The Albany Gazette - Impala Launches AI-Native MCP Server for the Philanthropic Sector

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / August 19, 2026 / Impala, the data intelligence platform for the philanthropic sector, today announced the launch of its new MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server, making its sector-wide philanthropic intelligence accessible through Claude and ChatGPT. The new capability gives nonprofits, foundations and grantmakers the ability to build highly tailored AI-powered applications and workflows using Impala's data as the underlying intelligence layer.

The announcement marks a significant step in Impala's evolution as the intelligence infrastructure for philanthropy. For the first time, philanthropic organizations can bring the sector's most comprehensive philanthropic intelligence - spanning funders, nonprofits, grant histories, governance, financial health and ecosystem data nationwide - directly into AI environments, and use it to power the processes they need most. For organizations that want to go further, Impala offers service engagements to build custom AI-powered agents and applications on their behalf.

"The questions that foundations and nonprofits need to answer are effectively endless, and they're different for every organization," said Marisa Sires, Chief Product Officer at Impala. "Our MCP makes it possible to leverage AI and tailor applications to how an organization operates. That means a board reporting tool built around your grantees, a due diligence agent designed for your investment thesis or a portfolio analysis workflow calibrated to your specific strategy. Now, the full depth of sector-wide philanthropic intelligence is available to power whatever an organization needs to build."

Unlike general-purpose AI tools, Impala provides access to structured, sector-wide intelligence spanning nonprofits, funders, grants, funding ecosystems and philanthropic networks, allowing organizations to understand not only individual entities but the broader relationships and dynamics shaping the social sector.

"Impala's MCP changes how our team accesses and applies philanthropic intelligence," said Justin Stevens, Managing Director of Data and Business Operations, Jewish Federation Bay Area. "With this level of data at our fingertips, we're no longer toggling between platforms. Instead, we're able to answer specific questions that are tailored to our needs with meaningful intelligence and data. For a foundation managing a complex portfolio, that kind of flexibility is genuinely transformative."

The Impala MCP enables foundations, grantmakers and nonprofits to:

• Access detailed intelligence on nonprofits and foundations, including financials, governance structures, leadership, grant histories and due diligence indicators, directly within AI environments such as Claude and ChatGPT

• Access and analyze entire philanthropic eco-systems across geographies and cause areas including active funders, nonprofits, funding flows, funding sources, personnel, trends over time and gaps

• Combine Impala's sector-wide intelligence with other tools and datasets organizations already use, including grant management systems (GMSs), fundraising CRMs and proprietary internal data, enabling more customized analysis and workflows

• Build custom AI-powered applications, dashboards, workflows and decision-making tools tailored to an organization's unique needs using Claude Code and OpenAI Codex

• Ask nuanced, organization-specific questions using IRS-verified philanthropic data via natural language

• Benchmark funding strategies and grantmaking activity against peer funders and sector trends

• Identify potential funders aligned with causes and geographics

Impala is among the first platforms in philanthropy to make structured, sector-wide philanthropic intelligence available through MCP architecture, and the first to combine that data infrastructure with a service offering designed to help organizations build and deploy the custom AI applications they need. With this launch, Impala advances its position as the preferred intelligence layer powering the next generation of philanthropic decision-making.

Impala plans to rapidly expand the data and capabilities available through its MCP, including richer ways to analyze, visualize and apply philanthropic intelligence within custom AI-powered applications and workflows.

The Impala MCP is available immediately for Claude and ChatGPT users, with compatibility across additional AI environments to follow. Impala's MCP Server is also available through Anthropic's Connectors Directory, following Anthropic's review for security, reliability and compatibility with Claude products. Organizations interested in accessing the Impala MCP can contact Impala to learn more.

About Impala

Impala is the intelligence layer for philanthropy, combining comprehensive sector data, purpose-built technology and philanthropy expertise to help foundations, nonprofits and networks understand funding ecosystems and make more informed decisions. As a leader in AI-powered philanthropy, Impala makes its sector-wide intelligence available where organizations need it, including through integrations with AI environments such as Claude and ChatGPT. Founded by philanthropists and used by organizations including the Robin Hood Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Minnesota Council on Foundations, Impala is built around how philanthropy actually works: through relationships, alignment and ecosystem dynamics. Learn more at impala.digital.

Media contact

Songue PR for Impala
[email protected]

SOURCE: Impala

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

(K.Lee--TAG)