How AI is changing the way charities connect with donors

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is more than just a buzzword – it’s an exciting way for charities to connect with supporters. From making work easier behind the scenes to helping charities keep their supporters in the loop, AI can start to make a world of difference. With the right AI tools, organisations can smooth processes, get to know their donors better, and build strong, lasting relationships.

But it’s no magic wand. It’s not one-size-fits-all, and it’s not here to replace the genuine human connections that keep charities running. Each nonprofit has unique needs, so it’s all about finding the right AI tools for the right tasks. By focusing on what matters most to your charity, AI can help you work more efficiently without wasting resources.

There are four key stages of the donor experience – Awareness, Support, Nurture, and Repeat – and each can be enhanced with Microsoft AI tools. With a strategy that speaks to each of these steps, AI can help your charity shine by attracting, engaging, and retaining supporters in new and meaningful ways.

Stage 1: Awareness – generating interest and engagement

Every donor journey starts with awareness. Whether it’s seeing a post on social media, finding a blog post through a search engine, or hearing about your nonprofit from a friend, the first interaction is crucial. This is the stage where charities can capture interest and give potential donors a reason to care.

How AI can help: AI can be a powerful ally here, helping you understand how people are discovering your charity and which content they connect with most. It can track where visitors come from, what they’re reading, and even predict which types of content might encourage someone to donate. Imagine knowing what barriers are stopping potential donors from giving, or having an AI chatbot ready to answer common questions. By learning more about your audience at this early stage, you can start building a supporter profile that will guide future interactions.

AI Tools to consider:

• Microsoft Power Automate: Great for pulling data from various sources, like social media or spreadsheets, to help you see where your traffic comes from and what content clicks with people.
• Microsoft Power Virtual Agents: This user-friendly, no-code tool lets you create interactive supporter journeys with chatbots that can engage visitors, answer questions, and share your charity’s story.

Stage 2: Support – turning interest into action

Once people know about your cause, the next step is encouraging them to get involved. Whether it’s signing up for a fundraising event, volunteering, or making a one-time donation, this stage is all about making it easy (and meaningful) for supporters to say “yes” to your cause.

How AI can help: AI can assist in creating personalised communications, sending messages that truly resonate with each donor. It can analyse things like age, location, and giving history to ensure that thank you messages, event invitations, and other updates match each donor’s unique interests. AI can also automate simple but important touchpoints, like sending a warm thank you email immediately after a donation. Personal touches like these make supporters feel valued and keep them connected to your mission.

AI tools to consider:

• Azure Machine Learning: This tool can help you group donors by their preferences, behaviours, and demographics, making it easy to tailor your messages to different types of supporters.
• Azure Cognitive Services – Text Analytics: This tool goes a step further by analysing feedback and online mentions to give you insight into what people are saying about your charity, helping you understand what resonates most with supporters.

Stage 3: Nurture – keeping donors connected and engaged

Nurturing your donors is all about building a relationship over time. Supporters want to know how their donation made a difference, and charities need to keep them engaged so they stay connected to the cause. This stage is about staying in touch with personalised updates that make them feel appreciated and in the loop.

How AI can help: AI can help you tailor your outreach based on donor behaviour, ensuring messages land at just the right time. For example, AI can predict when donors are most likely to open emails, based on their engagement patterns. It can even suggest specific content – such as project updates or impact stories – that individual donors are more likely to connect with. By using AI to automate part of this process, charities can nurture their relationships in a way that feels personalised and genuine to them.

AI tools to consider:

• Azure Synapse Analytics: This tool can analyse large sets of data to help charities spot trends in donor engagement, making it easier to send timely and relevant updates.
• Azure Machine Learning: This tool can automate segments and tasks, ensuring that communications are aligned with each donor’s preferences and are sent at optimal times.

Stage 4: Repeat – turning supporters into long-term allies

The final stage in the donor journey is ensuring that donors return. When people give again, it’s a sign that they trust your charity and feel good about their support. This stage is all about turning one-time donors into long-term allies and advocates, which can be especially valuable in tough economic times.

How can AI help: AI can help charities retain supporters by predicting when they might disengage. By analysing past donor activity, AI can identify the “churn risk” for each supporter and recommend ways to re-engage those who might be on the fence. For example, AI can automatically trigger a re-engagement email after a certain period of inactivity, or it can send impact stories and updates that keep donors informed of the great work being done thanks to their support.

AI tools to consider:

• Microsoft Power BI: This powerful tool allows charities to see data trends and visualise the donor journey in an easy-to-digest dashboard, making it easier to spot where donors might lose interest.
• Azure Synapse Analytics: By keeping track of donor engagement over time, this tool can help charities create targeted re-engagement campaigns that remind supporters of the impact they’re making.

Making AI Work for Your Charity

As we’ve shown, AI can do incredible things. We’ve only just scratched the surface, but it’s most effective when it’s used thoughtfully. For charities, the key to successfully adopting AI is to identify what specific challenges need addressing and to pick tools that fit those needs. AI can help you save time, engage supporters, and ultimately raise more funds, but it’s not a substitute for the heart and personal touch that defines your charity’s mission.

With the right approach, AI can be a game-changer for your charity, helping you make an even greater impact in the communities you serve.

If you’d like to find out more about how AI can support fundraising, we worked with Charity Digital to produce this whitepaper that outlines the steps your charity can take to adopt AI successfully.

Starting your AI journey

As one of Microsoft’s most trusted UK partners, Cloud Direct is perfectly positioned to help your charity unlock innovation. Supported by an extensive list of accreditations, including being one of the most established Azure Expert Managed Service Providers, our team of experts build the foundations that ambitious charities need to grow, innovate and succeed.

Our technical experts have been helping charities like Amnesty International, Charities Aid Foundation, British Red Cross, Confederation of British Industry and many more to innovate and grow with Microsoft Cloud.

To help you take your next step forward, we have created a suite of Data + AI Workshops and Assessments that will enable you to discover the art of the possible and enable you to apply Data and AI technologies to your specific use cases and give you an understanding of how AI can help you on your mission.

If you’d like to find out more about these workshops and assessments, fill out the form on this page. We look forward to hearing from you!