The Future of Fundraising

Welcome to the Future of Fundraising.

Three weeks ago, in partnership with Matthew Lambert , Dan Frezza , Meghan Dauler Palombo , Bruce Aird , and Laurie Soenen and their teams at William & Mary and College of Charleston, we completed the first set of tests with the world's first fully autonomous fundraiser, a Virtual Engagement Officer.

The VEO was assigned 119 donors and tasked with soliciting end-of-year gifts from these LYBUNTS, SYBUNTS and lapsed donors. These early tests were designed to prove that donors would be comfortable engaging with a VEO and that the VEO could inspire a few donors to make end-of-year gifts. The outcomes of these tests were conclusive, encouraging, surprising and exciting.

Of the 119 donors engaged, 13 gifts were made. These gifts are the most powerful evidence we have that autonomous fundraising is viable and that there are a subset of donors (potentially 10-20% of an organization’s donor pool) who might prefer or be willing to be engaged by a VEO.

This was also the first time we’ve had a glimpse into how productive an autonomous fundraiser could be. With the VEO closing 13 gifts, representing $3,400 from 119 donors over, at most, three engagement points in one week, we can loosely conclude that with a 1,000 donor portfolio, a VEO could generate at least $34,000 and maybe even $50,000-$150,000+, over a year’s engagement.

This revenue is important as, for the first time ever, the financial viability of an autonomous fundraiser has been conclusively proven. If a VEO costs $15,000 a year and generates $150k from its portfolio, there would be a 10:1 ROI, clearly displaying the monumental impact that's possible.

The VEO also made three fully independent email introductions to traditional staff members for donors. This proved that the VEO could find ways to engage donors and naturally pass them along to traditional fundraisers for a variety of reasons.

Finally, donors asked the VEO five unsolicited questions, two of which related to past giving. Our team quickly came to the conclusion that donors expect the VEO to be able to answer specific questions about their past giving. We now strongly believe that if donors have a better understanding of their own past giving, they will likely make more thoughtful and informed decisions about their current and future giving. The problem, however, is that donors have never had direct access to their past giving data.

In response to this powerful insight, this week we will be announcing that the autonomous fundraiser now has direct API access to Blackbaud 's Raiser’s Edge NXT. This ground-breaking integration will enable the autonomous fundraiser, for the first time ever, to use the database as its memory to securely answer specific questions that donors might have about their past giving.

There's still so much exploring to do, but it's clear that the impact of autonomous fundraising could have generational consequences on how donors are engaged and how fundraising happens for nonprofits of all sizes.

Our team is at CASE Summit this week and there is already a buzz around what’s possible with autonomous fundraising. If you’ll be at CASE and want to learn more about our work researching, developing and deploying the world’s first fully autonomous frontline fundraiser, please email [email protected] and we’ll make sure one of our team members is in touch.?

Have a great week.

Autonomous Fundraising: Givzey’s Version2, William & Mary, and College of Charleston Featured in Forbes

As AI and digital technologies are redefining how to reach donors and serve communities, Givzey’s Version2, along with our great friends and partners Matthew Lambert , Bruce Aird , Meghan Dauler Palombo from William & Mary and Dan Frezza (College of Charleston) are proud to have our work featured by Karen S. Cochran, CFRE , CFRE in Forbes .

Her thoughtful piece about the need for true innovation in Social Good sector is a must read as we build the world’s first fully autonomous frontline fundraiser and look forward to proving that technology can truly define the future of fundraising and what’s possible in our space. (KEEP READING)

Givzey Announces Artificial Intelligence Roadmap for Intelligent Gift Documentation Management Platform

The infusion of AI into the Givzey platform will enable compliance automation, empower fundraisers around multi-year solicitations, and elevate the donor experience. The rollout of the AI Roadmap will run in parallel to Givzey's work on Version2.ai, our AI R&D lab solely focused on creating the world's first autonomous fundraiser. (KEEP READING)

Givzey Exceeds $50M in Gifts Under Management on Intelligent Gift Documentation Management Platform

In less than two months, Givzey, fundraising's first all-in-one Intelligent Gift Documentation Management Platform, has more than doubled gifts under agreement to surpass $50 Million in gift agreements under management on the platform, and just four months after surpassing $10 Million.

"With the explosive growth that Givzey has seen on our Intelligent Gift Documentation Management Platform this year, there is no doubt that there’s a growing need for a fundraising solution that addresses retention, de-risks the documentation process, builds major gift pipeline, and empowers the scale of strategic fundraising activities like multi-year giving. As we continue to create the category, build Givzey’s Intelligent Gift Documentation Management Platform, and fold in our AI roadmap, we’ll empower nonprofit organizations to turn their giving processes and donor experiences into strategic fundraising assets,” commented Givzey CEO, Adam Martel. (KEEP READING)

Givzey Guidance: When Should We Use a Letter of Intent (LOI) vs. a Signed Pledge Agreement and Why?

In this Givzey Guidance, a team debates when to document gifts with a Letter of Intent (LOI) versus a signed pledge agreement. Question: There has been some internal debate recently about when we should be using an LOI vs. a pledge agreement to document a gift commitment.

When Should We Use a Letter of Intent (LOI) vs. a Signed Pledge Agreement and Why? (KEEP READING)

Upcoming Conferences

July

• 22-24: CASE Leadership Summit

Fundraising Jobs

If you have jobs you would like posted in the Future of Fundraising newsletter, please email [email protected] with your requests.

• Chief Advancement Officer $150,000 | Smithsonian Institution | Washington, DC | APPLY>>>
• Chief Advancement Officer - College of Fine Arts | Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, PA | APPLY>>>
• Vice President, Advancement Administration | Dartmouth Health (Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Clinics) | Lebanon, NH | APPLY>>>

See what else the future holds for fundraising today>>>