Let’s face it – when we think of Artificial Intelligence (AI), most of us picture something straight out of The Terminator. A robot with glowing eyes, Arnold Schwarzenegger vibes, and a doomsday narrative. Or maybe Her, where AI conversations turn into a relationship and eventually heartbreak.
But the reality? It’s far less sci-fi and way more spreadsheet. At the India Fundraising Conference (IFRC 2024), Ekhlaque Bari, founder and CEO XDotO, opened the conversation on AI with a bang, calling out the fear many of us feel around the tech. He shared that the future is less about humans vs AI than it’s about humans with AI vs humans without AI.
Why AI Matters in Fundraising
Fundraising is one of the most multifaceted and resource-intensive functions in any nonprofit organisation. With typically lean teams and leaner budgets, fundraisers are responsible for everything from researching potential donors to crafting proposals, managing outreach, and maintaining ongoing donor relationships.
AI has the potential to support each of these tasks, helping fundraisers work more efficiently and strategically. Used effectively, it can:
- Draft and personalise donor communications
- Research prospects using specific parameters (such as sector, giving history, or income)
- Analyse survey results and donor behaviour
- Generate tailored proposals
- Assist in identifying and prioritising new donor opportunities
Rather than replacing the human element, AI augments what fundraisers already do best – building relationships, telling stories, and creating meaningful impact. Building on thoughtful usage of artificial intelligence can be a game-changer for fundraisers.
To fully leverage AI, it’s helpful to distinguish between traditional and Generative AI. While traditional AI works with structured data (like spreadsheets), generative AI can understand and produce content from unstructured inputs, such as text, images, or even audio.
This makes it especially useful for communication-focused tasks. For example, tools like ChatGPT can provide a first draft of a donor report or event summary, which can then be reviewed and refined by a human team member to ensure tone, accuracy, and authenticity.
Also Read: Fundraisers Congregate at the India Fundraising Conference
How to Get the Best Results from AI Tools
While talk of using AI is manifold, users are often not clear on how exactly to use generative AI in their daily tasks. The first step to take is sharpening our prompts on the various AI platforms. Nick Scott, Director, The Centre for Responsible Union AI, shared a useful framework at IFRC 2024 for making AI prompts more effective. His six-step approach includes:
- Role – Specify who the AI should act as (e.g., an experienced grant writer, a major gifts officer)
- Goal – Clearly state the objective of the task
- Expertise – Indicate the skills or background knowledge required
- How – Suggest a structure or methodology for the response
- Personalise – Include context such as the organisation’s tone or branding
- Limits – Highlight any constraints or things to avoid
Ekhlaque Bari also offered a practical acronym structure to remember: PROMPT
- Prequel: Context for the task
- Report Format: Preferred output format (e.g., slide deck, bullets, CSV)
- Objective: What you’re trying to achieve
- Me: Your identity or role
- Persona: The role the AI is assuming
- Task: The specific assignment or action
This kind of prompt engineering helps generate more accurate and relevant responses – especially useful when working on time-sensitive or high-impact tasks.
One of the most promising applications of AI in fundraising is in donor stewardship. According to Josh Hirsch, Education and Training Strategist at Fundraise UP, sentiment analysis is emerging as a valuable tool to assess how donors feel about their interactions with an organisation.
By analysing donor emails, survey responses, and social media engagement, AI tools can help identify donors who are highly engaged or at risk of disengaging and personalise communications based on interests or past behaviour. It can also help respond proactively to donor concerns.
This deeper understanding allows organisations to build more responsive and human-centred donor relationships at scale.
Recommended Tools for Fundraisers
Here are a few AI-powered tools currently supporting nonprofit professionals:
- ChatGPT (Pro) – Draft communications, summarise reports, analyse documents
- Otter AI – Transcribe meetings with action points
- Perplexity – Research tool with reliable, cited sources
- HeyGen – Create videos from text
- DALL-E 3 – Generate images from prompts
- Opus – Turn long-form videos into short, shareable clips
These tools can significantly reduce manual workload and free up time for strategic thinking and relationship building.
Ethics and Transparency in AI Use
With the far-ranging benefits of AI, using AI responsibly is essential. Nonprofits should develop clear policies around AI usage, especially when handling donor data. This includes being transparent about how data is collected and used, respecting donor privacy and confidentiality and ensuring all AI-generated content is reviewed before being shared externally. Informing donors about AI-supported processes fosters trust and demonstrates a commitment to ethical practice.
While AI can streamline many aspects of fundraising, it also comes with potential risks.
- Low Risk – Internal content creation using public data, with human review
- Moderate Risk – Content using internal data for limited external use
- High Risk – Content involving donor data or public release without sufficient oversight It is important to always apply critical thinking and human judgment, especially when working with sensitive or external-facing content.
AI is still fairly new and its larger impact on the world is part of many ongoing debates. Like with everything else, it’s good to tread with caution. However, as a new technology, we must also embrace it as a part of our work culture. By leveraging AI for your fundraising effort for the many mundane and laborious tasks, you can free up your bandwidth for more exciting things like donor conversations, pitching and meetings. Embracing AI doesn’t mean letting go of the personal touch. It means working smarter, staying ahead of the curve, and enhancing the work you already do. With thoughtful integration and a strong ethical framework, AI can be a powerful ally in advancing your mission.
Just like the headline, it’s still the sidekick, you are the main lead!
About the Author
Vishakha Singh is a development sector professional with over five years of experience in experiential learning, government partnerships, and fundraising. She has worked with the Piramal Foundation across Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, collaborating with government stakeholders in education and health. Her most fulfilling role was mentoring Gandhi Fellows. Previously, she was a senior associate, fundraising at The Antara Foundation, focusing on maternal health. A Lucknow native with a passion for academics, Vishakha has also been actively involved in college theatre, performing street and stage plays across universities.
