Stop Wrestling with Technology and Start Connecting with Donors

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Have you ever left a donor meeting, recorded quick thoughts on your phone, then spent hours translating those scattered notes into a proper contact report? There's a better way.

At AFP Icon in Seattle last month, I watched a room full of fundraisers experience a collective "aha" moment. It wasn't sparked by fancy tech demos or pie-in-the-sky AI promises. It happened when they realized that tools like ChatGPT could immediately solve real problems they face every day. One fundraiser's words particularly resonated: "I always thought this stuff was for the tech team. I had no idea I could do it myself, like today."

That's the disconnect we need to bridge. AI has become an overwhelming buzzword, with too many platforms and not enough practical guidance. You've likely tried AI tools only to receive content that sounds like it came from a corporate handbook rather than your authentic voice. Maybe you've spent more time fixing AI-generated content than you would have spent just writing it yourself. The frustration is real — every minute wrestling with technology is a minute you're not deepening donor relationships.

Let me walk you through three game-changing tactics that are already helping fundraisers reclaim hours each week: First, "persona prompting" ensures AI understands your authentic voice before generating content. Second, turning voice notes into polished contact reports with a single prompt can save hours of documentation time. Third, building custom dashboards becomes simple when AI guides you through the process. These aren't theoretical possibilities — they're practical tools you can implement tomorrow.

Imagine saving eight hours this week, not by skipping meetings or working through lunch, but because your tools actually worked for you. What would you do with that time? Call that lapsed donor? Feel prepared for your next meeting? Or simply go home on time?

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Episode Transcript

Keith Greer, CFRE (00:05):
Hey, there, hi and welcome back ambitious
fundraiser.
Last month I was in Seattle atAFP Icon, leading a session on
ethical AI and organizationalreadiness, and I'll be honest, I
wasn't sure how it was going toland.
Ai has become such a buzzwordright.
But as I started walkingthrough the steps real doable

(00:26):
steps you can actually take Iwatched the room shift.
Eyes lit up, folks leaned in.
You could see the light bulbsgoing off and it wasn't because
I showed off some wild tech demo.
It was because people saw thatan AI tool as simple as ChatGPT
could help them get their timeback, that it could actually fit

(00:47):
into their day-to-day work andnot add more stress to their
plate.
One fundraiser came up to meafterward and said Keith, I
always thought this stuff wasfor the tech team.
I had no idea I could do itmyself, like today.
And that stuck with me becausethat's the moment where AI stops
being this abstract, futuristicthing and it starts being a

(01:07):
tool you use at your desktomorrow.
So here's what we're doingtoday we're going to explore one
small shift, one prompt thatcould change the way you capture
donor visit notes.
By the end of this episode,you'll see how you can take a
rough voice note after a donormeeting and turn it into a
polished contact report withjust a few words.

(01:29):
Sound good, let's get into it.
You've heard the buzz AI iseverywhere Conferences,
newsletters, webinars it's allover your feed.
How it's going to transformfundraising, revolutionize
stewardship, make your jobeasier.
But when you actually sit downto try it, it feels like you've

(01:51):
been dropped into a foreigncountry, with no map, no
translator and a deadlinebreathing down your neck.
You open up ChatGPT orMicrosoft Copilot and think,
okay, now what?
You ask it to write an emailand it gives you something that
sounds like it came out of acorporate HR handbook from 2008.
Not exactly the warm,donor-centered tone you were

(02:14):
hoping for, right?
And then there's the overwhelmso many tools, so many platforms
.
There's Jasper and Claude andNotion AI, zapier Otter.
You don't have time to vet 15platforms just to find out that
12 of them don't actually solveyour problem.

(02:35):
I've had fundraisers tell methings like I know ChatGPT can
do this, but I don't know how todo it myself.
Or this one which really stuckwith me I tried automating thank
you emails and I ended upspending more time fixing the
tone than if I'd just writtenthem myself, and it's
frustrating, right?
Because you're not afraid oftechnology, you're smart, you're

(02:58):
capable and you're constantlyjuggling a hundred things.
What you don't have extra timeis to waste on trial and error,
and that's the heart of it.
Every minute you spendwrestling with AI is a minute
you're not spending with yourdonors, a minute you're not
deepening relationships, aminute you're not doing the real
human-centered work that onlyyou can do.
So let's name the struggle forwhat it is Only you can do.

