AI Fundraisers—Harness the Power of AI Technology for your Fundraisers!

Harness the power of AI technology for your fundraising campaigns; you’ll save time and boost funds. (Terminator not included.)

What is AI Fundraising?

Before we can talk about how AI fundraising can benefit your organization, let’s first discuss what it is.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a type of machine learning technology. In other words, AI algorithms are algorithms that can learn on their own. They make their own decisions using pattern recognition and language-learning capabilities. Generative AI is a type of AI that can produce content, from curated datasets to scripts for podcasts.

AI fundraising simply means incorporating AI-powered tools into your fundraising strategies.

How to Use AI for Nonprofits

Now that we know what AI is, let’s discuss how you can use it for your next event.

AI Tools That Can Help Organizations Fundraise

Popular AI tools that nonprofit professionals can fold into their fundraising efforts include:

Chatbots – Chatbots are software-powered robots, or bots, that can engage in humanlike conversations, and recent advancements in AI technology have greatly improved the capabilities of chatbots to not only sound more human, but also create new content on their own. ChatGPT from OpenAI is one of the most popular, free-to-use generative AI chatbot in the English language; a paid premium version is also available.

AI art generation tools – AI art generation tools use databases of submitted artwork to learn new art styles and train themselves to mimic human artists. Human users insert a text-based prompt and the AI tool will offer a few pieces of visual art to choose from. Popular art generation tools with affordable plans include DALL-E 2 and Midjourney.
Prospect research tools – AI has advanced to the point that some AI-powered software can now compile data-heavy reports to help organizations complete tasks like prospect research. Xapien is one such tool that fundraising organizations can use to better streamline their research processes.

How to Fundraise with AI

Planning your nonprofit fundraising initiative? Here is how you could incorporate AI into your plans:

Have chatbots give you ideas for social media posts – Feed an AI chatbot a prompt, select the best options, then have a human create the final text in the posts before publishing to your social platforms of choice.
Have chatbots write email templates – Outreach emails can reach new potential donors or past donors alike who are subscribers to your email list.To save time, use AI to draft fundraising appeals for your email campaign before having a human review the material and personalize it.
Use chatbots to boost engagement – Engaging directly with donors can help boost your organization’s reputation and potentially increase donations down the line. AI, specifically chatbots, can help with donor engagement efforts by engaging with donors in real time; all you need to do is add an AI-powered chat function to your website.
Use AI to conduct prospect research – Finding major donors is a critical element to any nonprofit organization’s success. Minimize risks and determine which donor segments are most worth your organization’s valuable time and efforts by using certain AI-powered prospect research tools to compile detailed reports that will help your organization make data-driven decisions.

What AI Cannot Do

AI is a great tool in any organization’s arsenal, especially those in the nonprofit sector. However, AI is just that: a single tool. It cannot fully replace human workers and creativity, so it’s important to know its limitations and how best to utilize its strengths.

Some of the major limitations of using AI during the fundraising process include:

Chatbots, including ChatGPT, have documented issues with being succinct. Simply put, AI text tools like to repeat themselves, meaning that human editors typically need to review AI-generated text.
Chatbots sound humanlike, but still have issues sounding fully human and using metaphors, analogies, and humor in their writing.
Many AI tools, especially free ones, have issues with accuracy, with some tools like ChatGPT having a record of making up sources when conducting research. As such, it is important for human beings to always fact-check any research their AI-powered tools conduct themselves.

Final Thoughts

Used correctly, AI can be a powerful tool in any fundraising organization’s arsenal. Another great tool in your toolbelt? The experts at Fundraising Brick. We offer it all: guidance throughout the whole fundraising process, free templates, help building online donation portals, and much, much more. When you want to get started on your next money-raising campaign, talk to us at Fundraising Brick; we’ll help make your fundraising efforts count.

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