How charities are utilising AI
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, artificial intelligence was a concept that only existed in science fiction. Then, in the 1950s, American psychologist Frank Rosenblatt invented the perceptron (a neural network that could learn by trial and error to simulate human thought and learning). This is widely considered to be the first iteration of modern-day artificial intelligence.
Since then, A.I. has become more and more advanced. From voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa, to traffic prediction on Google Maps, it’s ingrained in much of the technology we use today.
AI also has many applications in business, from data analytics and search optimisation to market research and customer service.
With all the fuss around AI Chatbot app, ChatGPT, we thought we’d have a look at how three charities have used AI to streamline operations, solicit donations, and improve service delivery.
charity: water
In 2016, charity: Water launched a chatbot called ‘Walk with Yeshi’ to raise awareness of the water crisis in Ethiopia.
Integrated into Facebook Messenger, the chatbot incorporated artificial intelligence and a conversational, multimedia interface to enable people to virtually join Yeshi, a young Ethiopian woman, on her daily 2.5 hour walk to collect water.
The experience played out in real-time, making use of media sharing, geolocation, and personal storytelling capabilities together with Stripe integration to raise funds.
On the journey, Yeshi chatted with her audience and sent emotive photos, GIFs, audio, and videos to bring her story to life.
A first-of-its-kind immersive journey built specifically for Facebook Messenger, this AI-driven experience provided the global community with a new way to experience and understand the hardships faced by millions of Ethiopian women.
NSPCC
In 2018, NSPCC became the first UK-based charity to use voice recognition technology through Amazon’s Alexa, to boost donations.
The children’s charity used goDonate Voice, an off-the-shelf donation template skill, developed specifically for charities.
Charity supporters could enable the skill through the Alexa app or via their voice by saying “Alexa, open NSPCC” to donate. The money was then automatically deducted from users’ Amazon accounts and sent to the charity via Amazon Pay.
Other uses
Voice recognition technology is not only being used to solicit donations. Accessibility charity Whizz Kidz launched an accessibility guide for London via an Alexa skill, advising on routes across the city with step-free access for wheelchair users and people of limited mobility, while the British Red Cross first aid skill outlines what to do in emergency situations.
Parkinson’s UK
In 2020, Parkinson’s UK teamed up with Australian AI firm Dataro to find out how machine learning techniques could be applied to direct mail fundraising campaigns to better target donors and improve appeal returns.
To test its effectiveness, the charity tested its own September Appeal selections alongside Dataro’s list.
Parkinson’s UK used its existing propensity model to segment the database and finalise a list of supporters to receive the mailing, while Dataro used machine learning to analyse patterns in the charity’s transactions, engagement, and communications data, and generate predictive scores for each supporter, reflecting their estimated probability of giving.
At the end of the campaign, both lists were compared. The findings?
The AI-generated list:
achieved a higher response rate (14%, compared to 8% for the traditional list selection)
identified 411 gifts that otherwise would have been missed
saw a potential 23% increase in net revenue
Holly Matthews, Direct Marketing Manager at Prostate Cancer UK, said of the experiment: “Our current data selection model is based on supporters’ gift behaviour, but we know this is not entirely inclusive and misses out valuable prospects. Ideally our data selection would be based on multiple areas of a supporter’s journey, but this takes time. Dataro’s AI model allowed us to test something new. It demonstrated what we had suspected; that valuable data had been missed.”
Is AI coming for your job?
The digital landscape is changing, and as these three examples show us, the way we fundraise is changing.
Does this mean AI will replace fundraisers? Nope. Sure, it can help you analyse data, raise money, and automate processes, but it’s no match for human intelligence or empathy. It can’t read, understand, or respond to human emotions, all of which are key to building meaningful donor relationships.
The most effective and responsible approach to AI is to view it as a tool to augment human intelligence rather than a replacement for it. By doing so, you can unlock AI's full potential while preserving the value of human input and creativity.
Looking for a tech-savvy fundraiser for your team? We can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email us at info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get the conversation started.