In our 2023 Trends to Watch article, we discussed how technology solutions continue to pop up, making integrating our MarCom technology stack more of a challenge. As teams rethink the perfect MarCom stack / solutions, we are also wanting to consider the latest developments in AI, Fundraising and Volunteer Recruitment. Here are some examples to get your team thinking about the potential of some of the new solutions available.
Artificial Intelligence Products
Zoom had many looking at Otter.ai to take meeting notes in a more efficient way. Well, what about AI to help teams write donor communications?
Fundwriter.ai develops an AI-based fundraising assistant that drafts professional appeals, emails, posts, and more. This solution is designed to support nonprofit organizations in quickly drafting highly personalized letters to donors and brainstorming for social media posts or communication campaigns. A case study from Persado illustrates how data and insights recommended a team change an email subject line from “Be sure to protect yourself and your loved ones this flu season” to “[First name] we’re serious about protecting you this flu season.”
Private.ai is designed to help teams share data with analytical teams while protecting your donors / customer privacy. Kit and iWave are other products helping teams gather insights from historical donor databases.
Boodle.ai is another fundraising tool designed to help teams manage donor engagement plans and meetings.
Slovenian startup CHERR.io offers a blockchain-based global donation platform.
Companies like AI 4 Good are collaborating with researchers, governments, etc. to enable new products and opportunities.
Check out our 2022 article on: To chatbot or Not?
Fundraising, Crowdfunding, Auction and Marketplace Platforms
Some of the largest companies in the North American Fundraising platform sector are investing significantly in AI. Blackbaud for example has its Intelligence for Good powered insights to improve the analytics for teams – and they also excel at providing training support for teams on their products. Salesforce, another big partner is similarly investing in its Einstein AI and promoting partners like Cloud for Good
Canadian fundraising platforms continue to join the sector and grow. Some of the most well-known Canadian firms include Fundraising CRM: AKARaisin (1997), Keela (2015) – note Keela offers free payment tools via Keela-Starter, Geenees and of course Canada Helps (2000). There are also specific prospecting tools like Grant Advance and Imagine Canada’s Grant Connect.
Crowdfunding: FundRazr was released in 2009 and Raising Days (2014) is the Crowdfunding art of Giving Gateway.
Marketplaces: Goodzilla (2019) is popular with Canadian nonprofits looking for online marketplace solutions – it is partnered with eBay and CanadaHelps.
Online Auctions: Auctria (2011) and Trellis
There of course is a very long list of donor management and fundraising options available. Sites like Capterra can help as you begin your research into options.
Volunteer & Staff Recruitment and Management Tools
Statistics Canada reported that “In 2018, 12.7 million Canadians engaged in formal volunteering, with a total of 1.6 billion hours of their time given to charities, non-profits and community organizations.” This is equal to almost 850,000 full-time jobs.
HR / Staff / Volunteer Tools provide solutions for a wide variety of volunteer programs. In addition to the traditional connections provided by for example Volunteer Canada, NFPs can now leverage solutions like Volunteer Connector or the Vome Volunteer app which was launched in 2021 by Montrealers Samuel Fagen and Ron Segev. Solutions can feature a network of volunteers that are provided with paid time off by their companies. Similarly Meaningful enables nonprofits to connect and track hours.
Is your team also using new platforms to tap into Marketing expertise when needed? Beyond channels like Linkedin and CharityVillage, websites like Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer are posting jobs for marketing project support needs.
For more websites and apps that Marketing teams have adopted over the past decade, check out https://www.brandrewire.ca/best-free-apps-for-nonprofit-marketing/