How Foster Avenue Uses AI
Foster Avenue uses artificial intelligence for one reason: to make our work better. It helps our people analyze more material and refine each draft through more rounds. The experience, the judgment and the final word stay with our people. This page explains how we use AI, which platforms we use, how we protect your information, and whom to ask with questions.
Why we use AI
Foster Avenue is a campaign counsel and communications firm. We advise universities, hospitals and health systems, and cultural institutions on their campaigns, and we write the materials those campaigns need. We use AI where it makes that work more careful and more complete. It never stands in for our people’s experience or judgment, and we do not use it to cut corners.
We have built our own AI tools on our enterprise AI platform. They are shaped by Foster Avenue’s frameworks and by what the firm has learned across decades of campaign work, so every client draws on the whole firm’s experience, not just the knowledge of the consultant assigned to the project.
People are responsible for the work
A Foster Avenue professional is responsible for everything we deliver. The final recommendation, the creative choices and the quality of the strategy belong to our people. AI can help us start a draft. Our writers and strategists take it from there: they keep full editorial control, work through several rounds to improve it, and match it to your institution’s voice. If something we deliver is wrong, it is ours to fix. We do not use AI as an excuse for an error or for weak strategy.
Where AI helps
We use AI for research, first drafts, analysis of large or complex material, and refining creative work. In each case, our people direct the work and judge the result.
AI does not make the final call. Our experts keep final oversight of every recommendation and every deliverable.
Our own tools draw on Foster Avenue’s frameworks, patterns gathered across past engagements, public information about the nonprofit sector, and fundraising practice. That built-in knowledge does not include identifiable donor data from any client, individual donor profiles, personal financial information, or materials a client has marked confidential.
We tell clients that we use AI. We do not hide it.
The AI platforms we use
All AI-assisted client work happens on enterprise AI platforms that Foster Avenue licenses. We do not use personal or free AI accounts for client work. That includes consumer ChatGPT, the free Claude plan and personal Gemini accounts.
Claude Enterprise, from Anthropic
Our main platform, and the only one we use for the confidential strategic materials described below. Anthropic’s commercial terms bar it from training its models on what we put into Claude or on what Claude produces. Our account is limited to authorized Foster Avenue team members and uses single sign-on, role-based access controls, encryption and audit logs. Foster Avenue controls how long data is kept.
Gemini, from Google
A secondary tool we use only through Foster Avenue’s Google Workspace account. Google states that in Workspace, our content is not reviewed by humans or used to train its models outside our organization without permission, and that it stays within our organization.
How we protect your information
We sort client information into three groups. Each group has its own rule.
Never uploaded
Protected health information covered by HIPAA, student records covered by FERPA, Social Security numbers and financial account numbers never go into any AI platform. There are no exceptions, and enterprise protections do not change this rule.
Kept out at your request
If you tell us that certain materials must not be shared with third parties or processed through outside systems, we follow that instruction. If we are unsure whether a restriction applies, we ask you before we go ahead.
Strategic work, in Claude Enterprise only
Strategic documents, interview transcripts, donor information, campaign materials, financial projections and confidential planning documents may be processed in Claude Enterprise. Our people decide how much of that material each task needs.
Your agreement comes first
Your signed agreement with Foster Avenue governs how we handle your information. If this page and your agreement differ, your agreement controls. For how we handle information from visitors to this website, see our Privacy Policy.
You may ask us at any time to delete your project-specific data from our AI platform. Foster Avenue controls how long data is kept there. To make a request, email Chris Snavely at chris.snavely@fosteravenue.com.
How we review the work
A person reviews every client-facing deliverable before it reaches you. Every review checks four things.
Facts
We check every statistic, date and claim before the work reaches you. AI can state a wrong figure with confidence, so a person confirms each one instead of trusting the draft.
Voice
We read for tone. The work has to sound like Foster Avenue and like your institution, in words your leaders and donors will recognize. Language that could have come from anywhere is rewritten.
Strategy
We test whether the argument holds together. Each recommendation has to follow from the evidence in front of us, so the reasoning stands up when your board and your donors read it.
Clarity
We strip out generic AI phrasing and boilerplate. What remains is specific to your institution and plain enough for a busy reader to follow on the first pass.
Questions about how we use AI
Chris Snavely, VP, Client Services, oversees how Foster Avenue uses AI and answers client questions about it. Email Chris at chris.snavely@fosteravenue.com. For other questions, write to contact@fosteravenue.com.
We review this page as our AI practices and industry standards change, and at least twice a year. When our practices change in a material way, we update this page and its date.
Common questions
Does Foster Avenue use artificial intelligence in its client work?
Yes. We use AI openly, on enterprise platforms Foster Avenue licenses, to make our work more thorough and more polished. Our people lead the work, make every final decision and review every client-facing deliverable before it reaches you.
Does AI replace your team’s experience or judgment?
No. AI supports our people and does not replace their professional expertise. Our strategists decide what to recommend, and a person reviews every client-facing deliverable before it reaches you.
Who reviews and is responsible for the work you deliver?
Foster Avenue is. A person reviews every client-facing deliverable before delivery, and our strategists are responsible for the final recommendation and the quality of the work.
What information does Foster Avenue never upload to AI tools?
Protected health information covered by HIPAA, student records covered by FERPA, Social Security numbers and financial account numbers. These never go into any AI platform, with no exceptions. We also keep out any material you tell us must not be processed through outside systems.
Do Anthropic or Google train their models on our data?
No. Anthropic’s commercial terms bar it from training its models on what we put into Claude Enterprise or what Claude produces. Google states that our Workspace content is not used to train its models outside our organization without permission.
Can we request deletion of our project data from your AI systems?
Yes. You may ask at any time. Email Chris Snavely at chris.snavely@fosteravenue.com.
Who should we contact with questions about how Foster Avenue uses AI?
Chris Snavely, VP, Client Services, at chris.snavely@fosteravenue.com.
Last updated: November 10, 2026. Next review: May 2027.