Automating the Obstacles, Not the Ministry

You're busy. The question isn't whether AI can help with that ... it can. The question is which parts of your work should stay yours, and which parts are just getting in the way.

In this episode, Jeremy Reis introduces the obstacle versus connection test: a simple, practical framework for deciding what to hand off to AI and what to protect. Some tasks are pure overhead, like formatting, reformatting, scheduling, and data entry. They consume time without connecting you to anything that matters. Others look like overhead but actually keep you attuned to your donors, your clients, and the details that make you good at your job. Hand those off and you get the output. You lose what the doing of them actually gives you.

Jeremy shares how Serving Orphans Worldwide used this framework to go from four fundraising appeals a year to four emails a month plus a monthly mailed appeal — with zero new staff — and grow from 300 new donors in 2024 to 1,500 in 2025. The efficiency was real. But the gains came from what the reclaimed time made possible, not from the time saved itself.

One framework. One question to ask before you automate anything. And a homework assignment that most people skip but shouldn't.

Part of the AI for Nonprofits series. Download the free companion workbook at https://nonprofitfundraising.com/ai

The Christian Leader's Guide to AI: https://amzn.to/3RvXyoA

Virtuous Study: https://virtuous.org/blog/2026-nonprofit-ai-adoption-report/

BBS & Associates: https://servantheart.com

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