From ChatGPT to Virtual Donor Officers: The AI Trends Reshaping Fundraising

This year at the world’s largest fundraising conference AFP ICON in San Diego, it was clear: AI was the hot topic of the day. At each timeslot, there was at least one session that featured AI and the conversations went deep!

The focus of the tool for U.S. fundraising priorities? High value gifts.

Using Chat GPT & Claude to help major gifts officers

We attended multiple sessions where  major gifts officers and relationship managers were actively using AI to record, recap and prioritise their donor relationships and conversations. They’d also use AI tools to merge verbal conversations directly into CRM systems- in some cases creating follow-up workflows like a reminder to “call again” or automated emails. 

Beyond facilitating the administrative parts of their roles, some organisations were using AI to build more intentional stewardship journeys for donors who showed major gift potential. They did this through layering AI tools over existing CRM data and generating prioritised donor lists. This helped relationship managers focus on the right conversation to have next! There were also examples of using custom GPTs in their organisation’s tone of voice to draft personalised donor communications more efficiently.

A great resource shared from Alison Strekal: this is her AI-assisted donor journey prompt template where you can see she uses AI prompts to identify, target and cultivate communications and asks to the database she has available. 

Using AI tools to grow high value gifts at scale

At a larger scale we heard from organisations like UNICEF USA who are using Givezy AI. The tool helps organisations identify and engage donors within their existing base whom they usually wouldn't have the time or capacity to contact. 

What this looks like in practice is a "Virtual Philanthropy Assistant",  managing portfolios of up to 1,000 mid-level donors  with up to 12 interactions yearly, from engagement prompts to donation asks.  

The platform doesn't pretend to be human, when it reaches out, it introduces itself as a AI-powered. UNICEF has a significant amount of human oversight to ensure safety, which has allowed AI to manage a large number of donors while addressing sensitivity. 

Early results were impressive! Pilot programs reported revenue growth of $285,000. Donor retention increased from 48% to 66%, with opt-out rates as low as 0.1%. An outlier case saw a donor increase their gift from $2,500 to $15,000 after VPA engagement, showing the potential for significant gift upgrades.

This is a clear example of the power of AI to drive revenue at a scale many fundraising teams simply couldn’t manage alone.

Are there lessons for Australia?

Compared to the U.S., Australia is still in the early stages of using AI. Most AI conversations are still focused on the fundamentals… using prompts to improve productivity, streamline content creation and reduce admin. In more advanced cases, AI is being used by data and insights teams for donor segmentation and supporter analysis. 

Sessions at AFP ICON show a glimpse into what the future could look like for Australian fundraising. That said, much of the ‘nonprofit tech’ ecosystem is built around the American operating environment (conversations with Canadian fundraisers reinforced this!) and the Australian context is very different. We operate with much stronger privacy restrictions, including the Privacy Act and GDPR applications, which limits the effectiveness of the way U.S. fundraisers are using AI and fundraising technologies as they utilise openly available donor data. 

Cost is another major consideration. Pricing starts at around USD $55,000 annually for a single “Virtual Engagement Officer” managing a portfolio of 1,000 donors. That’s before factoring in the internal investment required for human oversight to ensure this technology is managed well. This is a high cost for most charities and requires a level of innovation and risk taking many Australian NFPs may not be ready for.  

My opinion is that the Australian not-for-profit sector is more risk-averse when it comes to experimentation and innovation compared to the U.S. Successfully adopting emerging technology and taking advantage of digital-first fundraising requires an operating environment that is willing to test, iterate, and fail. We are fortunate to work with clients across both countries who are willing to do exactly that. 

Whats missing from the global fundraising conversation: AI & search

Most AI conversations are still focused on optimising internal systems - what’s missing is the emerging market opportunity through rapidly changing online behaviors.

Donors are no longer relying solely on Google to research charities, increasingly they’re turning to ChatGPT, Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, social media  and AI-generated search results for recommendations, reviews and proof of impact.

This has created a new challenge: if your charity isn’t surfaced, cited or trusted within AI-driven search experiences, new donors may not find you and existing donors may choose charities that ARE visible.  

At ntegrity, we’re a ChatGPT Ads early launch agency, we believe AI-driven discovery needs to become a much bigger part of the conversation around how donors discover charities and research causes.

As charities struggle with new donor acquisition and growth - the real game-changer for AI and fundraising is ensuring supporters can find, trust and choose our organisations in an AI-first world.