Greetings, gentle reader:
You can thank (or revile) Cecilia for passing the Giving Thought torch to her colleagues to help carry. You’re stuck with me for today.
The topic? AI, its use in nonprofit fundraising, what this might mean for how you give, and a dash of hope for the future.
As you might expect from a company full of geeks who love nonprofits, our company Slack channels at AmPhil have been alight with spirited back-and-forth about the role of AI in philanthropy. We’ve shared and debated articles, including this one, which introduces an AI fundraiser named Maria in the Diocese of Bridgeport, this excellent write-up on “Counterfeit Generosity” from Nathan Chappell, and this Substack article speculating about the future philanthropic potential that could result from AI.
Alas, these aren’t solely academic debates. My colleagues increasingly field questions from clients about whether they should replace their underwhelming staff member with a virtual one, whether they still need a marketing team, or why they need a strategic plan when they have one they can copy and paste right now from ChatGPT.
For nonprofit leaders strapped for time, talent, and/or treasure, the allure is hardly less than the Fountain of Youth was for Ponce de León. Imagine a gift officer you don’t have to manage, who’s not afraid of making phone calls, who can make hundreds of calls each day during times aligned with a donor’s time zone and preferences, and who doesn’t have to leave at 3:00 p.m. to pick up his kid from school every day. Such a solution isn’t too far off from the promise of an ancient myth.
In AmPhil’s Donor Advisory group, we see this debate play out from the other side as we support donors seeking to give in line with their principles. The question I’ve been asking is this one: “What does all of this AI stuff mean for a donor? How should this affect how donors engage with nonprofits and how they choose to give?”
These days, I think there’s a good reason for the thoughtful donor to get epistemological. How do you know what you know about the nonprofits you love? Is it grounded in personal experience, or is it just some bot’s best guess on what’s going to move your heart (or your elderly mother’s) toward generosity? As Hamlet said, “Words, words, words.”
My first instinct is to channel my inner Fox Mulder and say: Trust No One. But let my more generous self prevail with more moderate (albeit unoriginal) advice: Trust, but verify.
Take pretty much every written communication with a hefty grain of salt. Be wary of the organizations that are always in your inbox but never quite available when you want a real conversation. Raise a skeptical eyebrow about that slick pitch that hits all the right notes.
But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The needs are real and growing, and resources are scarce.
I spy an opportunity in this challenge. AI’s rise in fundraising is actually an invitation for donors to reclaim something that was always the heart of great philanthropy: First-hand experience. Real conversation. Offering your real, live human hand to help another.
So yes, continue to give. But be smart about it. Visit the organizations you care about. Ask to meet the leaders. Reply to those emails and see who actually writes back. Ask trusted friends and community members who they’ve seen doing great work. Give to people whose character you’ve witnessed, not just to programs whose compelling pitch you’ve admired.
In a world increasingly mediated by machines, I think giving well means staying stubbornly, cheerfully human about it.
Don’t have time for this, you say? We do. We’re real live humans and we’d love to help.
'Til next time,
Liz
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Liz Palla
Executive Partner
AmPhil
