[NPFX Ep. 49] AI Tools for Grant Writing, Prospecting, and More (with Ashutosh Nandeshwar and Shereese Floyd)

Welcome to The Nonprofit Fundraising Exchange, a podcast from IPM Advancement. Our mission is to empower nonprofits to succeed so they can make the world a better place.

Today’s topic: AI Tools for Grant Writing, Prospecting, and More

The genie is out of the bottle — artificial intelligence is here. Despite valid concerns about privacy and bias, many nonprofits have already embraced AI for grant writing, donor engagement, prospecting, automation, data analysis, and more. In this episode, we examine what AI can (and can't) do, ways your nonprofit can benefit from AI, how to navigate ethical concerns, and our favorite AI tools that you can start using today.

Time-Stamped Episode Shortcuts

• Introductions and background info [1:57]
• Two kinds of AI — traditional and modern [4:50]
• AI is evolving rapidly [6:47]
• How AI can help nonprofits analyze donor data [7:30]
• Ways smaller nonprofits can implement AI tools for donor engagement [10:25]
• Using predictive AI for donor prospecting [15:14]
• Using AI to streamline nonprofit grant writing [20:20]
• Ethical considerations like privacy, data security, and bias in the use of AI by nonprofits [24:14]
• Guests recommendations for their favorite AI tools [33:04]
• Best practices and advice [36:57]

Special Offer: Free 30-minute consultation for NPFX listeners

Additional Resources

• IPM's free Nonprofit Resource Library
• 7 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Grant Writing Tools to Increase Your Fundraising Efforts by Shereese Floyd
• Revolutionizing Fundraising Part I: 6 Ways AI is Transforming the Nonprofit Sector by Ashutosh Nandeshwar

Subscribe to NPFX

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Google Podcasts

AI Tools for Nonprofits

• ChatGPT
• Stable Diffusion
• Midjourney 
• Bard
• R
• Python
• Zapier
• Perplexity
• Grantboost
• Claude
• Hugging Face
• Meta
• Vidds
• Vidyo
• Canva
• Nonprofit Operating System
• ZeroGPT
• SAS Enterprise Miner [Note: We mistakenly referenced this tool as "SPSS Enterprise Miner" in the episode.]
• SAS JMP [Note: We mistakenly referenced this tool as "SPSS JMP" in the episode.]
• Weka
• Grammarly
• Bing

Guests

Shereese Floyd is CEO of Witness My Life and founder of AI Consultants for Nonprofits. An award-winning storytelling and communications professional dedicated to helping organizations increase influence and revenue with story-based marketing, her emotional branding style has generated over $2M in direct campaigns. With over twenty years in nonprofit marketing, her expertise spans development, branding, women's leadership, artificial intelligence, and public relations. Shereese is an advocate for social change and believes story is the one thing that truly brings the world together.

Ashutosh Nandeshwar is a data science leader and expert who has championed innovative techniques to help nonprofits and higher education institutions become effective. With over 20 years of experience applying advanced data science, Ashutosh currently leads the data science practice at CCS Fundraising. He has built data science teams and practices from the ground up at institutions like USC, Caltech, and Michigan. Ashutosh holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering, specializing in machine learning, and an MS in Design Thinking, and is the author of multiple books, including Data Science for Fundraising. He has served on the Apra national board and the CASE DRIVE committees.

Hosts

Russ Phaneuf, a co-founder of IPM Advancement, has a background in higher education development, with positions at the University of Hartford, Northern Arizona University, and Thunderbird School of Global Management. As IPM's managing director & chief strategist, Russ serves as lead fundraising strategist, award-winning content creator, and program analyst specializing in applied system dynamics.

Rich Frazier has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 30 years. In his role as senior consultant with IPM Advancement, Rich offers extensive understanding and knowledge in major gifts program management, fund development, strategic planning, and board of directors development.