sign-off
- 7Deliverables, every one of them yours to keep
- 15 to 30Uses scored by value, risk and data readiness
- 12Months of AI roadmap: now, next and later
One method, two questions
Two Blueprints. Same method, different question.
The Digital Readiness Blueprint decides what systems you need. The AI Blueprint decides where AI should work for you. Both end in a plan the people who sign off can act on.
The question
The AI Blueprint
Where should AI work for us, and what has to be true first?
Best for
Disconnected systems, a system to replace, or a move to Salesforce.
Systems in reasonable shape, or a build just finished, and leadership asking what to do about AI.
What we look at
Every system, what it costs, who owns it, and where information is typed twice.
Every AI tool already in use, every idea for a new one, and the data each would read.
What you receive
Nine deliverables: the report, requirements register, costed inventory, systems map, options weighed, roadmap, decision deck, quick wins and a readiness scorecard.
Seven deliverables: AI in use today, a scored portfolio of 15 to 30 uses, the data-readiness grid, a draft AI policy, a 12-month AI roadmap, a decision briefing and the first use specified.
What gets decided
Which path to take, one funded stage at a time.
The AI policy, and which uses to start with.
AI
A short AI chapter in every Blueprint: which uses could start early, and which to leave alone.
The whole engagement, from what staff use today to the first use you approve.
BothInterviews with each teamYour team corrects the findingsA decision deck or briefing in your voiceA fixed fee, quoted before you commitFour to six weeksVendor neutralYours to keep
Not sure which comes first?
If your members or donors live in more than one system, start with the Digital Readiness Blueprint. AI on a split record repeats the split, faster, and its AI chapter tells you which uses can start early anyway.
If the record is in reasonable shape, or you have just finished a build, start here. On the first call we will tell you which one fits, or whether you need either.
How the weeks go
Your team checks every finding before it becomes a plan.
The same method as the Digital Readiness Blueprint, pointed at a different question.
- Weeks 1 to 3
Inventory and goals.
A kickoff to agree what leadership wants from AI and what is off limits. A short survey asks every team what they already use, in a way that makes an honest answer safe. Then a 45-minute interview with each team.
- Every AI tool in use, including personal accounts and features that arrived inside software you already pay for
- Ideas from every area: membership, fundraising, programs, events and education, finance, communications and leadership
- Weeks 3 to 4
Scoring, and your corrections.
Each idea is scored by value, by risk and by how ready its data is. We score the data-readiness grid with the person who owns each area. Then we read it all back: your team corrects what we got wrong and ranks the portfolio.
- Risk set by what happens when it is wrong, not by how impressive it looks
- The plan follows your ranking, not ours
- Weeks 4 to 6
Policy, roadmap and the decision.
The draft one-page AI policy, the 12-month roadmap and a decision briefing in your voice. The first use is specified down to its success number and its stop rule. We walk you through all of it, and check in two weeks later.
- One clear decision for the people who sign off
- Ready to start with us, with another partner, or on your own
What you receive
Twenty-four ideas in. Five to start with.
At the heart of the AI Blueprint is a portfolio: every idea from every team, placed by value and by risk, checked against your data and sorted into twelve months.
01 · Every idea
Everything your teams raised.
Ideas from every interview, and the AI tools staff already use. Twenty-four of them at Lakeview, in no particular order.
02 · Value and risk
Placed by value and by risk.
Risk is what happens when it is wrong. A draft a person edits is low. An answer a member reads directly is medium. A decision about a person keeps a human.
03 · Scored
Every use gets a score.
Value, risk and data readiness, out of ten, so the order can be argued with line by line.
04 · Data readiness
Then checked against your data.
Seven uses read data that is not ready yet. However good the idea, they wait for the fix. Donor next step scores high, and still waits.
05 · The roadmap
Five to start with.
The best five on ready data move into Now. Six follow in Next and six in Later, once the record and a test set are in place.
06 · The first use
The first one, specified.
Its owner, its review level, the number it should move and the rule for stopping it, agreed before anything is built.
Low risk
Medium
Keep a human
High value
Renewal risk9.1
Donor next step8.8
Monthly report8.7
Inbox triage8.2
CE certificates7.9
Duplicates7.6
Member answers8.4
Staff assistant7.4
Grant reports7.1
Scholarships6.8
Lapse review6.5
Medium value
Meeting notes7.2
Survey themes7.0
Event follow-up6.6
Thank-you notes6.4
Newsletter5.9
Event Q&A6.1
Course picks5.6
Credit checks5.8
Lower value
Social posts5.2
Agendas4.8
Job posts4.5
Website chat4.1
Volunteer match3.6
Score out of 10: value, risk and data readinessWaiting on dataStart now
NowMonths 1 to 3
- 1Renewal risk9.1
- 2Monthly report8.7
- 3Inbox triage8.2
- 4CE certificates7.9
- 5Duplicates7.6
Next, months 4 to 66 uses
Later, months 7 to 126 uses
Waiting on data7 uses
First use · UC-01Low
Renewal risk list
- Owner
- Membership manager
- Review
- Staff read every draft before it goes
- Success number
- Renewals among flagged members, against the same months last year
- Stop rule
- No movement after one full renewal cycle: switch it off
Seven things you keep
Written for the people who will use them.
