What happened at the first Claude for NGOs workshop

On Friday 18 September 2026, AFAES hosted the first Claude for NGOs workshop at our office in Helsinki. It was free, in person, and ran from 11:00 to 16:00. It was open to anyone working in an NGO, an association or a community group, from people starting a new organisation to people who already run activities.

Claude is the AI assistant made by Anthropic. Every participant used a free Claude account, so that everything they learned on the day would work for them afterwards without paying for anything.

What participants learned

Participants learned three things:

• how to configure Claude for their organisation
• how to set up and use skills
• how to automate sponsorship and funding work

What participants said

The minutes exercise was the most valued part of the day, including by a participant who normally takes the minutes in their own organisation. Others named Projects, the habit of starting a new chat for each new topic, and the spreadsheets and charts Claude produced. Several said the step-by-step structure meant they did not notice the five hours pass.

What comes next

The next Claude for NGOs workshop is being planned, and the dates will be announced soon. To reserve a place, follow our news and events section, where we will announce when registration opens.