A program of E5 Enclave Inc  ·  a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
[ For funders ]

The Grantee AI Capacity Cohort.

Your grantees are using AI. Almost none of them are getting mission value from it. We close that gap — ten organizations at a time, with shipped implementations, not advice.


The gap
92%
of nonprofits use AI
7%
report major improvements in organizational capability
81%
use AI individually, without shared workflows
47%
have no AI governance policy

Figures: Virtuous + Fundraising.AI, February 2026 survey of leaders at 346 nonprofits — a vendor-conducted study; these exact figures are specific to this survey.

The sector isn't behind on tools. It's behind on translation — turning AI capability into mission outcomes, in plain English, without the hype or the fear.
The offer — one cohort, ten organizations
Recommended

Full-Stack

$110,000
  • 10 AI Opportunity Audits — two weeks each, board-readable, with a 90-day roadmap.
  • 10 implementation sprints — one shipped automation per org, measured in hours saved. Delivered black-glove.
  • 3 after-hours voice pilots — the phone always answers. Inbound only, always disclosed.
  • 10 Organization memberships — one year, up to ten seats each.
  • Kickoff + readout workshops, the weekly playbook, and a 6-month outcomes report.

Diagnostic

$65,000
  • 10 AI Opportunity Audits — the full diagnostic, board-ready.
  • 10 Organization memberships — one year, up to ten seats each.
  • Kickoff + readout workshops and the weekly playbook.
  • 6-month outcomes report — your evidence base for scaling.

Per organization: $11,000 / $6,500 — against funder-paid AI programs like Mozilla's Democracy x AI cohort ($50,000 per project, 2026) and GitLab Foundation's AI for Economic Opportunity Fund ($250,000 per organization, 2026).

Why Sawdust Silicon

Curators, not loudspeakers.

We don't amplify the noise. We select the few things worth your grantees' attention, verify them, and stand behind them.

We ship, not just advise.

The implementation sprint is the product. The audit is the diagnostic that sells it. Recommendations without implementation are not on the menu.

Plain English, always.

Built for the director who is also the bookkeeper. If a grantee has to ask what something means, we failed before they asked.

Measured, then reported.

Every sprint ships with a measurement of hours saved. The 6-month outcomes report is your evidence base for cohort two — presented, not emailed.

How a cohort runs
1

Select. You choose ten grantees; we help set the criteria. Conversations, not applications.

2

Diagnose. Audits run in waves over four weeks. Every org gets a board-readable roadmap — and one circled sprint recommendation.

3

Ship. Sprints deploy over eight weeks. Voice pilots go live for the orgs with real call volume.

4

Prove. Month six: the outcomes report — hours saved, workflows adopted, the case for cohort two.

The stakes

Anthropic's September 2026 economic scenarios — a model, not a forecast — put it plainly: under "substantial" AI-driven change, knowledge-worker wages stay flat while the gains concentrate. The question for philanthropy isn't whether AI arrives — it's who participates, and on what terms. A cohort is a way to make sure your grantees are builders and owners, not just users.

Filed 2026-09-09 · Edition 1 · Sawdust Silicon · a program of E5 Enclave Inc, 501(c)(3)
[ The conversation ]

Begin with a conversation.

We don't do grant applications for this. We talk first — about your grantees, your goals, and whether a cohort fits.

Contact the program
Sawdust Silicon · a program of E5 Enclave Inc · 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization