Fundraising is about two human beings having a conversation. Somebody who believes in your organisation’s work sits across from somebody who is looking to contribute to positive change, and they talk. That is where the debate about AI in fundraising begins and ends: AI cannot have that conversation for you.

How we use AI in fundraising

That said, we are firmly for the use of AI in fundraising. It is an enormous time saver, and at Funding Solutions we use it every day. It helps us think and structure. It helps us with the first draft of donor research. It helps us refine our language in grant applications and reports, and tidy a logframe.

It can turn a client’s rambling programme description into something succinct that a busy grant administrator can follow. It helps us sift through a donor’s submission format and decide how best to show the impact of our planned intervention within it.

Why the donor conversation still matters

Used well, AI gives you more time for the part that matters. That moment comes when you reach the donor’s front door, or the virtual meeting, and AI is no longer in the room. Now it is one human being representing an organisation doing extraordinary work. Across from them sits another human being whose job it is to decide whether to trust you with their money.

The grant administrator across the table is listening for something no tool can supply. Do you understand the problem you are trying to solve? Do you know your community, your own statistics and numbers? Will you still be there in three years’ time? That is the conversation that gets the grant.

The same principle applies at every level of donor engagement. For instance, think of a corporate CSI manager, a bilateral or multilateral agency, or a global (or smaller family) trust. Equally, think of a government department, a lottery, a foundation or a high net worth individual. In the end, each of them is a person, or a small group of people, deciding whether they believe you.

A caution about AI-generated applications

Here is our caution. Some fundraisers are using AI in fundraising to submit ten times their usual number of applications. If that is you, please talk to us first.

Funders globally report a flood of applications that share the same turn of phrase and structure. As a result, several are tightening eligibility (read: more “no unsolicited proposals”). Meanwhile, others use their own screening tools or add compulsory interviews to shrink the pile.

Whether or not a detector flags your proposal, a generic proposal simply reads as generic. Grant administrators and reviewers who see fifty of them a week will spot one in the introductory paragraph.

Use AI to get to the room, not to sit in the chair

So, by all means, do use AI. Use it generously for research, structure, thinking, editing and formatting. Then put it down, pick up the phone, and go and have that conversation.

After all, people give to people. AI is not in the room when two people make eye contact and one of them decides to trust the other. It can help get you to that room. It cannot sit in the chair.

If you would like help finding the balance, we would love to have a conversation with you.