How Can We Use AI for Better Fundraising?
Chapter Leadership Brief 7.11.25
by David Langton
President, Langton Creative Group
We see AI being employed everywhere. Yet, not all AI and tech upgrades are better for your donor base. Here’s expert advice from marketers, strategists, and practitioners in fundraising communications on how to effectively build your audience without alienating your key donors. So often, we lose track of our own expertise and use AI and technology to create barriers instead of building bridges. Howard Levy, president of Red Rooster Group, says, “AI can enhance your expertise if you know how to use it. You're not just writing emails or managing social media. You’re telling stories that connect people to a cause. You're raising dollars that change lives. That requires insight, empathy, and creativity. And AI — when used right — can help you do more of that, better and faster.”
QR codes for Girl Scout cookies could hurt sales.
When the neighborhood Girl Scouts come by and ring the bell selling their cookies, I usually buy a few boxes. I like supporting the neighborhood girls (and my wife loves Thin Mints.) But this year, the Girl Scouts came by and they didn’t ring the bell. The dog went crazy, and I knew someone was at the front door, but by the time I got there, there was only a flyer with a QR code. I could scan the flyer, go online, and purchase my cookies. No human contact needed. I tossed the flyer away. The only reasons I buy Thin Mints is to see the smiles on the kids’ faces and to give my wife a treat. The QR code de-personalizes the process; they are efficient, but overall, they lessen the experience of buying the cookies
Generic prompts get generic reactions.
This seems like good advice until you see the following line, “Use AI to get the right prompts.” AI may be a good tool for generating ideas and crafting responses; but does AI know your consumer needs better than you do? Lynsie Slachetka, chief juxtaposition officer at aJuxt, says, “My official AI motto has been, and remains, ‘Use the tool, don’t be a tool.’”
Maria Lilly, principal and founder of MJ Lilly Associates, adds, “Effective marketing and communication today requires authenticity — the sharing of personal stories and anecdotes that create relatability. AI can support efficiencies, but it is imitative, not creative. It cannot not produce the very real human touch of a fundraiser who can, with great empathy, discuss a successful campaign, the impact on the recipient organization, and the winning results for the ultimate beneficiaries.”
Common mistakes made when employing AI and new technologies in fundraising
Most people see AI as a replacement for human work. It’s cheaper, and it never complains. Yet, the best uses of AI and technology should support or enhance a service. Think about how you can use AI to augment or speed up a process rather than replace human intelligence. It’s like the old joke where a bear is chasing two men, and one says to the other, “You think you can outrun the bear?” and the other says, “I don’t need to outrun the bear, I just need to outrun you.” You won't be able to outrun AI, but you could be the one who outruns those who don’t use AI properly.
When we employ AI, we need to remember to track and measure the results. Deborah Brozina, managing partner at Making Change, asks, “Have you been measuring the costs in time, money, and other resources to create that content? What results has it produced? Only then can you see where AI has made positive contributions. For some organizations, it can speed up aspects of the process. For others, it just creates bland results. Without a clear understanding of where you are starting, you can’t really deploy the technology effectively for your organization.”
“The nuances of messaging, targeting, and frequency of contact all add up to an overall impression your donors have of the organization,” says Slachetka, “using the tools for the thoughtful deployment of fundraising campaigns is absolutely okay, as long as you remember to double-check all settings and messaging with human brains.”
“Fundraising is the connective tissue between humans: receiving funds from one party for the benefit of another,” says Lilly, “AI is a helpful tool for researching and identifying targets, it would be a mistake to eliminate or replace the human element in what is fundamentally the most human of endeavors.”
How AI and technology can enhance fundraising and outreach
Knowing where and when to employ AI and technology in your fundraising is critical for success. “The best AI application is in identifying likely targets for fundraising. Market segmentation and behaviors can often be parsed better using this technology than others,” says Brozina.
Levy advocates using AI in fundraising to get to know your audience better. “With the right prompts, you can build donor personas, analyze sentiment, and tailor messages that actually land.”
“One use of AI and technology we have seen particularly effective for fundraising outreach is as a workhorse,” says Slachetka, “leveraging tech to maintain contact with donors between handshakes and VIP gala invites is a perfect way to help your organization stay top of mind and relevant with donors.” Website tools can automatically re-draft blogs from competitors and publish them, often tagging them for search with AI-generated images, sometimes even before a human has had a chance to review them. AI is good at collecting content for drip campaigns and for re-purposing content, but ultimately, it has to be checked by humans. Plagiarism is rampant. Your AI content should be labelled and disclosed. It comes back to authenticity. Brozina adds, “I’ve seen ‘Virtual Fundraising Officers’ who will send letters out under their own ‘name’. Without disclosing that, the organization is risking its reputation and can create negative impacts that far outweigh any benefit gained from the automation.”
Kentucky Fried Chicken rebranded itself as “KFC” in the hopes that people would stop saying “Fried.” And in a similar way, we forget that AI means Artificial Intelligence. “Artificial” is its first name. As fundraisers, we must be genuine and not lose sight of our greatest human strength: We are real.
David Langton - Branding your nonprofit organization and building the right website are more critical today in the age of AI. I believe in harnessing the power of design to promote, educate, entertain, and inform — especially in the nonprofit sector, where a clear need for effective communication exists. We’ve worked with leading advocacy and cause-related organizations, including Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, Children's Aid, The International Rescue Committee, and The Legal Aid Society. I am on the Board of the NYC AFP Chapter and spoke about understanding your audience and building a better communication program at the AFP ICON Global Conference in Toronto. I am the president of Langton Creative Group, a New York design and branding firm, and author of Visual Marketing (Wiley). For over 15 years, I have taught communication design and media studies courses at Hostos College/CUNY in the Bronx.