8 AI-Powered Predictions Every Nonprofit Needs To Increase Impact

Business leaders of all types and sizes agree that the power of data science and artificial intelligence (AI) will deliver a competitive edge. And many businesses are already reaping the benefits of AI strategy. But what does this mean for your nonprofit? How can your nonprofit leverage the power of AI predictions to increase your impact for meaningful causes? We’ve compiled the top predictions that nonprofits need to deliver more impact and customer success than ever before.

Capacity to Give*

Predict whether a donor prospect will donate and the donation amount that best suits them. Every nonprofit wants to know: what makes a person give to a cause? Sometimes it’s stories in the news, or personal relationships who are impacted by the cause; sometimes it’s changes in personal or professional life that increases our capacity to give. Identifying a potential donor’s capacity to give can help your non-profit engage givers at the right time and with the right message, so donors can help your organization make the impact that matters most.

Likelihood to Major Gift or Become a Recurring Donor

Predict if a one-time donor will become a recurring donor or major gift donor, so that you can optimize your engagement and reach your fundraising goals. Similar to scoring leads of new prospects, the ability to score prior donors on their likelihood to make a major donation is a huge value to your nonprofit. Identifying the patterns of major and recurring donors can help you better engage givers on the right cause at the right time.

Peer to Peer Fundraiser Potential

Predict whether a donor is likely to lead, organize and coordinate a successful fundraiser to multiply their giving so that you can create a multiplier effect around giving. Turning your best donors into fundraisers is a great way to broadcast the impact of your nonprofit and attract new volunteers and donors. Data and predictions can help you prioritize which donors will make the best fundraisers and provide them with the right testimonials and resources to attract new donors.

Program Completion Potential

Predict if a participant will complete a nonprofit program, so that you can better engage your program constituents. Nonprofit programs tend to attract a diverse range of program participants, and giving them all the right level of attention and engagement is critical to your non-profit’s success. Perhaps one of the most important predictions is to the likelihood of attrition, or dropping out of your programs. By accurately predicting this risk, you can create better engagement programs to maximize the success of participants in your non-profit programs.

Next Best Volunteer Activity

Predict the best volunteer events and tasks for a team or individual based on their interests and history, so that you can recommend the best volunteer opportunities and increase the impact of your cause. One of the top reasons reported by people on why they don’t volunteer is that they “don’t know where to volunteer” and “no one asked me.” Nonprofit organizations who gather information on volunteer interests often fail to follow-up later and engage volunteers in a meaningful way. By using data on volunteer interests, activities, attendance and feedback, organizations can predict the best volunteer activity for individuals and teams to help them continue to make a purposeful impact. Organizations can use predictions to send messages via email or SMS with the right volunteer opportunities that are meaningful to volunteers, and meet the scheduling needs of their givers to maximize impact.

Donor Campaign Engagement

Predict whether constituents are likely to engage with, convert, or churn from your marketing campaigns so that you can optimize audience planning and increase lead generation, conversion, and campaign ROI. Identifying which constituents are likely to open your emails and click into your websites requires an insane amount of guesswork. But, data-powered predictions is not; data can help you analyze past behavior and identify patterns that can help you engage with your customers on their preferred channel and with a message that resonates with their interests. Improving your campaigns can help you win recurring donors, too.

Likelihood of Testimonial

Predict whether a donor, volunteer or beneficiary will write a positive impact story or testimonial so that you can broadcast the impact and attract more givers. Word-of- mouth referral is still one of the most impactful ways to share stories of impact about your non-profit. Organizations who identify those moments of impact from their givers and beneficiaries can provide a platform to easily spread the word through social media to gain a competitive edge. The secret to unlocking this potential is identifying givers and beneficiaries with a great story to tell and a network of influence who is willing to listen. Predictions such as the likelihood of testimonial can leverage data from social media, email click tracking, and other data sources to identify the best candidates to share their impact story.

Fundraising Campaign Target

Predict the probability of meeting donation and giving goals for a specific campaign so that you can increase forecast accuracy. It’s easy to see after implementing a campaign that not all campaigns are created equal! Well, what if you could predict the success of a campaign before you even started? Whether you’re fundraising from grants, sponsorships or individuals, accurately predicting the success of a campaign can give you the opportunity to shift your non-profit engagement strategy and donor targets so that you can turn a belly flop into a swan dive and make a real splash for your cause’s next campaigns.

These predictions are just scratching the surface of what AI can do for nonprofits. To learn more about the benefits of AI and how to make these predictions a reality for your nonprofit, check out this AI for Good e-book. It’s full of advice and tools that can enable nonprofits to leverage the power of data in your CRM to build predictions to get closer to your constituents.

DOWNLOAD THE E-BOOK

*Any unreleased services or features referenced herein are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase our services should make their purchase decisions based upon features and products that are currently available.

About the Author
Ayori Selassie is a Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce Einstein (AI for CRM) at Salesforce, and a patent holding inventor. She wakes up inspired every day to lead growth driving go-to-market strategies, especially for Einstein Prediction Builder, through leading keynotes, demos and workshops that make you say “wow”. She leads partner strategy for Einstein, works closely with SIs, ISVs, and loves presenting to developers and admins just as much as executives in the Salesforce Innovation Center. Prior to her work on Einstein, she retired $30M in Salesforce Platform ACV in 3 years as a Senior Solutions Engineer ranking among the top 5 technical advisors in the AMER Commercial Business. Her numerous accolades and accomplishments include a GHC Women in Computing Award by the Anita Borg Institute of Women in Technology, a Certificate of Recognition by US Department of State from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for outstanding contributions to global diplomacy for women in STEM fields through collaboration with the TechWomen Mentoring program, presentations at SXSW on Tech Thought Leadership & The Age of Instant Gratification, and organizing the first Startup Weekend Hackathon in Oakland & Essence Festival Hackathon in New Orleans with YesWeCode. She is also the founder of BoldForce, an employee resource or affinity group for employees of African and African-American Descent