Building a smart fundraising tech stack: How to choose the best AI tools for nonprofits
If you’re in the nonprofit game, you know that innovative technology isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s become a must-have for fundraising these days. Organizations are getting creative with digital tools, whether it’s launching those online peer-to-peer campaigns, automating outreach like pros, or throwing virtual fundraising events that really get people talking.
And let’s not forget about AI-powered tools! These are game changers for nonprofits, helping to stretch those fundraising dollars further by streamlining processes, taking care of routine tasks, and making donor experiences feel personal and engaging.
We’re diving into the nitty-gritty of how to choose and integrate AI tools that can supercharge your nonprofit efforts. We’ll cover key considerations and share some actionable strategies to boost donor engagement, streamline your processes, and ultimately make a bigger financial impact. So let’s get into it!
How nonprofits use AI for fundraising
As artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous in everyday life—powering everything from kitchen appliances to self-driving delivery trucks—the nonprofit sector is increasingly applying AI technology to fundraising efforts in three key areas:
- Donor data analysis: AI can analyze vast amounts of donor data to uncover trends and patterns, helping nonprofits make data-driven decisions and allocate resources more strategically.
- Personalized communication: AI-powered fundraising tools can personalize and target outreach efforts based on donor preferences, behaviors, and demographics, increasing donor engagement, retention, and satisfaction.
- Process automation: Using AI to automate routine tasks—such as data entry, donation processing, and reporting—frees staff to focus on high-impact activities.
Key considerations when creating an AI fundraising tech stack
When leveraging AI to enhance your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts, it’s important to understand what you are trying to achieve so you can select the most appropriate tools to meet those goals.
Below, we look at four of the most impactful outcomes of introducing AI tools for nonprofits and how to select solutions that enable your nonprofit to achieve them.
Outcome: Alignment with organizational goals
Select AI tools that offer features that make it easy to align your tech stack with your nonprofit’s mission and fundraising objectives.
For example, if your nonprofit’s goal is to increase donor retention, invest in AI tools that offer advanced analytics for tracking donor engagement over time.
Outcome: Scalability and flexibility
Choose AI solutions that allow your team to customize and scale as your organization’s fundraising needs evolve.
If your organization plans to expand its fundraising efforts to new regions or demographics, select tools that can handle increased data volumes and diverse donor profiles.
Outcome: Data privacy and security
Ensure that AI tools comply with regulations such as GDPR, PIPEDA, and ISO 27001 (if applicable).
Additionally, AI tools with robust security features—including encryption, access controls, and regular security updates—add extra layers of protection to sensitive donor information.
Outcome: Ease of integration
Prioritize tools that offer application programming interfaces (APIs) and pre-built connectors for smooth integration with your nonprofit’s existing tech stack and minimal disruption to current workflows.
Not every nonprofit has a dedicated IT team, so selecting tools with user-friendly interfaces and strong customer support can help overcome this resource gap.
Strategies for integrating AI into your nonprofit’s fundraising tech stack
A step-by-step approach to implementing AI tools for your nonprofit will help ensure maximum ROI and reduce strain on limited resources. Here’s how to get started.
Conduct a technology audit
- Take inventory of your organization’s current tech stack to identify gaps where AI could add value.
- Map out existing workflows and identify bottlenecks that AI could alleviate.
Involve stakeholders early in decision-making
- Engage key stakeholders from across the organization in the AI tool selection process, including IT, fundraising, and donor-relationship management teams.
- Collaborate cross-departmentally to ensure that the AI tools meet the needs of various functions across the organization. This proactive effort will lead to smoother implementation and greater technology buy-in from staff.
Provide training and support
- Provide ongoing training to ensure everyone in the organization who will use the new AI tools knows how to operate them.
- Partner with a solution provider that offers detailed documentation, live support, and regular updates to help your nonprofit maximize the tool’s potential.
AI tools for nonprofits are shaping the future of fundraising
AI tools for nonprofits enable organizations to maximize their resources, improve donor relationships and engagement, enhance operational efficiency, and make data-backed decisions.
By strategically selecting the right tools and technologies, nonprofits can build a powerful fundraising tech stack that will scale as the digital landscape evolves and deliver long-term impact.
Find out how digitizing the donor experience smashed the Canadian Red Cross’s fundraising goals in our case study, Raising $7 million with the Canadian Red Cross in a historic holiday campaign.