3 Lessons Your Nonprofit Must Know About Emerging Innovations
It’s no secret that artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm. And as the pace of AI transformation remains full speed ahead, it’s accelerating a significant shift in donor expectations. Because of this, fundraising will ultimately be a reflection of the nonprofit sector’s ability to harness AI and reap its benefits — responsibly — over the next three to five years.
That's why the first day of NonProfit POWER focused on the role of AI and other technological innovations in nonprofit organizations. The event kicked off yesterday in Baltimore, Maryland, with roughly 80 nonprofit attendees — 80% of whom were first-time participants.
Here are three lessons attendees learned about why nonprofits need to take advantage of artificial intelligence and other innovations.
1. Embracing AI Is a Necessity for Nonprofits
Thanks to AI, the digital divide between for-profit entities and nonprofits is only getting bigger, Nathan Chappell, founder of Fundraising.AI, author of "The Generosity Crisis," and senior vice president, DonorSearch, shared in his opening keynote, “Lessons From the Fundraising.AI Journey.”
“The digital divide is going to grow very fast very soon if we don't really take this moment seriously,” he said.
So, why AI right now? The answer is simple: You have to — especially given the fact that, since the year 2000, there’s been a 16% decrease in charitable giving.
“We’re not here talking about AI because it's cool, and we're trying to catch up and keep up with Netflix and Amazon and everyone else that's using AI very effectively," Chappell said. "It is mostly the fact that the need for innovation is no longer a luxury — it's a necessity,”
Chappell explained that givers are now the minority, according to the last Giving USA report, only 49.6% of Americans give to charity, and the number of people who give to charity will end up in the single digits in 49 years at the current rate of decline of individuals who give to nonprofits.
“We need to think and operate differently than we've ever done before,” Chappell said. "We have a lot to lose."
Chappell warned that organizations that don’t take advantage of AI will get left behind.
“As it turns out, AI is the only scalable solution that we can get to reverse or at least stop the generosity crisis," he said. "So this leads us to this really critical juncture where AI for nonprofits is a given. You will all use AI. We say that 'AI won’t replace fundraisers. AI won't replace nonprofits,' but fundraisers or nonprofits that use AI will absolutely replace those that don't.”
2. AI Can Help You to Understand Donor Motivations
Chappell said that one of the biggest epiphanies from FundraisingAI's Global Summit on Responsible AI for Fundraising came from nonprofit professionals who have said they are no longer competing for money, they’re are competing for connection.
“It's no longer a race to the bottom of the brainstem," he said. "It's a race to intimacy, and this is for-profit companies talking about how they harvest attention using AI. So you're not competing for dollars, you're competing for attention."
Chappell explained that thanks to AI, the sector now knows more about donor motivations than we have ever known before. Fundraisers can uncover — down to the decimal points — the different variables that come into play when a person makes a gift before they even make it.
"We need to stop equating wealth with philanthropy and prioritizing wealthy people as the primary drivers of generosity because they're not," he said. "Instead, we really need to understand the motivations of using AI."
3. Nonprofit Innovations Will Get Better and Easier to Use
Moderator Nathan Chappell, from left, and panelists Salvatore Salpietro, Shawn Olds, Michelle Boggs and Amy LaPorta discuss innovations in fundraising at NonProfit POWER.
Nonprofits are navigating the early days of AI — just like the early years of the internet when nonprofits were debating whether they should create a website for their organization, Shawn Olds, co-founder and CEO of boodleAI, said during a panel discussion, titled “The State of Nonprofit Fundraising Innovation," that Chappell moderated.
“One of the things I would say most important is, don’t feel overwhelmed when you see the big numbers, or the number of people abusing it, or you heard someone someplace did some great stuff with it and you don’t know how to,” Olds said. “It’s new technology, and it’s going to get better and it’s going to get easier.”
“Especially when it comes to technology and generative AI, it isn’t necessarily about the robots and what they’re telling you to do,” Amy LaPorta, director of enterprise onboarding and implementation at Bonterra, added. “It’s more about understanding your donors’ behaviors and using data that you cultivate over years and years, and looking at that.”
Other panelists included Michelle Boggs, executive nonprofit industry adviser at Classy, and Salvatore Salpietro, chief partnerships officer at Fundraise Up.
Also at NonProfit POWER
To wrap up the day, attendees and sponsors mingled at the welcome reception. Dinner consisted of cavatappi pasta al forno, slow-cooked roast beef, pesto baked salmon and an assortment of cheesecakes. Here's a look at the welcome reception and other highlights from the first day of NonProfit POWER in the photo gallery:
Save the Date for NonProfit POWER 2024
Next year's NonProfit POWER will take place in December 2024 in Baltimore. If you're interested in attending in 2024, fill out the NonProfit POWER inquiry form.
Kalie VanDewater is associate content and online editor at NAPCO Media.
