How to Leverage AI for Fundraising

Artificial intelligence has already become part of everyday work. Like many other fields, it is also changing the way professionals and organisations fundraise.

AI can be super helpful for fundraisers by saving time, finding better opportunities, and strengthening relationships with donors.

AI cannot replace fundraising professionals. Donors require a high level of trust and relationships before making commitments, and AI alone can never achieve that. However, AI can help reduce time spent on repetitive tasks, which may enable fundraisers to focus on important matters.

I have thought of a few practical ways to leverage AI for fundraising.

1. Use AI to Find Potential Donors and Partners

Fundraisers spend a lot of time finding new donors. It requires reviewing several websites, annual and sustainability reports, social media, past CSR and philanthropic partnerships, and more.

With the help of AI, fundraisers can expedite this process. Now that even Google is using AI-first search, you can ask AI tools to summarise a company’s priorities, identify its CSR or ESG commitments, review its existing initiatives, identify their priorities, summarise its annual or sustainability reports, and find alignment between their priorities and your organisation’s programmes.

With this information, it is easier to ascertain a genuine strategic fit. The following is an example prompt to do this.

“Research ABC Company using publicly available information. Summarise their business priorities, CSR and ESG commitments, social impact priorities and existing partnerships, and potential alignment with a maternal and newborn health programme. Also highlight any specific information that requires further verification before reaching out to the company.”

While AI can surely accelerate research, it is super important that we always check important facts using sources.

2. Identifying Partnership Opportunities using AI

Fundraisers often make a common mistake when they reach out to potential donors just because they have money. You should always spend some time identifying common priorities of your organisation and the potential partner. For this purpose, AI can be very helpful.

Provide some basic information to AI, such as a summary of your organisation’s programme, priorities of the potential partner, and information about their CSR, ESG or philanthropic activities. Then ask the AI to do the following:

“Identify strategic alignment between these two organisations. Suggest three concepts for partnership between these organisations that should create value for them and beneficiaries.”

In corporate partnerships, it is very important that we focus on creating value rather than the amount of funding a company can provide.

3. Using AI to Improve Donor Briefs

Fundraisers often prepare briefing notes before they meet with the donors. After gathering all relevant data, it is a cumbersome process to comprehend everything and convert this information into 2-3 page briefing notes. This is where AI can make life easier.

Here is an example prompt for AI to develop a briefing note:

“Prepare brief and concise meeting notes for a fundraiser to meet with ABC Company. Include background information, CSR priorities, potential opportunities for partnerships, suggested talking points, and questions that could help identify partnership potential.”

You should always consider AI’s work as a draft only. Only a human being can verify this intelligence. Therefore, you should always review the draft and validate information before using it for the actual meeting.

4. Developing First Drafts using AI

Fundraisers spend a lot of time writing emails, concept notes/proposals, donor reports, presentations, and talking points, etc. To make life easier, AI can be used to produce first drafts.

Give AI information about the donor’s priorities, programme objectives, target beneficiaries, expected results, available budget, and partnership goals. Then, ask it to develop a structured first draft of a concept note.

“Using the information below, develop a first draft of a two-page concept note for partnership with ABC Company. The tone should be professional and concise. Elaborate the problem, proposed solution, expected results, partnership value and measurable impact.”

Once AI provides the first draft, you can easily work on the strategy, insight and final judgement before sending it to a potential donor.

5. Make Technical Information Easy for Donors

Development and nonprofit organisations often use a lot of jargon and technical terms in their communication. Often, donors face challenges in understanding this technical information. AI can easily convert complex programme language into easy, clear and donor-friendly communication.

For example, AI can help you transform a technical programme document into a two-page concept note, a monitoring report into talking points, programme data into a presentation, a long report into an impact story, and technical achievements into content for a website or social media.

Here is an example prompt:

“Rewrite this technical programme description for a corporate audience. Don’t use technical jargon. Use very clear and compelling language to articulate the problem, solution and expected impact. Don’t change any facts.”

This way, fundraisers can communicate more effectively with the donors.

