AI in fundraising – from data analysis, segmentation to content creation. We know the theory, but what does the use of artificial intelligence look like in NGO campaigns? The following three examples demonstrate how AI can be creatively integrated into and utilized in fundraising activities – in a variety of ways and at different levels of know-how and budget.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific: Donor Retention Campaign
An important issue, not only for large organizations like Greenpeace, is donor retention – that is, maintaining regular donors. The key is to take the right action at the right time to avoid losing donors. Greenpeace Australia Pacific uses predictive AI, Dataro Predict, to analyze data from their regular donors. The tool assesses which donors are most likely to stop donating soon, generating a score that allows the organization to identify “at-risk” donors. Once set up, such a solution requires no additional resources or specific IT knowledge. With an implementation partner, even smaller organizations or those without extensive IT knowledge can apply a similar approach.
Greenpeace used this to launch a phone campaign to thank donors for their support. The goal was to strengthen relationships with donors, and it worked: regular donors who were called were 2.5 times less likely to stop donating than those who weren’t contacted. In addition, $235,000 was raised over 18 months, with a campaign ROI of over 10. Read more.
Charity:Water: Fundraising for Wells with AI
The U.S.-based organization Charity advocates globally for clean drinking water. For their fundraising campaign “Walk with Yeshi,” they developed an AI chatbot that tells the story of Yeshi, a young woman from Ethiopia, via Facebook Messenger. She has to walk hours to fetch water. The AI incorporates conversation, geolocation, and multimedia content. Building such a chatbot requires considerable expertise, so this type of campaign is only possible if the NGO has enough in-house knowledge or budget to outsource the required expertise.
The fundraising aspect is covered by the payment function, which is directly integrated into the chatbot. Through sophisticated storytelling, many people were informed and emotionally engaged to support the campaign. The funds raised helped build over 100 wells. Read more.
Gut Aiderbichl: Recurring Donations for Horoscope Animals with AI
Gut Aiderbichl launched a highly personalized recurring donation campaign called “Tierisch Gut – das Tier in Dir” (The Animal in You), created with the help of AI. Based on potential donors’ birth dates, 365 animal horoscopes were generated using AI, each presenting an animal from Gut Aiderbichl that shares the same birthday. This volume of text could only be created quickly with AI. What’s exciting here is that any organization can use AI in this way; it only requires a generative AI like ChatGPT, the data the AI should work with, and good prompts. A campaign like this can be implemented even by smaller NGOs without specific IT knowledge.
After the horoscope creation, people are encouraged to sponsor their horoscope animal via a follow-up email. And many responded: the campaign’s ROI was over 2. Read more.
Fundraising Campaigns with AI: Creative Implementations
These three examples show that AI can be used in a wide variety of ways in fundraising. From using ready-made AI software, programming a custom chatbot, to large-scale content creation, many possibilities are available. Depending on an NGO’s knowledge and resources, innovative and creative campaigns can be implemented.
Want to know more about AI campaigns, prompting, and more? Check out: Artificial Intelligenz for NGOs.
