Five ways nonprofits can use AI to decrease donor attrition

Does your nonprofit have a stewardship manager on its fundraising team? If so, you are one of the lucky ones! 

For the average nonprofit, having a stewardship or donor relationship manager is only a dream. However, the role’s duties are essential in today’s fundraising environment because they carry out donor retention strategies. This person celebrates donors, but most importantly, they proactively tell the organization’s story to their supporter community. That’s a big need in today’s crowded and untrusted charitable environment, which is struggling to retain donors. 

Unfortunately, the average nonprofit might have one fundraising team member who is responsible for donor retention along with several other tasks to service the donor loop. They are busy, and the situation leaves many organizations disconnected from their supporters too frequently. Most fundraisers do not have enough time to proactively share and protect their organization’s story, and I believe artificial intelligence can be a crucial tool for automating certain fundraising administrative tasks.

Here are five everyday fundraising tasks that AI can automate so underresourced fundraisers can spend more time being human and advancing donor relationships: 

1. Data management and insights: AI is powerful for streamlining data controls and providing valuable insights. It can categorize and tag donor information, helping organizations maintain clean and organized databases. Moreover, AI can uncover hidden trends and patterns in donor data, offering actionable insights to improve fundraising strategies.
   
   Donorsearch AI is a great integration for most donor management systems. However, larger management systems, like Salesforce.org and Blackbaud, have embedded AI in their software this year. Over time, AI will become more prominent throughout donor database systems to further streamline its utilization in donor communications.
2. Donor prospect research: AI-driven prospect research tools can help organizations identify potential major donors and even grant opportunities. Individual and foundation financial information that is publicly available can be analyzed with a few clicks, enabling fundraisers to identify the best donor prospects that align with their mission and have an ability to give. Again, Donorsearch AI is one of the best tools we’ve reviewed for donor prospecting.
3. Predictive analytics: AI can predict donor behavior by examining past contributions, engagement patterns, and even social media activity. AI tools like KIT Insights can identify potential major donors and expect when they might be most receptive to making a gift. This enables fundraisers to tailor their outreach and campaigns to the needs of various donor types. 
4. Enhanced fundraising campaigns: AI tools like Donorsearch and KIT Insights can also analyze data from past fundraising campaigns to determine what strategies were most effective. This enables fundraisers to make data-driven decisions when planning future campaigns in a more timely and confident manner.
5. Automate information: AI-powered chatbots or virtual assistants like HubSpot Chatbot Builder can improve communication with their supporter community by providing instant responses to frequently asked questions, offer guidance and direct users to relevant resources like event or volunteer information. AI tools can be included on websites or social media pages that supporters frequent. 

Donor relationships matter more than ever, and fundraisers must be available to connect with their donors regularly to control their organization’s narrative and remain visible. I fear that the organizations with the fewest resources dedicated to building donor relationships will suffer the most over time. 

It’s time to free up fundraisers’ time, so the average nonprofit has a chance to build strong, trusting relationships with their supporters. I believe AI can help build capacity for these organizations.