When I first picked up Holding Fire: A Skeptic’s Framework for the Fundraiser with AI at Your Side by Stephen Christopher Nill, I was looking for reasons not to like it.
After more than 30 years working alongside nonprofit leaders, major donors, board members, and development professionals, I have watched countless trends sweep through our sector. Some promised to transform fundraising forever. Others quietly disappeared as quickly as they arrived. Artificial intelligence seemed different. It carried enormous promise, but it also raised questions that many of us were hesitant to ask out loud.
As someone who has spent her career helping nonprofits build authentic donor relationships, I wondered whether AI might unintentionally move us away from the very thing that makes philanthropy work: human connection. Would technology replace the personal conversations that build trust? Would donor relationships become more transactional? Would efficiency come at the expense of empathy? Those questions stayed with me as I opened the first chapter.
What I found surprised me. At its core, Holding Fire is not about technology. It really is a book about leadership. Nill’s concern is equipping fundraisers to do their best work, and his central argument is that thoughtful leaders can use artificial intelligence to become more effective stewards of donor trust. The technology serves the people who direct it, and they stay firmly in charge.
From the beginning, he reminds readers that donors are people first, with values, aspirations, concerns, and hopes that belong at the center of every fundraising effort. Technology may help us gather information faster or organize our work more effectively, but it cannot replace trust, compassion, curiosity, or genuine human engagement. As I read, I found myself nodding in agreement again and again.
Whether the reader is responsible for annual giving, donor stewardship, major gifts, campaign planning, board engagement, organizational leadership, some combination of them, or all of them, the examples feel real because they are real. The challenges described throughout the book mirror what nonprofit professionals experience every day.
The daily reality is too much work, too little time, limited resources, and increasing expectations. I have lived those realities myself. Like many nonprofit leaders, I have spent early mornings and late evenings trying to determine how to strengthen donor relationships, increase revenue, support staff, engage volunteers, and move mission forward—all at the same time. The situations described in this book felt familiar because they reflect the world nonprofit leaders actually live in.
Serving as a nonprofit executive, fundraising strategist, consultant, and CEO, I have learned that fundraising success rarely comes down to techniques alone. Success comes from relationships. It grows out of listening closely and understanding what inspires donors’ generosity so you can help them fulfill their desire to make a difference. Nill clearly understands this.
One of the things I appreciated most was Nill’s practical approach to AI. Too many books about emerging technology spend hundreds of pages discussing possibilities while offering little guidance on implementation. Nill takes a very different approach. He gives nonprofit leaders something they desperately need: clarity.
The book goes further than most in our field. Nill has published a reference document, the Human-Centered AI Framework Operating Specification, that puts the framework into a form an AI can read and follow. Fundraisers hand it to whatever assistant they already use, and from that point the AI works under the framework’s rules: the division of labor between the human and the machine, the workflow, the data discipline, and the ethical guardrails that mark which donor moments belong to human judgment alone.
The approach is elegant in its simplicity. One published reference and a single instruction turn a freewheeling chatbot into an ally that works under the same rules the fundraiser does, with the donor relationship protected at every step.
What makes Holding Fire especially valuable is that Nill keeps AI in its proper place, as an aid to good fundraising. He shows how artificial intelligence can take on administrative tasks and free development professionals to spend their time on the work only people can do: listening, building relationships, creating trust, inspiring generosity, and helping donors connect their values to meaningful impact. Those are the activities that create transformational philanthropy, and they remain uniquely human.
Nill believes artificial intelligence can elevate fundraising professionals rather than eliminate them. I share that belief. When used responsibly, AI lets development professionals spend less time managing routine tasks and more time one on one with donors. It makes room for greater personalization, better preparation, and improved stewardship, relational elements that lead donors to give bigger donations and make second and subsequent gifts. As someone who has spent decades teaching donor-centered fundraising principles, I found this perspective refreshing. The best fundraisers I know are not necessarily the most technical people in the room. They listen well, ask thoughtful questions, and understand that fundraising is not about receiving money—it is about creating meaning. Artificial intelligence cannot replace that kind of work.
The chapters on governance, ethics, and leadership are the ones I value most. In my role as a CEO, I understand the responsibility leaders carry when they introduce new technologies into an organization. Innovation without accountability is dangerous, and donor trust is far too valuable to place at risk. Nill addresses these concerns directly.
He places ethics at the center of the conversation, where they belong. Questions of transparency, privacy, oversight, and organizational responsibility are woven throughout the book in a way that feels both practical and necessary. Every nonprofit executive and board member should read these sections closely.
By the time I reached the final chapter, the skepticism I brought to the book had been replaced with confidence. Confidence that AI can be used responsibly, authentic donor relationships can remain at the center of fundraising, nonprofit leaders can embrace innovation without sacrificing their values, and the future of philanthropy remains deeply human.
Nill has given our profession something rare: a practical roadmap for navigating one of the most significant technological shifts of our generation while preserving the humanity that gives charitable giving meaning.
Whether you are an enthusiastic adopter of AI or a cautious skeptic like I was, this book deserves a place on your desk. In its pages, you will find wisdom, practical tools, thoughtful guidance, and maybe, as I did, that the future is not nearly as intimidating as it first appeared.
Holding Fire reminds us that technology is most powerful when it helps us become more human, not less. For those of us committed to strengthening donors, nonprofits, and communities, that is a message worth embracing. Five stars.
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