Stop searching, start finding: how AI is fixing the 'where was that?' problem in nonprofit teams
"It was definitely in that meeting... or maybe it was a Slack message... or was it an email?"
Sound familiar?
According to McKinsey research, knowledge workers spend about 19% of their workweek searching for and gathering information - that's nearly one full day each week. For nonprofits operating with limited resources, that's time that could be spent on your mission.
But here's the thing: it's not about better folder structures anymore. The game has changed.
The real problem isn't organization - it's integration. Make it easy to find knowledge anywhere!
Your team's knowledge isn't just sitting in your shared drive. It's scattered across:
- Chat conversations
- Drive documents
- Knowledge base pages
- Email threads
- Meeting recordings
And the solution isn't "let's put everything in one place" (we've all tried that - it never works ).
The answer? Let AI do the heavy lifting.
Here's what worked for us:
1. Connect, don't migrate
(we were already using Notion as our knowledge base)
We connected Notion AI to both our Slack and Google Drive (more connectors coming…). No migration needed - everything stayed exactly where it was. Now when we need something, we just ask Notion AI and it searches across all our platforms.
2. Use natural language
Instead of digging through folders, we simply ask questions like:
- "What did we decide about the client onboarding process?"
- "Where's the latest version of our proposal template?"
- "What was that great idea from last week's team chat?"
The AI understands what we're asking and finds relevant information across all our connected platforms.
3. Keep your context
When we ask about a project, Notion AI doesn't just find the files - it understands the context. It pulls up:
- The project documents
- Related Slack discussions
- Meeting notes where we talked about it
- Previous versions and feedback
The practical bit: getting started
Here's exactly how we set it up:
1. Connect your workspace
- Open Notion AI
- Click the '...' menu
- Select 'Connect' for both Slack and Google Drive
- Follow the authentication prompts
2. Test it out
Start with simple questions like:
- "What was our last discussion about [current project]?"
- "Find the document we created last week about [topic]"
- "Show me conversations about [recent decision]"
3. Train your team
We use these three rules:
- Ask questions naturally
- Be specific about timeframes
- Use project names consistently
The impact on our work
This shift has changed how we work:
- We spend less time searching and more time doing
- New team members can find historical context easily
- Knowledge doesn't get lost in endless threads
- We can focus on strategic work instead of playing detective
The best part? It's surprisingly simple to use. If you can ask a question in Slack, you can use this.
Want to see how we made this work? Sign up to the wait list and we'll let you know when the free resources are ready.