Types of AI in Fundraising

There are a number of different types of artificial intelligence (AI), and each type is able to help nonprofit fundraisers streamline day-to-day tasks, make data-backed decisions, and strengthen relationships with donors.

In this article, we break down the different types of AI to help get you more familiar with the AI space and show you how you can integrate AI within your day-to-day.

Types of AI for Nonprofit Fundraising

In the word of AI, systems are broadly categorized based on their capabilities and the functions they perform. The main types of AI you’ll see in nonprofit fundraising are: predictive, generative, and automatic speech recognition.

1. Predictive AI Forecasts Fundraising Opportunities

Predictive AI helps determine who to reach out to and when. It uses data such as past interactions, donation history, and other relevant factors to prioritize leads and forecast fundraising opportunities.

Predictive AI serves as the strategic compass. By harnessing machine learning, the platform analyzes large quantities of data, identifying patterns and correlations that would take people hundreds of hours to recognize. It analyzes historical data points, such as donation records, engagement histories, and event participation, to forecast future behavior.

The resulting recommendations on what donors to contact and the opportune moment for outreach are not based on intuition but on quantifiable evidence. This predictive prowess ensures that fundraisers' efforts are not scattered but sharply targeted, increasing the likelihood of successful engagements.

Example: Momentum is an AI Donor Engagement platform that leverages predictive AI any time a new donor gives to your organization. By researching the donor’s wealth capacity, giving history, and affinity to the cause, predictive AI estimates whether or not the donor has the potential to become a major donor. This saves the fundraiser substantial time and helps them prioritize who to contact when.

2. Generative AI Composes Content that Resonates

Generative AI involves models that can generate new content after learning from large datasets.

By analyzing successful communication patterns, such as email messages, it can produce content that aligns with your organization's tone and the preferences of the audience.

Whether drafting emails, scripting calls, or composing text messages, Generative AI can be trained to channel the organization's unique voice and messaging priorities into every interaction. It learns from past successful communications, and adapts according to the edits, adjustments, and prompts provides.

By maintaining your voice and writing style and personalizing the content to the donor, it not only maintains the authenticity of the fundraiser's relationship with donors but also significantly enhances productivity by reducing the time spent on content creation.

Example: Common examples of Generative AI models are OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. By providing the AI tools detailed directions and a prompt, you receive a response. These tools, however, are not nonprofit-focused. Momentum offers one of the few AI Fundraising Assistant for nonprofits. The assistant learns your writing style and the preferences of your donors to draft communications that resonate with your donors.

3. Natural Language Processing (NLP) Helps AI Sound Human

At this point, you may be thinking, “AI is great, but it won’t sound human. People know when they’re speaking to a machine!” This is where Natural Language Processing (NLP) comes in. NLP allows computers to understand, interpret, and generate language in a natural way. This includes speech to text transcription, sentiment analysis, and answering questions in a natural, conversational way.

NLP can analyze vast amounts of text data from donor communications, like emails and surveys. This helps nonprofits understand donor preferences, predict future giving behavior, and personalize their outreach efforts. NLP is the engine that powers Generative AI’s ability to interpret requests, generate informative responses, and complete tasks as instructed.

Example: Without NLP, ChatGPT and Momentum’s AI Fundraising Assistant wouldn’t sound human. By analyzing your email correspondence and CRM data, Momentum learns your writing style and your donors’ preferences, emulating your voice.

For more information on AI and Fundraising, explore our guide: AI and Fundraising: Everything You Need to Know.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence in Fundraising

Each of these AI categories employs complex algorithms and neural networks, tailored and trained to perform specific tasks. Integration of these technologies allows for a comprehensive tool that automates and enhances various aspects of the fundraising process, making it more efficient and potentially more effective.

In combination, these technologies form a holistic AI ecosystem that augments every facet of the fundraising process. Predictive AI sharpens the focus of outreach initiatives, generative AI scales and enhances communication, and NLP ensures that requests are contextualized and delivered in a natural way. Together, they create a dynamic tool that not only anticipates and acts but also evolves, learning continuously from interactions, results, and feedback to become even more precise and personalized in its assistance.

By embedding these technologies into the very fabric of fundraising operations, the platform anticipates needs, crafts communication, and deciphers spoken interactions with remarkable acumen.The role of AI in this domain goes beyond mere automation; it is about augmentation and amplification of human capabilities. As the fundraising world grows ever more complex and competitive, an AI-infused approach may not just be advantageous but essential, bringing in a new era of data-driven, intelligent philanthropy.

AI Enables Fundraisers to Work Less and Achieve More

With AI in your toolbelt, fundraisers are able to spend more time on work that moves the needle and less time on manual tasks. By offloading tasks such as updating contact reports, inputting information into a CRM, and drafting email communications, fundraisers are able to dedicate more time to developing relationships with donors that lead to major gifts.

Designed by behavioral scientists, Momentum is an AI Donor Engagement Platform that prioritizes fundraisers. The platform focuses on streamlining workflows so that fundraisers have the support they so desperately need. From the Momentum Inbox that organizes donor outreach and donor plans to the AI Fundraising Assistant that drafts communication in your writing style, explore how Momentum can help you achieve more and work less.

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