6. Using AI to Personalise Donor Communication

In fundraising, the same formula does not fit everywhere. Different donors may have different priorities. For example, a corporate partner may be more interested in business value, employee engagement or ESG, while a foundation may focus more on evidence and measurable outcomes. Individual philanthropists are usually motivated by personal connections or specific causes.

Personalised communication is very important for successful fundraising. AI can tailor opportunities according to the donor’s preferences while keeping the underlying facts unchanged.

You may personalise an existing proposal for three different types of audiences using a prompt like this:

“Adapt this partnership proposal for three audiences: (i) CSR Team of ABC Company, (ii) XYZ Foundation, (iii) Mr ABC – a high-net-worth philanthropist. Don’t change the programme information but adjust the emphasis and communication style for each audience.”

This way, AI can help us communicate more strategically. However, fundraisers should be careful that personalisation does not become manipulation. Communication should always ensure relevance, instead of being something that a donor wants to hear.

7. Preparing for Donor Meetings using AI

Meetings with donors are always very important. AI can help in preparing for those meetings. For example, it can simulate the perspective of a potential donor and challenge your proposal.

“Act as the CSR Director of ABC Company and review this proposal. What questions, concerns or objections would you have before approving this partnership?”

Here is another example prompt:

“Critically review this concept note. Highlight unclear areas, weak arguments, missing information and questions that a donor may ask.”

By this AI-led simulation, fundraisers may easily identify weaknesses and prepare responses before meeting potential donors.

8. Analysing Donor Feedback using AI

Fundraisers receive valuable information from donors through meetings, emails, proposal feedback or donor reports. However, this information is usually scattered across multiple documents and notes. You can use AI to identify patterns. For example, AI can help you understand the most frequent concerns raised by donors, reasons behind proposal rejections, programme themes with more donor interest, and areas for improvement in future proposals.

This kind of analysis may convert fundraising into a systematic learning process rather than an individual experience.

9. Using AI to Improve Donor Retention

People think fundraising ends when a donor signs an agreement. In reality, it is just the beginning. It is far more important to retain and strengthen relationships with existing donors than finding new ones.

Although fundraisers maintain a database/record of their knowledge about donors and interactions with them, AI can organise this information into something more meaningful. AI can identify opportunities for enhanced engagement. It can summarise the relationship history and suggest relevant discussion points.

One of the most important things here is data security and confidentiality. Fundraisers should be careful about the information they share with AI tools. As a best practice, they should adhere to their organisations’ data protection policies and safeguard sensitive information.

10. Using AI for Fundraising Thought Process

Most people use AI only for writing or research, while thinking is the most important use of AI. As mentioned above, fundraisers can use AI to challenge assumptions, explore ideas and consider different perspectives. The following are a couple of example prompts.

“Here is our current fundraising strategy. Identify gaps, risks and opportunities we may have overlooked.”

Or:

“Suggest five unconventional partnership opportunities for an organisation working on maternal and newborn health in Pakistan. Consider companies, industries and organisations beyond traditional donors.”

AI can generate several ideas, and some of them can be useful and realistic. Fundraisers should explore the possibilities when new opportunities emerge.

What AI Cannot Do for You?

Undoubtedly, AI has huge potential, but it can’t replace the fundamentals of fundraising. AI is not a human being, so it can't build genuine trust or develop relationships on your behalf. AI can’t negotiate agreements with donors. It can’t understand human, political or organisational nuance. AI can produce a lot of information, but it won’t take responsibility for anything inaccurate. AI can help strengthen programme design, but it requires human guidance.

Fundraisers should use AI only as an assistive tool, but they should not depend on it. A professional fundraiser should know when to use AI and when to rely on human judgement.

A Simple AI Workflow for Fundraisers

A practical fundraising workflow could involve the following steps: Research, analyse, develop, personalise, validate, engage.

We have already explained above how AI can assist in all of these steps. For best use of AI in fundraising, professionals or organisations don’t need expensive AI tools. They should start small, with one practical problem. It may be donor research, proposal writing, or reviewing a report. Gradually, you can enhance your AI skills and excel in using it to fundraise and strengthen donor relations.

Let me know your thoughts about using AI for fundraising in the comments below.