DBD Group is proud to offer this guest blog from our partners at DonorSearch. Learn more about them at the link below.
AI has a wide range of applications, especially for nonprofits. Keep in mind that as AI becomes more ubiquitous in our society, the options for how your organization can use it will only increase! Here are 11 ways to use AI in your nonprofit.
Donors’ generosity fuels your nonprofit’s work, especially major and planned gift contributors. After all, it’s estimated that 80% of nonprofits’ individual donation revenue comes from the top 20% of donors! This is why comprehensive prospect research is critical to your organization’s fundraising success, and AI can help you find the potential high-impact donors who are most able, willing, and ready to give.
Predictive AI tools (including DonorSearch Ai) can process a wide spectrum of wealth and philanthropic data to make predictions about prospects’ giving likelihood and develop recommendations for outreach. This way, you can prioritize contacting your top potential donors and tailor your strategies to not only secure one donation, but also build a lasting relationship that will lead to continued giving and engagement.
Sometimes all a donor needs is a nudge in the right direction to give online. AI makes it easier than ever for donors to find causes they believe in, decide what to contribute to, and donate from anywhere in seconds.
For example, Facebook algorithms can make personalized recommendations for charitable giving. According to the Facebook Help Center: “To provide our charitable giving products, we collect data about how users and their friends use and engage with our fundraising features, such as previous donation amounts, user proximity to nonprofits or whether a user created a fundraiser. We use this data to personalize and improve users’ experiences and our products, such as suggesting that a user start a fundraiser.”
Naturally, there are a lot of moving parts to manage when it comes to running a nonprofit. Especially at small to midsize organizations, your team likely spends a lot of its time completing tasks such as:
AI can automate these tasks for your team, not only allowing them to put more time into higher-level strategic work, but also reducing the risk of human error in data and schedule management.
AI-powered chatbots on your nonprofit’s website are immensely helpful for answering common visitor questions. For example, a volunteer may need help finding open opportunities, or a community member might ask how to access your services. The chatbot can quickly respond or direct them to the resources they’re looking for, making them more likely to stay on your website and get involved with your organization.
The best thing about chatbots is that they’re available 24/7, so they’re a great resource for anyone who visits your website at any time.
Especially as your nonprofit’s community grows, it can be difficult to personalize every donation request. However, in order for a solicitation to resonate with a donor, it needs to demonstrate that your nonprofit values their individual support, especially when requesting a major gift.
AI can help you quickly analyze donor data to create fundraising asks based on communication preferences, giving history, and specific interests. You can also automate sending written requests and draft their copy and layout—just remember to edit the AI-generated content to add a human touch and ensure it stays on brand.
Social media is a great place to regularly interact with your nonprofit’s supporters, promote your fundraising campaigns, and keep them informed about your organization’s progress. You can use AI-powered social media management tools to:
By streamlining these aspects of social media content development, you can spend more time fine-tuning your overall social media strategy to help your organization better engage its community.
AI algorithms can look at your data and understand what a typical financial transaction, donation, or grant distribution looks like for your nonprofit. This way, any deviation from the norm will be flagged so that your team can double-check that everything is correct.
Algorithms trained to understand language can also pick up on suspicious, fraud-indicative language in written communication like emails, chat logs, or social media messages. As a result, your nonprofit can keep its information and resources safe, maintain transparency with supporters, and continue doing good for your community while avoiding risky situations.
Accurate, usable data is essential for your nonprofit to make informed decisions. And with AI, there is no need for a staff member to spend hours going through spreadsheets or digital records. Use AI to:
As your organization grows, it will be important for you to manage your data at scale, which AI tools are well equipped to handle.
Among the most mission-critical data your nonprofit has at its disposal is information on your programs. This data allows you to measure social impact and determine how much of a difference your organization is truly making in its community.
AI can help you evaluate your programs by analyzing your data to identify program outcomes, assess effectiveness, understand sentiment around the programs, and identify potential improvements. You can then use these insights to make your programming more efficient and effective for those who participate.
From galas to auctions to walk-a-thons, planning a nonprofit event is a big job. However, AI can streamline this process by helping you:
By using supporter data and AI insights to inform your event planning, you’ll be able to better plan experiences that engage participants and bring in revenue.
Volunteers power many nonprofits’ ability to deliver services, whether they’re cleaning up beaches or playing with shelter pets. AI can help you optimize their experience with your organization to boost satisfaction and retention.
For example, you could use AI tools to recommend opportunities to volunteers based on their volunteering history and personal interests. AI can also be helpful to schedule volunteers, communicate with them, and create personalized appreciation messages for their hard work.
While it can seem overwhelming at first, there are a lot of practical uses for AI. Choose one or two from the list to broaden your skills and comfort with AI tools. Just one word of caution: not all AI tools are created equal. Don't put donor or financial data in a public (free) AI tool. Save that work for private accounts or dedicated tools such as DonorSearch to protect your donor data and financial information.
Learn more about how DonorSearch can help your organization.