ChatGPT and Capital Campaigns: 3 Uses for this New Technology

Nonprofit leaders are often so busy, they don’t have the time or inclination to try new tools or technology that could make their lives easier.

Capital Campaign Pro is focused on combining capital campaign best practices with technology to help you get the best results as effectively and efficiently, and affordably as possible. So, if you haven’t tried ChatGPT yet for your fundraising, this post is for you.

What is ChatGPT and Can it Help with Your Campaign?

In case you’re scratching your head wondering what I’m talking about, ChatGPT is a free artificial intelligence chatbot designed to answer questions. It draws from all the information on the internet to provide human-like responses. The more specific and detailed your question, the more specific the response will be.

It is (or could be) the equivalent of Google to search. (If you don’t use Google, then ChatGPT isn’t for you.)

I encourage you to give ChatGPT a try to see what it can do before assuming it’s not for you. You do need to sign up, but it’s free to use and play with.

Generative AI Technology Can’t Replace Humans… Yet

Unfortunately, as information is pulled by ChatGPT from the Internet, the information it generates is NOT ALWAYS CORRECT, so it can’t be used in a vacuum.

You may have read some recent articles about an NJ lawyer who relied on ChatGPT for one of his cases. Unfortunately, it provided him with fake cases and got him into a whole lot of legal mess.

But that’s no reason not to use it, but to use it wisely. In other words, whatever ChatGPT generates will need careful and thorough editing. Even so, it is so much better than starting from scratch.

For example, for this post, I asked ChatGPT, “what are 10 ways fundraisers can use ChatGPT to help with fundraising and more specifically, with capital campaigns”.

Some of its response was complete garbage, for example:

“Donor Engagement: ChatGPT can engage potential donors in personalized conversations, providing information about the capital campaign and addressing their concerns or questions. This personalized approach helps build connections and encourages contributions.”

You can see with the above that ChatGPT is not always accurate or articulate, so use it when it’s helpful, and leave it when it’s not.

3 Ways ChatGPT Can Help With Your Capital Campaign NOW

Here’s how ChatGPT can help you with your capital campaign and with fundraising right now.

1. Writing Thank-You Letters

Ask ChatGPT to generate a creative, personalized thank you letter to a specific donor who gave a specific amount for a certain program or project. Add reasons the donor cares about the organization and the project. It will likely provide a solid foundation for you to edit and improve.

Remember — whatever it generates will need to be carefully edited for accuracy and clarity.

2. Creating Update Emails

During a campaign, you will want to send regular correspondence, updating donors on the progress of the project. Plug in some of the details and see what you get. While the response may not be perfect, it will usually provide a great starting place and generate compelling language you hadn’t considered.

3. Storytelling and Impact Narratives

Response generated by ChatGPT:

“Effective storytelling is crucial for engaging potential donors and inspiring them to contribute to a capital campaign. ChatGPT can assist nonprofit leaders in crafting compelling narratives that highlight the impact of their organization’s work. By understanding the context and objectives of the campaign, ChatGPT can generate persuasive stories that communicate the importance of the cause, making a lasting impression on donors.”

The above paragraph is an exact ChatGPT generated response. I didn’t need to change a word for it to enhance this post. And if I wasn’t using it as an example, I probably wouldn’t have shared that it was AI-generated copy.

A Bonus Use for ChatGPT: List Generation

Rather than expecting ChatGPT to write for you, you might ask it to generate a list of 20 ideas of why donors should give to your cause.

Some of the ideas will be obvious and ones you have already considered. Other ideas on the list might be completely ridiculous. And there will likely be a few hidden gems throughout — things you hadn’t thought of that you could use in newsletters, articles, thank-you letters, and more.

Final Words on ChatGPT and Capital Campaigns

The reality is that I don’t use ChatGPT for most of my writing. However, whenever I’m stuck, I turn to it for idea generation and to get my creative juices flowing.

Whenever I pull it up, ChatGPT generally sparks something I hadn’t thought of. Sometimes it even generates an entire sentence or paragraph that’s usable with only mild editing. Either way, it saves me time and energy for so many writing projects.

So, if you’ve been on the fence about trying it out, today’s the day to create that ChatGPT account and play around with it. Just get a feel for what it can do — you might discover some amazing uses for it.