Your leadership, your staff, and whoever builds the first use, whether that is us or not.
| Tool | Used by | What goes in | Account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chat assistant | Development | Appeal drafts, donor first names | Personal |
| Meeting note-taker | Leadership | Leadership and staff calls | Never approved |
| Writing assistant | All teams | Emails and documents | Business terms |
| Chat assistant | Membership | A renewal list, to tidy the names | Personal |
11 tools found4 on personal accounts2 switched on by a software update
01
AI in use today
Every tool staff already use, including personal accounts and features that arrived quietly, with what goes into each. Found in a way that makes an honest answer safe.
| Use | Risk | Data | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renewal riskMembership | Low | Ready | 9.1 |
| Donor next stepFundraising | Low | Not yet | 8.8 |
| Monthly reportLeadership | Low | Ready | 8.7 |
| Member answersEvents and education | Medium | Not yet | 8.4 |
24 uses across eight areas
02
A scored portfolio of uses
Fifteen to thirty uses from across the organization, each scored by value, risk and data readiness, and ranked by your leadership.
One record
Consistent fields
Agreed definitions
History you can trust
Known owners
Access and consent
10 of 12Ready for a small,
measured pilot
measured pilot
03
The data-readiness grid
Six rows, scored with the owner of each area, for the records each top use would read. What is ready, and what to fix first.
Draft for the board
Lakeview Association AI Use Policy
Owner: COO · Reviewed every twelve months
- 1Purpose
- 7Register
- 2Scope
- 8Measuring
- 3Approved tools
- 9Switching off
- 4What AI may see
- 10Vendors
- 5Human review
- 11Incidents
- 6Disclosure
- 12Oversight
Board ChairExecutive DirectorDate approved
04
A draft AI policy
One page anyone in your organization can read in five minutes: four tiers of information, three review levels, disclosure, measures and a switch-off.
NowMonths 1 to 3
- Renewal risk
- Monthly report
- Inbox triage
NextMonths 4 to 6
- Staff assistant
- Grant reportsFigures checked
LaterMonths 7 to 12
- Member answersAfter a test set
- Donor next stepAfter one record
05
A 12-month AI roadmap
Now, next and later. Each use with an owner and a number, and the data work it waits on.
Speaker notesAsk for the policy and one use only. The next two come back with results.
06
A decision briefing, ready for your board
Eight slides in your voice, with speaker notes: what staff use today, the portfolio, the policy and one clear decision.
- What it does
- Flags members drifting away each week, with the signals behind each, and drafts a check-in for staff
- What it can see
- Membership, event and email records. Nothing sensitive, nobody who asked not to be contacted
- What it cannot do
- Send anything, or change a membership status
- Who reviews it
- The membership manager reads every draft
- Success number
- Renewals among flagged members, against the same months last year
- Stop rule
- No movement after one full renewal cycle: switch it off, and say why
07
The first use, specified
What it does, what it can see, who reviews it, the number it should move and when to stop. Specific enough to build from, with us or anyone else.
Fit
Built for a specific moment.
The AI Blueprint is for you if
- Your systems are in reasonable shape, or you have just finished a build
- Your executive director, staff or funders are asking what you are doing about AI
- Staff already use AI tools, and nobody has decided the rules
- A pilot went nowhere, and you want to know why before trying again
It's not the right fit if
- Your members or donors live in several systems. Start with the Digital Readiness Blueprint
- You want a chatbot live next week
- You have already chosen a use and need it built. Talk to us about that directly
Not sure yet? Get the guide: The AI Blueprint, explainedSee an example Blueprint
Questions
Before you book.
How is it different from the Digital Readiness Blueprint?
Same method, different question. The Digital Readiness Blueprint decides what systems you need and in what order. The AI Blueprint decides where AI should work for you, and what has to be true first.
Every Digital Readiness Blueprint includes a short AI chapter. The AI Blueprint goes the whole way: the tools in use, the scored portfolio, the policy, the roadmap and the first use.
Do we need to be on Salesforce?
No. The inventory, the portfolio, the policy and the roadmap work whatever systems you run. Where a use would read member or donor data, the data-readiness grid shows what that record needs, wherever it lives.
How much of our team's time does it take?
A kickoff call, a five-minute survey for staff, one 45-minute conversation per team, an hour with the owner of each area for the readiness grid, the findings readout and the final walkthrough. For most people that is a few hours across the four to six weeks.
What if staff are using tools nobody approved?
They almost always are, and most of it is reasonable. We say up front that the aim is to approve what is working and agree a few lines, not to take tools away. People answer honestly when it is safe to, and the policy then governs what is really happening.
Will you recommend a particular AI product?
We recommend the kind of tool each use needs and the terms it should run under, not a vendor we resell. Some uses fit the AI already inside software you pay for; some fit another model better. You get the reasons, and the ten questions to ask any vendor.
What happens after the AI Blueprint?
You own everything we deliver. Take the policy to your board, and start the first use with us, with another partner, or on your own. We check in two weeks later to answer questions. The fee is fixed and quoted before you commit.
Decide where AI belongs, then start.
A 30-minute conversation about what your staff already use, where AI could help, and which Blueprint should come first.
Not ready for a call? Take the 3-minute readiness scorecard or get the AI Blueprint guide