Philanthropy has $300B sitting in donor accounts just waiting while countless nonprofits doing incredible work.
And between them?
A massive evaluation bottleneck that keeps money from reaching the people who need it most.
My good friend Mike Spear saw this problem up close.
And after helping raise billions through Classy, he kept hearing the same frustration from both sides.
One one end, Funders said evaluations took too long and cost too much.
On the other, Nonprofits said they spent more time proving their worth than doing their work.
Something had to give.
So Mike and his team built Altruous.
This is one AI story you don’t want to skip 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
🎁 Philanthropy Can Be Easier Than You Think
Altruous handles the heavy lifting of research and analysis so money flows where you want it. Humans bring wisdom and context. Together, they create something neither could prove do alone at scale.
Key Facts
- 🎙️ Origin story: A recent podcast conversation with founder Mike Spear traced the idea back to a question he heard at six years old.
- 🦾 Quick evaluations: The platform assembles a full program review in minutes, not months, then routes it to human analysts for refinement.
- 💰 Dormant dollars: Donor-Advised Funds hold roughly 300 billion dollars that communities could use right now.
$0.73…
When Mike first saw a Save the Children commercial, he mailed the only cash he had: seventy-three cents.
One night at the dinner table his parents asked: “Would we rather spend our lives being wealthy, happy, or good?”
The answer was good.
I love this story Mike tells, because I felt the same growing up.
We didn’t have a whole lot of extra money when I was a kid.
And while we couldn’t make massive contributions financially, I learned the importance of balancing giving with the time I had and making the money we contributed count.
That same value system guided Mike through the early days of Classy.org, and now Altruous, his latest startup in the social good space with AI at it’s core.
Okay so imagine this.
You’re a foundation program officer. You need to evaluate 50 nonprofits by next week’s board meeting.
The old way?
Months of work, if you’re lucky.
With Altruous?
You get thorough, independent evaluations in seconds. Real seconds. Not “tech company” seconds.
The platform pulls from everywhere that matters. Third-party data, nonprofit reports, validation signals.
It looks at outcomes, not just activities. It checks how fresh the data is and gives you a confidence score so you know exactly how much weight to give each finding.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
Every evaluation goes through human review. Real experts who understand the sector check the work, question assumptions, and add the context that matters.
Because while AI is great at processing information, it takes human judgment to understand what a community actually needs.
💡 The Turning Point
Mike asked about my obsession with “AI for good” recently when we sat down at my home to record a podcast (more on that below).
I told him about my experience working with The Pineapple Fund, an anonymous Bitcoiner who sent Pencils of Promise (one of my favorite organizations) one million dollars in crypto and closed 10% of the annual target in a day almost a decade ago.
And not just them but over 5000 BTC worth of wealth to many others. 🤯
Preparation, not luck, made that windfall possible with Pencils of Promise, and it pushed me to carve out this Three-Step Framework I use to this day.
- What takes too long?
- What costs too much?
- What good work could you do more of if the first two problems went away?
Altruous works in the same mindset:
Processes should go quickly.
Evaluations shouldn’t be overly expensive.
And the more we can allocate data correctly, and get it to the hands of those looking to make the biggest difference, better things will happen.
Let me walk you through what this looks like in practice.
A funder logs into Altruous and immediately sees programs that match their mission.
Not a random list.
Actual matches based on what they care about and how they define success.
They click on a program and get a complete evaluation. A real, thorough analysis that would have taken weeks to produce manually.
They see the confidence score right there, understanding exactly how solid the evidence is.
If they have questions, the AI Impact Advisor is right there.
An experienced program officer on call, 24/7 that knows all about the platform and it’s data, ready to explain what different metrics mean, what questions to ask, and what red flags to watch for.
When it’s time for the board meeting, they don’t scramble to build presentations. The platform creates Board Books automatically, pulling live data and visualizations that tell the story clearly.
No more copying and pasting.
No more outdated slides.
Just current, accurate information ready to share.
With the AI assist, the platform gives funders everything they need to make confident decisions:
- Personalized program recommendations based on your goals
- Full access to all source materials so you can verify everything
- A complete admin system for managing your giving
- A Board Book that updates in real time for sharing with stakeholders
👉 Try This Yourself
Want to see how this thinking applies to your world? Here’s a simple exercise that takes only minutes.
Pick an impact-driven decision that’s been sitting on your desk waiting for more information.
Then hop over and ask the AI Impact Advisor
You’ll probably discover something surprising.
That’s exactly what Altruous does for philanthropy, and it’s what good AI tools do for any complex decision.
🎙️ Podcast: AI in the Social Impact Sector
Earlier I mentioned I joined Mike Spear on the Cause & Purpose podcast to talk about something close to my heart: how AI can support nonprofits and mission-driven teams who are often slower to adopt new tech.
We touched briefly on my own story, but the real focus is on Altruous and the practical ways AI can amplify human judgment – from smarter evaluation systems to real examples like facilitating $10M+ in crypto donations.
I share a LOT of wonderful perspectives, some very personal things you probably have never heard me talk about, but also we reverse the roles and I interview Mike on the AI side too.
✅ If you work in the NGO space or want a clearer view of how AI can actually help teams doing meaningful work, this episode is a great place to start.
🎯 Spend a VIP day with me in Newport Beach!
I’m now offering limited VIP days. Something I’ve never done before, but has been on my heart now for years.
→ Spend the day with me in gorgeous Newport Beach, CA.
→ Full day workshop with AI strategies on your business in a private workspace, guided by me.
→ Lunch & Dinner provided.
→ Full overview, recordings and breakdown delivered in 48hrs.
This would be the single most focused, and fast-tracked way to ramp up AI into your business I can offer.
We can even work on your impact-driven idea together.
Sound great?
✌️ Your Move
When you’re ready to move, opportunities appear. When you’re stuck in evaluation, they pass by.
If your mission depends on making better decisions faster, whether that’s in philanthropy or anywhere else, you need better drafts, clearer structure, and some way to know when “good enough to act” has arrived.
Tools like Altruous don’t replace your judgment.
They clear the path so your judgment can actually do its job.
Share your story and tell me what you’re building, where you’re stuck, and what would change if you could move faster with confidence. The best insights always come from real conversations.
P.S. Our community is growing and we’re welcoming new members in weekly. Join us 🔗
