This nonprofit almost doubled its recurring donor revenue with AI — its director says it's doing the job she can't afford to hire for
Monthly giving is one of those things every small nonprofit knows it should be doing, but rarely has the staff time to build out properly. A new crop of AI tools is starting to change that math — letting solo fundraisers and skeleton crews sketch out donor segmentation, email sequences, and full campaign strategies in hours instead of weeks.
The Chronicle talked to two small nonprofits using AI this way. One executive director in Los Angeles used an AI tool trained on a fundraising consultant's own book and coaching calls to rebuild her monthly giving page and set a donor growth plan. Another in Tennessee — a two-person shop — used an AI tool built into her donor database to more than double her monthly recurring revenue while recovering from surgery.
The tension worth sitting with: these tools are explicitly being marketed as a substitute for hiring. Here's how the ED put it:
>"It acts as a partner and it does so much that it also keeps us from having to hire someone. We don't have the budget to hire someone else." — Kimberly Alexander, Executive Director, Haven House for Children
Discussion Questions:
- If you've used AI tools for fundraising strategy or donor communications, what actually worked — and where did it fall short?
- Does framing AI as a replacement for hiring worry you, or does it feel like a realistic response to what small nonprofits can actually afford?
- How do you think AI-built donor journeys compare to ones built by a human who knows your community?
Note: This story is behind a paywall, however a limited number of Chronicle stories are available for free each month to readers who register at philanthropy.com.