.svg){kind=icon}
13 AI Fundraising Tools That Will Change the Way You Raise Money
What is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial intelligence is the ability of a computer to perform tasks that are commonly associated with intelligent beings. Sometimes these tasks are easily identifiable as something that a human would normally do, like playing chess or winning Jeopardy; Siri and Alexa are also good examples of computers learning and behaving like humans. As technology becomes more and more sophisticated, it bleeds into more areas of our lives, including through AI fundraising.
As you gain a better understanding of AI, you might find it in charge of complex data analysis; for example, a piece of software that tries to predict financial market shifts is a form of artificial intelligence.
Why It’s Changing Your World
Unless you’re a Jeopardy-based nonprofit, it might not be immediately obvious how AI is going to help you. But because AI-based software can process a huge amount of data at a speed and degree of accuracy that humans could never do, you’ll quickly discover that it elevates and enhances your nonprofit fundraising because suddenly you have both better information and more time, two elements that are absolutely necessary to your success.
Even though the science behind artificial intelligence is complex, the benefits are straightforward and people are starting to take notice. According to a recent report, 89% of nonprofit leaders believe that AI will make their organizations more efficient, 73% of nonprofits believe AI innovation aligns with their belief, and 75% believe AI makes their life easier. The train is leaving the station, it’s time to get on board.
Benefits of AI-Driven Fundraising
Up to this point in AI history, the main benefit of AI has been getting Siri to tell you a joke while you wait in line at the DMV. But with advanced fundraising tools, your nonprofit will actually be able to see real, quantifiable value. Benefits of AI include:
- Analyzing vast quantities of data allows staff to reallocate their time to tasks that are more suited to humans, like making phone calls to valued donors, doing creative work, and deciding which coffee to get for the break room.
- Gain insight into your audience. By combining and analyzing donation records, previous communications, and engagement, AI algorithms can help you understand how much to ask for from your donors, what fundraising campaigns they might be interested in, or what type of content they want to read about, all major advantages for your nonprofit marketing plan and donor management via journey maps. And as your AI spends more and more time with your donor data, it will learn and improve over time
- Improve and streamline your communications. How much time do you spend answering questions that come in from your website? AI takes some of that burden off your shoulders by screening those questions through a chat module and answering the easy ones, saving you time. But did you know that you can also use AI tools to write personalized email copy based on a donor’s interests? Many common communications tasks can be accomplished by AI.
AI Fundraising Tools to Boost Your Results
AI Tools from Keela
Talking about algorithms and killer robots is all well and good, but what about actual, practical recommendations for AI donation tools that you can start using right away? Strap in, Keela has you covered.
1. Smart Ask
An absolute essential when building donation pages, the Smart Ask tool automatically tells you the ideal amount to ask for from each donor, allowing you to personalize email communications, direct asks, and fundraising pages based on donor history.
2. Donor Readiness Tool
Keela’s AI analysis looks at donor habits, determines when they are most receptive to your communications, and recommends specific times of year in which to reach out. Of course, receptive donors are more likely to give, but it also helps your organization create long-term planning strategies, so you’re not wasting fundraising efforts putting together emails or social media posts at a time when no one wants to read them.
3. Best Way to Reach Out
This tool helps you respect your donors' preferences by telling you the contact method that best suits them. Whether it be via email, phone or in-person, Best Way to Reach Out allows you to streamline your communications and create segments based on the way that your donors like to be contacted.
4. Time of Year
Use Time of Year to understand the best time to make your ask. By examining their giving history, this tool tells you when your donors are ready to make their next gift, increasing the likelihood of keeping them engaged with your organization.
Tools to Improve Donor Communications
While Keela is definitely going to be your go-to source for nonprofit-specific AI applications, there are some other more general AI tools that are likely to benefit your organization.
5. Fundraising KIT
Built to integrate into your existing CRM, Fundraising KIT provides key insights into your database by helping you achieve top data cleanliness and ranking your donors based on their potential to give. With an accurate overview of your donor database, you’ll be able to tailor each step of the donor journey so every supporter feels valued.
6. Grammarly
Need some help with composition? Grammarly uses AI to identify grammar, style, spelling, wordiness, and punctuation mistakes in your writing. It also has a tone detector that lets you know if you sound friendly or otherwise. Hot tip: don’t start emails with “As per my last email…” Grammarly is great because tone is extremely important when you’re asking for money, and many people see error-free email copy as a sign of professionalism. Plus, they offer a free plan for nonprofits.
7. Persado
Persado helps you to analyze your email subject lines and content to increase conversion. The AI-powered tool even generates content and then measures the success rate, like it did for charity: water in this case study. Like a very robust and detailed A/B test, charity: water was able to use Persado to determine which content was working and which wasn’t, leading to a 32% boost in their donation conversion rate.
8. Quilt AI
This unique tool lets you identify the interests of your supporters by analyzing patterns in tweets, photos, videos, blog comments, and more, helping you improve messaging across digital channels.
9. Lately
Lately may end up saving you more time on a day-to-day basis than anything else on this list: it automatically turns blogs, online articles, newsletters, videos, and podcasts into social media posts. Boom. Amazing right?
Lately’s AI can recognize smaller pieces within larger content that can then be posted to social media. It also schedules the posts and can help manage your campaigns while providing history, analysis, and recommendations for future strategies. It’ll make your social media manager look like a Twitter hero.
Tools to Automate Donor Interactions
Thanks to publicity stunts and international efforts to disrupt elections, chatbots have gotten a bad reputation. But they can be a massive help for nonprofits with limited staff, helping you to expand your reach and increase the number of people you can help, even expanding into audiences who speak languages other than English.
10. Freshchat
Freshchat works on a variety of platforms in real-time, letting you connect with your audience without actually having to sit in front of your computer the whole time. Freshchat bots can detect the intent of your donors, then choose to engage or transfer the conversation to a human. They even offer special pricing for nonprofits.
11. Chatfuel
Chatfuel offers a variety of Facebook Messenger-based chat options, all without any coding experience necessary. Once you’ve customized it according to your needs, you can engage with your Facebook audience without lifting a finger.
Tools to Manage Your Fundraising Team
AI-powered assistants can help your teamwork more effectively and efficiently, especially if your team is remote.
12. Zoom.ai
Zoom.ai is an AI assistant that simplifies team collaboration by finding meeting times that fit everyone’s schedules. They also offer a special discount for nonprofits.
13. BRiN
Designed as a tool for professionals in the for-profit sector, BRiN is a free AI bot that provides advice about business-related questions, including marketing and branding advice, which of course is great for your next nonprofit fundraising campaign.
Remember, It’s Not Skynet
AI fundraising tools could be a huge advantage for your nonprofit organization, even if your idea of Artificial Intelligence is mostly based on Terminator. But so far AI has offered nothing but advantages and hasn’t even threatened to nuke the planet, not even once!
Streamline Your Nonprofit Planning Process with Keela!
Get a glimpse into the benefits of Keela’s features including goal tracking, action plan management, data and analytics, and more!
