Time-consuming tasks, missed opportunities
The situation
War Child is committed to helping children growing up in conflict zones around the world. They do so with passion – and with limited resources. Their ambitions are high, but the Dutch team at War Child faced some constraints. “We want to raise as much money as possible to support our mission,” says Haike Mulder, Business Partnerships Manager at War Child. “But with limited staff and hours, we were missing opportunities.”
War Child was no stranger to Deloitte. Among other things, the AI & Data team at Deloitte had previously supported the organisation with dashboards to measure the impact of interventions. That strong connection sparked the idea to organise a brainstorming session on the potential of Generative AI. “During that session, which included 20 to 30 War Child employees, many ideas were shared”, says Maarten Snijders, Manager AI Strategy at Deloitte. “One idea stood out: how can we use GenAI to make fundraising and marketing more efficient – and ultimately achieve more?”
Deloitte & War Child: Discovering Headstart together
A secure, custom-built AI assistant
The solve
Deloitte developed a personalised AI assistant for War Child, based on its own secure GenAI platform, Headstart. “It’s an AI assistant that helps our colleagues write, translate and improve texts, take meeting notes, create presentations, develop marketing campaigns and prepare brainstorms”, explains Mulder. “And the best part: it understands our tone of voice.” Snijders adds: “War Child had already tried out some generic AI tools, but found the tone too American and over-the-top. That doesn’t fit War Child. We trained Headstart to use their own human, down-to-earth language – including avoiding specific words they deliberately don’t want to use.”
Security was also key for War Child. “The organisation works with sensitive information and can’t afford any risks when it comes to data security”, explains Laurens Schumacher, Product Lead Headstart at Deloitte. “Headstart runs in a closed, secure environment and meets the strictest compliance and Responsible AI standards.” Mulder agrees: “That gives us confidence. If Deloitte’s own accountants are using it, then it must be safe enough.”
The implementation of the tool was lightning fast: from kick-off to go-live in just four weeks. But Deloitte didn’t just focus on the tech side. A significant part of the available time and resources went into adoption. There were interactive training sessions, low-threshold walk-in sessions, and clear documentation. “We wanted everyone to understand the tool and feel confident using it”, says Snijders. “That meant no sales pitches, just honest conversations about what the tool can and can’t do.” The rollout was deliberately broad from the start. “We don’t believe in small pilots”, says Schumacher. “By involving everyone straight away, you get those coffee machine conversations: ‘Are you using it yet? What are you doing with it?’ That enthusiasm spreads quickly.”
Deloitte stayed involved after the launch as well. “Two weeks after go-live, we hosted a drop-in session on-site”, says Snijders. “People came with concrete questions about how to apply the tool in their daily work. That made it all very tangible.”
“With Headstart, we save at least half the time on some tasks. That means we can do more in the same amount of time – and that’s exactly what we want.”
“The implementation was incredibly fast: from kick-off to go-live in four weeks. But we didn’t just focus on the tech – it was our focus on adoption that made the
real difference.”
More time, greater reach
The impact
The response within War Child was immediately positive. “We use the personalised AI tool for all sorts of things”, says Mulder. “From improving and translating communications to structuring meetings or writing proposals. I use it every day myself.”
Adoption numbers also tell a compelling story: within one month, over half of the staff were actively using the tool. And that number is still growing week by week. “At one of the drop-in sessions, an employee explained how she used to comb through subsidy programs in long PDF documents every day”, Snijders recalls. “Now, thanks to Headstart, she can accomplish much more in the same amount of time.”
While the exact time saved is hard to quantify, the impact is clearly felt. “I think we save at least half the time on certain tasks”, says Mulder. “That means we can do more in the same amount of time – and that’s exactly what we want.”
The journey continues
The future
For War Child, implementing the personalised AI tool is just the beginning of their AI journey. Deloitte continues to check in regularly to discuss usage, resolve bugs, and explore new ideas. “You can see the interest growing”, says Snijders. “There are more and more ideas about what else we could do with AI.”
And there’s potential to scale. This successful collaboration has created something of a blueprint: a proven approach that could help other NGOs as well. “We see a lot of non-profits struggling with limited capacity and repetitive work”, says Snijders. “A solution like Headstart can really make a difference – not just in efficiency, but also in impact.”
According to Deloitte, this case shows how technology and human work can complement each other. “GenAI isn’t a goal in itself”, says Schumacher. “But if you use it properly, it gives people more space to do what they’re good at. In a commercial organisation, a 10% efficiency gain means more profit. But for War Child, 10% more efficiency means more support for children in war. That makes it all the more meaningful.”
