No, Blackbaud, we’re not ready for Agentic AI
On July 23, Blackbaud gathered its nonprofit customers to get them ready for AI agents that write to donors. We were listening, and what was said there deserves daylight.
Author: Stephen Christopher Nill, JD
Seven Touches, Seven Channels, One AI-Powered Stewardship Plan
A donor makes a year-end gift. The receipt goes out, and then, at many organizations, the relationship goes quiet until the next appeal arrives in the fall. By then the donor has half-forgotten why the gift felt worth making. Two of the most common reasons donors stop giving have nothing to do with money and…
When Someone Asks If the AI Wrote It, the Answer Is Still You
Sooner or later, someone in your organization is going to hear about AI-assisted fundraising and ask the obvious question: "So, an AI is writing our thank-you letters?" It might come from a board member at a committee meeting, a colleague in the break room, a chief executive reviewing operations, a donor who heard something secondhand,…
When a Faithful Donor Goes Quiet and the AI Connects the Dots
In a traditional fundraising operation, the evidence that a longtime donor might still be listening gets scattered across four different places. Gift records are in the database. Event attendance might be tracked in a spreadsheet on someone’s desktop. Email opens stay in the email platform. Social media engagement either goes untracked or ends up in…
The Visit the AI Prepared You For (and the Moment It Could Not Help)
Major gift visits carry a particular anxiety that every development professional knows. The preparation alone can consume hours, as we pull together scattered conversation notes, review giving patterns, and try to remember where the relationship left off. The worry that something important will slip through is always present, whether it is a detail that changes…
How AI Drafts 50 Personalized Appeals Before Wednesday
Most annual fund appeals read like they were written for everyone and no one. A well-crafted letter about the year’s accomplishments, a reply envelope, and a hope that enough people respond to cover the budget gap. The letter is good, the case is compelling, and the results are roughly the same every year, enough to…
How AI Finds the Loyalty Signal Hiding in Plain Sight
Every development operation has donors whose deepest loyalty is hiding in plain sight. Consider a fictitious donor we’ll call David Park. He has given to his local food bank every year for six consecutive years, always to general operations, always in response to the year-end appeal. He attends the annual dinner. He opens every email….
A New Donor’s First 90 Days with AI and Human Touch
Too many development shops fumble the most critical moment in a donor relationship. A new donor gives through the fall email appeal, and the typical experience starts with an automated receipt from the payment processor, then silence for a few weeks, then a spot on the mailing list, and eventually a year-end appeal identical to…
What 20 Minutes with AI on a Monday Morning Looks Like
Every donor in the portfolio deserves personal attention, and every development professional knows that most of them aren’t getting enough of it. Growing supporters whose trajectories signal readiness for deeper engagement go unnoticed. New donors fall behind on welcome sequences. Loyal givers who have supported the organization for years never receive a personal phone call….
Your First Monday with AI Will Be Messy (and Should Be)
We have covered a lot of ground in the last few weeks. If you’ve missed any of the installments, I encourage you to take a look. Week 1: The Human-Centered AI Framework: Five Principles for Fundraising with AI at Your Side Week 2: Your Monday Morning AI Review, Where the Human Leads Week 3: Is…
The “Honored or Handled?” Test for AI Messages
Sooner or later, the question lands on a fundraiser’s desk. We are looking at an AI draft that pulls a detail the donor shared in confidence, and something makes us pause. Are we honoring this donor, or using what we know to handle them? The question used to be easier to keep at arm’s length….
Five Questions Your Board Will Ask About AI
Sooner or later, someone is going to ask, "So an AI is writing our thank-you letters?" It might be a board member at a committee meeting, a CEO reviewing operations, a fellow staff member in the break room, a long-time donor who heard something secondhand, or even a member of the news media. There is…