Beyond the Donation: Digital Philanthropy, Artificial Intelligence and the Protection of Children and Families Affected by Incarceration in Kenya
Wambui Mumbi · 2026
Summary
Digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI) are changing how philanthropic organisations raise funds, communicate with supporters, coordinate programmes and report on impact. For small Kenyan non-profits these tools can widen reach and ease administration. They also create risks for the people whose circumstances motivate giving: photographs, stories, family relationships and locations can be copied, combined with other details, and reused far beyond their original purpose. This discussion paper examines those risks with particular attention to children affected by parental incarceration and their mothers, a group whose association with a parent’s imprisonment can expose them to stigma and whose capacity to consent is shaped by custody. Drawing on Kenyan legislation and regulatory guidance, international child-rights standards, scholarship on the ethics of representation, and guidance on AI, the paper proposes a safeguarding-centred framework of seven pillars: data governance, privacy by design, secure information management, ethical storytelling and consent, responsible AI use, donor accountability without beneficiary exposure, and incident response with continuous improvement. It applies the framework to Pathways of Promise Kenya, a new organisation, as an illustrative case. The framework has not been implemented or evaluated. The paper argues that digital capability should be judged not only by fundraising reach or efficiency, but by an organisation’s ability to prevent foreseeable harm, keep confidences and remain accountable to the people whose experiences inform its work.
How to cite
Wambui Mumbi (2026). Beyond the Donation: Digital Philanthropy, Artificial Intelligence and the Protection of Children and Families Affected by Incarceration in Kenya. Pathways of Promise Kenya. https://pathwaysofpromisekenya.org/publications/beyond-the-donation-digital-philanthropy-artificial-intelligence-and-the-protection-of-children-and-families-affected-by