(03:21):
So let's name the struggle forwhat it is.
It's not that AI isn't powerful.
It's that it hasn't been madeuseful for you yet, not in a way
that fits your voice, yourworkflow, your real day-to-day.
But that's about to change.
So here's the good news there'sa way to make AI actually

(03:44):
useful for you as a major giftfundraiser, not in some abstract
, theoretical way, in apractical.
This saved me an hour beforelunch, kind of a way, and we're
going to start with somethingcalled ethical AI, and for me
that means tools that respectyour voice, your relationships,
your donors', privacy andsecurity and your time.

(04:06):
This isn't about replacing you.
It's about amplifying you andto be safe.
Before you put anything into AI, always make sure your
organization is on a plan thatdoesn't allow the AI to use your
information to train its futuremodels.
So let me walk you through afew tactics I've been testing
that are already helping mereclaim hours every week.

(04:30):
So first up is persona prompting.
One of the biggest misses I seewith AI-generated content is
tone.
You ask ChatGPT to draft anemail and it gives you something
that starts with Dear esteemedbenefactor, or I hope this
message finds you well.
Nope, that's not how you talkand that's not how you would

(04:52):
talk to a donor you just met,let alone one you have a
years-long relationship with.
So here's a quick fix Tell theAI who it is before you ask it
to write anything.
Start with something like youare a warm, donor-centered major
gift fundraiser.
Your emails are professionalbut personal, with a natural

(05:13):
tone.
Here's how you open your emailshey Julia, thanks for that note
, or whatever it is, and thengive it one or two examples of
your real voice.
Suddenly, the email it draftsdoesn't sound like a robot.
It sounds like you, but so muchfaster.
Second, you can turn your voicenotes into summaries, and this

(05:37):
one is a game changer for thoseof you who dread writing your
contact reports and remember.
Make sure your organization ison a plan and has the security
features enabled to not let whatyou put into the ai become part
of the training data for thatai.
But next time you leave a donorvisit, just open your phone,
hit record in that notes app andsay what happened.
Don't script it, just talk.

(06:00):
I met with Dan.
He's excited about thescholarship update he mentioned
his daughter is starting collegethis fall, or whatever else
happened in that visit.
Then take that rawvoice-to-text into ChatGPT or
Microsoft Copilot with a promptlike summarize this in a
polished professional contactreport for our CRM.

(06:21):
I've seen this.
Take 30 seconds of that audiotext and turn it into a report
that's ready to paste into yourCRM.
No plugins, no extra apps, justyou, your notes and a little
help cleaning it up.
Third, building dashboards yes,even in Excel and I know I know

(06:44):
Excel can feel like that drawerin your kitchen filled with the
random cables and chargers thatyou last used in 2009.
Donor visits, giving totals orproposal stages, without any
add-ons or subscriptions.
You can use AI to walk youthrough formulas step-by-step.

(07:05):
Whether you need a pivot tablethat groups donors by status,
just ask.
Want conditional formattingthat highlights lapsed donors
Done.
The goal isn't to turn everyfundraiser into a tech wizard.
It's to help you make this AItool work for you.

(07:26):
No more tech for tech's sake,just useful, ethical,
human-centered tools that letyou spend less time doing
administrative work andwrestling spreadsheets and more
time connecting with people.
So let's zoom out for a second.
Imagine saving eight hours thisweek, not because you skipped a
meeting or you worked throughlunch, but because the tools you

(07:47):
use every day actually workedfor you.
Imagine finishing your donorreports in minutes and not hours
, prepping for your next visitwith your CEO in one clean
dashboard, not seven open tabs,writing emails that sound like
you, without having to rewritethem five times.
What would you do with thatextra time?

(08:08):
Maybe you'd finally call thatlapsed donor you've been meaning
to re-engage, or walk into yournext one-to-one with your VP,
feeling calm, confident andprepared.
Or maybe you'd just take abreather.
You'd go home on time, be fullypresent with your family at
dinner.
That's the future I want tobuild with you, and here's how.

(08:30):
This week, I'm opening up asmall group, hands-on mini
course.
It's just going to be fourweeks, one hour a week.
Live with me.
We'll build these exact toolstogether, step by step, so
you're not figuring it out aloneand, as a listener of this
podcast, you're getting thefirst heads up.
You'll have first dibs onpre-launch pricing and you'll

(08:54):
actually help shape the moduleswith your feedback.
I want to build this with youand not just for you.
So if you're curious or evenjust thinking, hmm, maybe this
could finally help me get aheadof my work, here's what to do
next Check the link in the shownotes or, if you get my emails,
hit reply to the email you gotfrom me and say I'm in.

(09:17):
That's it.
I'll send you everything youneed to get started.
So let's make this the seasonwhere AI stops being
intimidating and starts beingempowering.