Since its launch in late 2022, ChatGPT has been everywhere. All sectors are finding innovative ways to use this generative tool to improve their workflows and generate content. In this article, we'll walk you through 10 ways you can use ChatGPT to bolster your nonprofit. Read on!
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world we live in, and the nonprofit sector is no exception. When applied appropriately, AI tools like ChatGPT can work wonders for nonprofits, helping them overcome several challenges; including limited resources, a need to maximize impact, and the ability to engage with audiences in new and innovative ways.
ChatGPT, a state-of-the-art AI language model, has quickly become one of the top tools that can be used to generate human-like text.
In this article, we’ll share how you can put ChatGPT and the power of AI to work for your nonprofit.
Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is powered by a large language model (LLM) and is programmed to not only understand human language but to generate responses based on inputs from the user and data from around the world wide web.
It can perform a wide range of language-related tasks, including answering questions, summarizing long pieces of text, or generating creative writing pieces. Because the model was trained on a massive dataset of web pages, books, and other texts, it has a vast knowledge base that it draws from to create content.
While AI tools like ChatGPT have numerous uses and benefits, we do have a word of caution. ChatGPT is not a replacement for human-to-human engagement. Rather, it is a tool that can augment and enhance your interactions and outreach.
It’s best to use ChatGPT as a starting point – ChatGPT still has a lot to learn, so you’ll need to check it for accuracy and tone as well as adjust any content to match your brand voice.
In addition, Google and other search engines may be able to tell the difference between human-generated and AI-generated content. This could harm your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts if you don’t edit it.
In short, be sure to still take the time to edit everything these tools produce for you before sharing them with the world! For a more in-depth look at other AI tools for nonprofits, check out this blog!
That being said, there are still many ways to use ChatGPT and other AI tools to save time and resources.
To get started with ChatGPT, head to chat.openai.com.
Simply log in and start a chat with the bot by asking it questions or for help with specific issues – you can even create separate chats to track different topics.
The more you use ChatGPT, and the more information you share, the more it will learn about your organization, giving you better insights and responses over time.
Here are a few ways you can put ChatGPT to work for your nonprofit.
Audience segmentation is done when you create sub-groups out of your audience based on similarities, such as demographics, giving or event attendance history, and more.
For most nonprofits, the basic audience segments are fairly obvious, often including donors, board members, beneficiaries, volunteers, and/or event attendees.
But you can break these down even further so that you ensure you are targeting each member of your audience with the most applicable and effective message.
Use ChatGPT to help define these audience segments in several ways:
With information that you gather from ChatGPT, you can then use a powerful donation platform like Donorbox to apply appropriate filters to effectively segment your donor data. Donorbox securely stores your donor, campaign, and donation data in its database and lets you manage the same. You can update these details, add offline donors/donations, and also integrate with other CRM tools to utilize this data to the max.
It’s been proven that segmented, personalized outreach increases donor engagement and helps establish long-term donor relationships. Donors want to feel as if you are speaking directly to them, and that can’t be done with mass-produced mailings.
So, utilize ChatGPT to develop these customized fundraising appeals, whether direct mail appeal letters or email appeals. Simply type in all of the information you need to include, such as “Write an informal appeal letter to former volunteers about donating to my animal shelter (shown below)”, and let the program go to work.
Again, use what ChatGPT produces as a starting point and edit all content to fit both the tone of your organization and best practices for writing appeals.
Pro tip: Use donor-centered language in your appeals, showing readers how their support makes a difference instead of focusing on just what your organization does. In the samples we ran, ChatGPT did not use donor-centered language, so be sure to edit for that!
You can also use ChatGPT to thank your donors, an all-important task when it comes to retaining supporters and creating sustainable growth.
Not only can you ask ChatGPT to draft a thank-you letter or email using a similar tactic to the appeal request above, but you can also use the tool to draft phone scripts for thank-you calls and produce content for automated donation receipts.
Remember, the more specifics you use with ChatGPT, the better. Here are some examples:
Donorbox helps you automate your thank-you emails. For every campaign you create on Donorbox, you get to customize the automated receipt email.
To use it in conjunction with ChatGPT, copy your sample content from there and paste it on the Donorbox receipt email template to customize it further to your liking. This automated receipt email will go out to donors that give to your campaign.
Multi-channel campaigns are extremely effective, as they get your message in front of your audience several times and in multiple different ways. But creating all of this content can be a challenge, especially for smaller teams.
Why not employ ChatGPT to lessen your load and draft this content for you?
ChatGPT is capable of writing long-form content, such as blogs or landing pages, as well as short-form content found in social media posts and digital ads. Just be sure to provide the topic, the platform, and any additional details you can offer. Try asking for hashtag ideas as well, or even blog topics related to your nonprofit’s mission.
In the below example, we have asked ChatGPT to write us a Facebook ad copy and it has generated a response including a headline, the ad body, and appropriate hashtags.
Marketing emails, from impact stories to e-newsletters, can also be made easier by ChatGPT. Ask the tool to develop content for an entire email for you, or request ideas for subject lines to improve open rates.
