Unlock AI-Ready Insights: Empowering Nonprofits with Microsoft Fabric

By Chris Zimney , Microsoft Elevate Industry Solutions Lead

No matter your role—fundraiser, volunteer coordinator, program manager, marketing, or technology leader—data is at the heart of your nonprofit’s impact. But when information is scattered across spreadsheets and siloed systems, it’s hard to get a complete view or make quick, confident decisions. Microsoft Fabric is a complete data and analytics platform that unlocks the potential of your data. As the newest industry offering from Microsoft Elevate now in Public Preview, Nonprofit data solutions in Microsoft Fabric can help you unlock that potential even faster.

Microsoft Elevate worked closely with partners—Redapt, ANS, Gadali, HSO, and RSM—to develop solutions that help nonprofits unify and activate critical data for fundraising. Nonprofit data solutions is also designed to drive innovation in volunteer management, program delivery, grant tracking, and more. “This type of investment in nonprofits is what sets Microsoft apart. And the Nonprofit data solutions offering shows how we’re helping nonprofit organizations reduce complexity and turn daunting data challenges into actionable insights faster,” says Joe Maurer – Senior Client Director at Redapt.

Why it matters

Nonprofits generate enormous volumes of information—especially donor and fundraising data—but much of the data is underutilized due to disconnected systems. This fragmentation slows progress and delays time‑to‑value. Nonprofit data solutions built on Microsoft Fabric accelerates the journey to actionable insights, enabling customization and scalability so nonprofits can move from raw data to impact faster. Instead of waiting months to organize donor data, nonprofits can structure and analyze it in just weeks—accelerating time to insight and action.

With Nonprofit data solutions, nonprofits gain:

• Unified fundraising data: Donor details and related information organized in one place for easy access.
• Instant insights: Ready‑made dashboards reveal what’s working, where to focus, and how to grow.
• Accurate insights for everyone: Clean, connected data improves accuracy and ensures decisions are based on trusted information.
• AI‑powered possibilities: An AI‑ready foundation enables predictive analytics, smarter fundraising strategies, impactful program delivery, and faster progress toward goals.

Most importantly, Nonprofit data solutions is purpose‑built for nonprofits, giving organizations the freedom to tailor dashboards, integrate new data sources, and grow at their own pace—unlocking the full value of fundraising data and driving mission outcomes faster.

As ANS Group explains, “Nonprofits face unique challenges—fragmented data, strict compliance, and the constant pressure to turn insights into impact. That’s why we built on the Nonprofit data solutions in Microsoft Fabric, extending its out-of-the-box capabilities with tailored enhancements to align with UK charity standards. By leveraging Fabric’s flexibility and scalability, we can help organizations customize, integrate, and unlock deeper insights into fundraising and engagement and create a foundation that evolves with every stage of their mission." says Craig Daniel – Public Sector Sales Director at ANS

How it works

Nonprofits typically start with a proof of concept or demo environment in Fabric, deploying Nonprofit data solutions with sample data to explore possibilities. A technology team member sets up the environment and demonstrates real reporting capabilities to fundraising teams. From there, organizations choose their path:

• If data lives in Dynamics 365 or Salesforce: Pull it into Fabric immediately, customize reports, add fields, and integrate additional sources.
• If data resides elsewhere: Use the prebuilt models and reports as a starting point, then bring your data in using one of the standard Microsoft Fabric connectors.

Microsoft also created the Common Data Model (CDM) for Nonprofits to help organizations standardize data in Power Platform, Dataverse, and Dynamics 365. Nonprofit data solutions in Microsoft Fabric aligns with the concepts established by the CDM to accelerate data shaping and reporting, demonstrating our commitment to simplifying nonprofit data management and delivering continuity across its solutions.

“Microsoft’s new Nonprofit data solutions helps organizations connect, enrich, and use their data faster than ever before. Instead of spending months pulling donor information together from different systems, nonprofits can get it in one spot, structured and ready to analyze in just weeks. It’s built to be simple and quick, so teams can make decisions sooner and see results faster. We’re already seeing how this approach will cut down the time it takes to create real impact for nonprofits,” says Michael Friedrich – CTO at Gadali. 

Paving the road to AI transformation

Fabric provides the foundation for the future of nonprofit technology—where intelligent agents handle complex tasks under defined governance. Imagine agents that not only analyze donor trends but recommend the next best actions or optimize campaign ROI. By starting with CDM principles and activating data through Nonprofit data solutions, nonprofits position themselves for AI-powered mission outcomes at scale through:

• Continuity of expertise: From CDM to Fabric, Microsoft simplifies nonprofit data management.
• Accelerated insights: Prebuilt models and dashboards unlock value faster.
• AI-ready foundation: Clean, connected data sets the stage for predictive fundraising and intelligent recommendations.

Ready to accelerate your impact?  

Don’t let disconnected data slow down your mission. Take the next step today:

1) Register for partner events to learn more and see the solution in action at these upcoming  Microsoft Nonprofit Events.

2) Contact us to get started with Nonprofit data solutions in Microsoft Fabric.