AI for Good: How Nonprofits Can Use Artificial Intelligence

Technology moves quickly; and organizations in every industry—including the nonprofit sector—are eager to keep up. With major advances in artificial intelligence (AI), it’s only natural that many nonprofits are wondering whether they should use this technology and what the ramifications of using it are.

In this brief walkthrough, we’ll go over how AI can play a role in data-driven marketing, day-to-day operations, and long-term nonprofit planning. Before exploring practical applications of AI, let’s first explain exactly what AI is.

What is AI for Nonprofits?

Today’s AI platforms typically perform one of two tasks: content generation or data prediction. Let’s take a close look at these two AI types:

• Generative AI. Most popular AI platforms, like ChatGPT, are language learning models (LLM), which can mimic human writing by analyzing large, text-based datasets and using that information to make educated guesses about what words and phrases make sense together. AI that generates images, videos, and music operates similarly, using pre-existing content to create new work.
• Predictive AI. Nonprofits have been using predictive AI tools for years before the rise of AI in the public zeitgeist. These tools can analyze your nonprofit’s data to predict future trends. For instance, you might use AI to examine your total fundraising revenue every month for the past five years and predict how much you’ll be able to raise each month next year.

Ultimately, AI is a tool, and the better data you provide it with, the better your results will be. With that in mind, let’s explore how nonprofits can use generative and predictive AI.

Generative AI

Generative AI, as the name implies, generates content. As such, it has several potential use cases for nonprofits. A few of these include:

Content Creation

Large Language Models (LLMs) are designed to create written content, from fundraising emails to presentations to flyers and more. 

While AI should not be your sole means of copywriting, it can still be useful in your content creation process. A few applications of AI include:

• Brainstorming. While AI might have quality issues, it excels at quantity. For example, you might ask AI to generate 20, 50, or even 100 blog topic ideas and pick out the best ones for your copywriters to write.

• Outlining. AI can quickly assemble rough outlines for a variety of content types. This is especially useful for content with rigid formatting. For instance, you might ask AI to outline a request for proposal (RFP) and fill in the details for each potential partner yourself.
• Proofreading. LLMs have existed since long before ChatGPT in the form of spell checkers. Use AI to catch spelling, grammar, and stylistic errors in your content.

Some types of written content are better suited for generative AI than others. For instance, a story from one of your beneficiaries likely needs little, if any, input from AI, whereas a thank-you message template could be almost entirely AI-created.

Dangers of AI

Due to its limitations, it’s best to view AI as your partner, rather than relying on it exclusively to generate your content. Some issues with AI include:

• False information. AI often makes up facts and reports false information as if it were true.

• Unoriginal content. AI cannot perform its own research or make connections the way a human can. As a result, AI content is often vague or generic.

• An “AI style” tone. Since AI platforms base their outputs on data and algorithms, the resulting writing can lack the human touch that skilled human writers provide. Consequently, most AI writing sounds similar to other content written by AI, which can hurt your branding and fail to resonate with your audience unless you train it to generate content in your organization’s brand voice.”

• Privacy and ethical considerations. Talk with your legal team about how you use donor information and know that unless you are using a proprietary AI system, all information you feed into AI (and that it generates for you), is fed back into its algorithm. 

Administrative Tasks

Additionally, LLMs can analyze writing for your nonprofit. For instance, Zoom and other meeting systems can transcribe and summarize conversations, and generate To Do lists.

This is just one example of the role AI can play in administrative tasks. From scheduling to email management, AI can step in to handle time-consuming tasks and generate basic messages that don’t require a human touch.

Predictive AI

AI learns by analyzing data. As such, predictive AI can assess your nonprofit’s past data to make educated guesses about your organization’s future.

For instance, Deep Sync’s guide to marketing analytics explains ways predictive analytics can make sense of your data:

• Learn about your supporters. Analyze your donors’ actions to find behavioral trends. For example, your AI software might discover the characteristics of a donor at risk of lapsing or a supporter who is likely to be receptive to an upgrade request.

• Build lookalike audiences. Some AI tools can use your donor data to build an AI-powered lookalike audience, helping you reach new prospective donors with similar attributes to your current donors.

• Customize donation forms. Using predictive analysis, AI is being used to serve up custom donation amounts on donation forms to specific donors by analyzing the donor’s giving history and combining that with other data (such as the user’s IP address).
• Increase revenue. Data-informed decisions typically produce more positive results. For nonprofits, this means improved fundraising, leading to increased growth and capacity to fulfill your mission.

To ensure your AI has extensive data needed to make it useful, you may need to expand and refine your data collection practices. Look to collect first-party data at every touchpoint with your audience — such as on donation forms, registration forms, event registration, social media polls, etc. All of this should be fed into your constituent relationship management platform (CRM).

Artificial intelligence is a flexible tool, and when used right, it can elevate your nonprofit’s efficiency and effectiveness. Get started with AI by researching tools designed to complete the content creation, administrative, and analytic tasks you need to be done.