Reimagining Fundraising: Using Cost-Effective AI to Increase and Improve Your Fundraising

Conventional wisdom about nonprofit fundraising considers these two statements equally true: 1) Acquiring new donors loses money, and 2) Future gifts from new donors make up for the money lost on acquisition.

Alas, only one of them is true—acquiring new donors often does lose money, commonly estimated at 50 percent of the initial gift. Moreover, according to Blackbaud, 60 percent of donors lapse year after year. The reality is that most nonprofit organizations spend an enormous amount of time frantically trying to refill their “leaky bucket” of donors. The exponential growth of computing power and its decreasing cost have made AI-powered tools and applications available to small organizations and ordinary people. AI isn’t just for tech companies anymore. AI is becoming essential to organizations, especially for fundraising. Nonprofits must learn how to manage it effectively so that they can free themselves from rote tasks to do more important work.



This 90-minute SSIR Live! program (available on-demand later) will explore how nonprofits can leverage cost-effective AI resources to reimagine and rehumanize their fundraising. In this live session, the speakers will share insights from their most recent research, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on the impact of AI on philanthropy.

AI tools for fundraising currently include:

• Online chatbots that serve as conversational interfaces between organizations and the public
• Software to identify prospective donors from internal data sets
• AI-powered tools that identify prospective donors on social media platforms and from public sources of information
• Algorithms that analyze donor data and suggest how to personalize appeals

If you are a nonprofit senior leader, this webinar will demystify AI technology and provide you with a better understanding of its importance. If you lead a small nonprofit and think that AI is beyond your budget, this program will help you discover some cost-effective options.

In this webinar-workshop, you’ll learn the nuts and bolts of various AI-tools to…

1. Add retention rates to dashboards and budgetary calculations.
2. Put time for conversations with donors, clients, and volunteers on the calendar.
3. Establish ethical guidelines for the use of AI.

Program Features:

  Designed by Experts: This program is developed, facilitated, and presented by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine. Kanter is an internationally recognized thought-leader in digital transformation and wellbeing in the nonprofit workplace. Fine is among the nation’s pre-eminent thinkers and strategists for using technology for social good. She has written and co-authored three books on the subject, including The Networked Nonprofit. Together, they have spent years researching the use of AI in the social sector for fundraising, program delivery, and back office support.

  Highly Interactive: This program will be conducted as an active and immersive e-workshop. You will explore the key concepts through activities, illustrative examples, and case studies. Come ready to think and work actively during the session!

Real-world Case Studies: We will delve into multiple case studies of large and small organizations that are specific to the social sector.

Who Should Join? If you are a nonprofit senior leader, this webinar will demystify AI technology, and better help you to understand its application beyond your organization’s IT department. If you lead a small nonprofit and think that AI is beyond your budget, you will be introduced to some common tools that already offer cost-effective solutions.

Closed Captioning Available: Live transcription is available for this program. To activate Closed Captioning during the LIVE broadcast, click on the upward arrow next to the CC icon and select the Subtitling option. To disable Closed Captioning, click on the upward arrow next to the CC icon and select the Hide Subtitling option.

On-Demand Version:
Register and access the recording of the live event on-demand 24 hours after the webinar ends and anytime over the next 12 months.

Price for this webinar: $69
This price includes access to the live interactive webinar and unlimited access to the recorded webinar video and resources for 12 months from the date of broadcast.

Webinar Refund Policy

Recordings of all webinars and any associated presentation materials are accessible asynchronously after the live program for 12-months from the date of the program. As a standard policy, SSIR does not offer refunds on webinar registrations. Any requests for refunds should be submitted in writing to [email protected] and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Should a refund be warranted, it will be processed after the webinar.

If you have any questions about this program, write to us at [email protected].