Pro tip: Calls to action are important for both marketing and fundraising efforts – without them, your audience won’t know what you want them to do! ChatGPT can help you develop powerful and effective calls to action based on the action you provide, whether that is making a donation, signing up to volunteer, or reading more about your mission.
If your organization hosts fundraising events, you’re probably aware of just how much content is produced; starting from event promotion all the way through thanking attendees after the event is over.
You can use ChatGPT to assist in planning your events and developing content for:
Here’s an example where we asked ChatGPT to write us a welcome speech for a gala fundraising event.
Bonus Resource: Watch this short insightful video on How to Host Successful Fundraising Events:
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get videos on trending fundraising strategies every week!
Are volunteers a major part of your organization? If so, we’re sure volunteer recruitment and management take up a lot of your time.
Put ChatGPT to work to help you develop volunteer recruitment messaging for various channels, from email to social media to flyers, as well as create a volunteer application. You can also use the tool to draft messages to current volunteers, including onboarding materials, need-to-know information about upcoming events and opportunities, and those all-important volunteer thank-you letters.
Pro tip: You can even utilize ChatGPT to help your peer-to-peer fundraisers succeed! Ask the tool to develop peer-to-peer templates for donation page content, emails, phone scripts, and social media posts that you can then share with each fundraiser.
If you’re an organization that fields a lot of requests for information on a regular basis, it may be time to add a chatbot to your website.
Chatbots can be employed to quickly answer frequently asked questions on your site. They are especially helpful during emergency situations when your beneficiaries need help right away. And also, when you have limited staff members available to respond to inquiries at all hours of the day.
With the help of a website developer, you can add ChatGPT to a chatbot extension for your website and train it to answer these questions for you. While this does have its limitations, it is a great solution for solving basic issues in a timely manner.
Pulling data, whether your own or from various outside sources, is a time-consuming task, but ChatGPT can help!
Add your own data about your fundraising efforts, your programs, and more into ChatGPT to look for trends and find information for impact reports and annual reports. For example, you can add survey responses from parents of children with disabilities you serve and ask the tool to find satisfaction ratings, the percentage of children involved in each program, and more.
Use ChatGPT to find statistics from around the web (as shown below); if the tool can’t find it, it will still provide possible resources you can use yourself. This data, such as the number of animals in shelters throughout the U.S. or the number of children battling cancer in your city, can help you show the need for your organization and your donors’ funds.
Whether you’re just getting started with your nonprofit or you’re looking to refresh your image or outlook, developing solid mission and vision statements is critical for any organization.
While creating the best statements for your nonprofit should involve multiple steps and key stakeholders, you can use ChatGPT to get your creative juices flowing. If you’re at the beginning of the process, ask the tool to share some samples that will give you a solid foundation.
And if you’ve already narrowed down the keywords or phrases you’d like to include, try typing those in – along with details about your organization and mission – and see what ChatGPT comes up with. In the below example, we wanted ChatGPT to write us a sample mission statement that we can edit to fit a nonprofit’s tone and brand.
Feeling stuck? Want to try something new but don’t know where to start? Ask ChatGPT!
Once ChatGPT gets to know you and your organization, it will be able to produce suggestions for fundraising challenges, event themes, campaign ideas, and much more.
Simply ask, “What are some tactics I can use to reach new donors?”
Or “What are some effective fundraising challenges to bring in more donations?”
The ideas ChatGPT puts forth may surprise you! For example, look at how we were able to fetch multiple unique spring fundraiser ideas from the tool.
Looking for a fundraising-focused text generator that can help you power up your fundraising? Jay·AI assists you with almost all aspects of fundraising, including:
And more. Find Jay in Donorbox CRM or on the main Donorbox dashboard for all Donorbox Premium users. Need to sign up or upgrade? Register for a Premium demo or CRM demo with our sales team.
Learn more about Jay·AI in this blog.
Bonus resource: Watch this video to learn the key trending ways AI is helping nonprofits grow.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get videos on trending fundraising strategies every week!
ChatGPT can provide significant support to nonprofit organizations through content creation, fundraising support, research, and much more.
By leveraging the power of ChatGPT and AI, nonprofits can improve their operations, better serve their constituents, and ultimately make a greater impact in their communities, all while saving time and resources.
Have a plan for how you will use the model, including which tasks it will perform, how you will integrated it into your existing systems, and how you will monitor and evaluate your results for accuracy and tone.
Much like ChatGPT but with different technology and powerful tools, Donorbox and Jay·AI are here to make your fundraising and donor management easy – check out our range of features designed to make your fundraising shine.
Explore our plans that help scale your outreach and boost donations. Sign up for free to start fundraising today!
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Kara has several years of experience in communications and marketing for nonprofit organizations. Her love for serving others began while fundraising for and attending mission trips. She then worked with multiple local nonprofits through various marketing agencies and volunteer opportunities before becoming a communications manager at Variety the Children's Charity of St. Louis for more than four years. Kara now specializes in writing and enjoys sharing her experiences and knowledge with others on this platform.
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Kara Schmid