Navigating nonprofits' path through 2 million AI models - built by practitioners.
The problem: 85% of nonprofits are exploring AI...but only 24% have a clear adoption strategy - not to mention funds or tech talent. Tech To The Rescue and Hugging Face, the world’s largest AI open source community, release Open Source Q&A Guide. See how simple, clear and actionable advice can save you from wasting time, money and running circles in confusion.
[See the Open Source Q&A Guide]
If you’re leading a nonprofit and wondering how to start using AI without blowing your budget this guide might be a perfect solution to take the first steps.
Never heard of Hugging Face? It's like a massive open library for AI. Need to transcribe audio in 90+ languages? There’s an open tool for that. Want to translate documents into regional languages? Open. Analyze sentiment in beneficiary feedback? Open. The base tier requires no subscriptions, and most providers of compute are directly accessible through the platform.
Example scenario: An education NGO needs to localize materials into 5 regional languages. Commercial quote: $10-15K. Using Hugging Face could make it cheaper by reducing the need for expensive custom tools and safer thanks to updates and 'social control' by the community.
The catch? With nearly 2 million AI models available, finding the right one might feel overwhelming - especially without a tech team. That’s exactly why we built this Open Source Q&A Guide - with practical answers to the questions you’re actually asking: ‘Where do I start?’ ‘Is it safe?’ ‘Can we afford this"?
How exactly does Hugging Face work? It’s a platform that connects countless open-source AI models and related resources.
Think of it as a massive, collaborative network where researchers, companies, and developers share AI models, datasets, and tools that anyone can use for free. Major tech companies and research organizations like Meta, Google, OpenAI, Data for Good, NASA, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, release their models there. Universities share research. Developers build and test solutions. Social Impact organizations can share their work too. It's where AI happens in the open.
The benefit? In many cases instead of paying thousands per month for proprietary AI tools, you can access equivalent (or better) solutions at lower cost or sometimes for free. The same technology that powers commercial products is available to you - if you know where to look and how to evaluate it.
The Open Source Q&A Guide is a living resource built from real questions asked by Tech Leads in our AI for Changemakers (AI4C) program - people running organizations just like yours, facing the same constraints. The guide lives on GitHub as an open repository that is updated by the community, translating Hugging Face's enormous library into a clear, accessible roadmap.
AI is expensive if you buy it from vendors. It's considerably cheaper if you use open-source tools, and can even be free if you decide to host them yourself. The Open Source Q&A Guide shows you exactly how to access Hugging Face's library – without needing a computer science degree or a six-figure tech budget. You'll learn how to navigate the platform, search for solutions by use case (not technical jargon), and evaluate options based on what matters to your organization.
The biggest mistake? Jumping straight to tools without strategy.
We walk you through the critical leadership questions: Does this fit our proven intervention? What about data privacy with sensitive beneficiary information? Can we use this commercially under its license? How do we verify who created this and whether it’s maintained?
For example: "Can we use AI to analyze survey data without exposing beneficiary names?" (Answer: Yes, using anonymization models - the open source guide show you exactly how to find them and gives you pointers to better understand quality evaluation.)
Learn practical cost-saving approaches with concrete examples:
The guide includes answers to questions in your search for the best model that is both effective and cost-efficient.
We answer the questions you're actually worried about:
You'll learn how to vet data sources, verify model creators, check licenses, and use safeguard settings. Your beneficiaries' data deserves nothing less.
This resource is designed to grow with every practitioner who uses it. It lives in an open, collaborative environment where you can:
The Open Source Q&A Guide isn't finished - Read it. Try one tool. Ask the community a question. Build something small.
[See the Open Source Q&A Guide]
Because 73% of nonprofits feel unprepared for AI. But you don't have to be one of them.
Join us in building the AI-powered infrastructure the social sector can use responsibly and safely. This is not a one-time download. We’re building the AI-ready nonprofit sector one practical resource at a time.
Questions? Want to contribute? The Open Source Q&A Guide is open, collaborative, and waiting for your voice.
