How AI Can Support Your Nonprofit’s Digital Strategy

March 13, 2024

Content creation

Content marketing, like blogging or podcasting, involves creating useful digital marketing materials to help your audience learn about specific topics while demonstrating your organization’s value and authority. According to Demand Metric, content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing (think online or print ads) but can generate three times as many leads. 

Generative AI solutions like ChatGPT and Bard can help streamline the content creation process by coming up with creative ideas and managing the more mundane aspects of content creation. 

Ways AI  Supports Content Creation 

Brainstorming

Got writer’s block? Generative AI can help! For example, ask ChatGPT to “Come up with five blog post ideas for a post about spotlighting volunteer impact at a healthcare nonprofit” or “Provide some creative questions to ask a nonprofit board member for a Q&A about an upcoming summer fundraising event.” 

Outlines and scripts

You can also ask generative AI solutions to provide an outline for a blog post, email message, social media post, podcast script, or any other digital communication. Just make your request specific regarding the type of outline you’re looking for. 

For example, request something like “In bullet point format, please provide an outline for a short blog post about ways community members can better support people experiencing homelessness during the winter months.” 

Or, if you’re planning a podcast interview, request something like “Please come up with 15 questions to ask a nonprofit leader about the challenges and opportunities facing their organization this year.” 

SEO support

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of creating content that ranks highly on search results pages. Along with providing topic ideas and outlines for valuable blog post content, generative AI can help with technical SEO aspects, such as coming up with relevant keyword ideas or generating meta titles and descriptions.

You may be tempted to let AI write all of your nonprofit’s website content, but act cautiously. 

Fully AI-written content may have errors or come off as generic. Google penalizes poor-quality content, so be sure to give any AI-written content a careful review to add unique insights and your nonprofit’s brand voice. 

Graphic ideas

Graphic design platforms such as Canva now offer AI-generation tools that can develop new designs with just a little information. These features mean you don’t need to have a graphic designer on staff to develop custom-branded graphics that provide value to your audience. Instead, you can use AI-generated templates and designs to spice up your digital communications.

Audience segmentation and personalization

Data-processing AI solutions, like IBM Watson or Google Cloud, can process large datasets and offer valuable insights into your nonprofit’s nonprofit’s supporter base. One of the most effective ways to leverage these tools is to divide your audience into segments. Segmentation allows you to create tailored outreach strategies for different audiences to personalize your communications. 

Using audience segmentation, your nonprofit can group supporters based on shared interests or characteristics such as:

• Donation frequency
• Preferred communication method
• Programs they like to support
• Length of time they’ve supported your organization

Then, you can customize content based on donors’ interests and preferences. BWF’s guide to donor experience recommends offering tailored engagement opportunities to different groups. For example, you can invite donors who prefer online communications to a webinar event, or invite donors who like to support your volunteer program to become participants themselves. 

Fundraising

In addition to content marketing, fundraising is another area where AI tools offer creative solutions to common nonprofit challenges. Two primary ways AI fundraising solutions can support nonprofit strategies are predictive analytics and next-action recommendations. 

Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics involves reviewing past data to predict donors’ future behaviors and actions. For example, if a certain supporter donated to a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign in the past, that’s an indicator that they may donate to a similar campaign in the future or be willing to participate as a fundraiser. 

Using a data-processing AI solution for your fundraising assessment, you can generate many predictions about donors, such as their:

• Likelihood to renew their giving
• Likelihood to increase their giving amount
• Anticipated next gift amount
• Giving priorities
• Giving capacity

Use these details to craft personalized donation requests and outreach messages that resonate with donors. For example, by anticipating donors’ next gift amounts, you can create donation requests that appeal to donors and align with their giving capabilities. 

Recommended next actions

AI solutions also take predictive analytics a step further by recommending the next actions to take that will help strengthen donor relationships. For example, based on donors’ preferences and past interactions, you might receive recommendations like:

• Calling the donor to say thank you
• Spotlighting the donor on your website or social media
• Asking the donor for a larger donation amount than their previous gift
• Inviting the donor to a special event or volunteer opportunity
• Giving the donor space and waiting to make another donation request

71% of consumers expect personalized interactions from brands, meaning donors will appreciate your efforts to get to know their preferences and tailor your outreach to their needs. 

Automation

In the 2023 Nonprofit Workforce Survey, 74% of nonprofits reported job vacancies. Staffing is an ongoing obstacle for nonprofits as the sector faces challenges like salary competition and declining charitable giving rates. 

Many nonprofit professionals find themselves with more tasks on their hands in the wake of these staff shortages. AI solutions can help alleviate some stress through automation capabilities that simplify manual, monotonous tasks. Here are two areas nonprofits can deploy AI automation tools to increase efficiency: 

Marketing automation

AI marketing solutions can automate supporter communications to save your marketing team’s time and ensure communications are sent at the right moment. Using these solutions, you can set up automated messages like: 

• Email drip campaigns
• Pre-scheduled social media posts
• Text messaging outreach

You can trigger these types of messages to be sent in response to certain actions. For example, you can send an automated thank you email and receipt after someone contributes an online donation. This allows you to stay on supporters’ radars and ensure all supporters are thanked promptly. 

Administrative tasks

Regular administrative tasks can also drain your staff’s time. AI tools streamline the following processes through automation: 

• Data entry and management
• Reporting
• Event scheduling
• Expense tracking and revenue management

By removing some tedious, ongoing administrative tasks from your plate, you can spend more time improving your digital strategy and brainstorming new and effective ways to reach your audience. 

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How will you incorporate AI solutions into your nonprofit’s toolkit this year? No matter how you use AI, it’s best to think of these tools as supplements to your strategies, and not complete replacements. Many aspects of donor outreach and community engagement still require a human touch to form emotional connections with your audience. Find the right balance for your nonprofit to maximize efficiency and relationship-building.