20 Trust Fundraising tips (by ChatGPT)
The robots have the answers
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20 Trust Fundraising tips by ChatGPT
The robots have the answers
by Caroline Danks
I think all of us are curious about how technology is going to impact our jobs.
Some of us are maybe a bit panicky that we’ll be replaced by robots.
I understand.
In preparation for my upcoming workshop ‘Trust Fundraising Top 20’, I asked ChatGPT for some ideas.
Spoiler – they’re not entirely shit…
Version 1
Caroline: Give me twenty ideas to help me raise more money from charitable trusts and foundations
ChatGPT: Of course! Here are twenty ideas to help you raise more money from charitable trusts and foundations:
1. **Research and Targeting**: Invest time in researching potential trusts and foundations that align with your organization's mission and goals.
2. **Personalized Proposals**: Tailor your proposals to each trust or foundation, highlighting how your project aligns with their specific areas of interest and priorities.
3. **Build Relationships**: Cultivate relationships with trustees and foundation staff through networking events, meetings, and regular communication.
4. **Impactful Storytelling**: Use compelling stories and case studies to illustrate the impact of your organization's work and how their support can make a difference.
5. **Clear Budgets and Plans**: Provide detailed budgets and project plans to demonstrate how their funding will be used effectively and efficiently.
6. **Highlight Successes**: Showcase previous successes and outcomes achieved with the support of other trusts and foundations.
7. **Demonstrate Sustainability**: Emphasize your organization's long-term sustainability and how their funding can contribute to lasting change.
8. **Offer Recognition**: Offer recognition opportunities such as naming rights, donor acknowledgment in publications, or invitations to special events.
9. **Collaborative Partnerships**: Explore partnerships with other organizations to strengthen your proposal and demonstrate collaboration within the sector.
10. **Engage Board Members**: Leverage the connections and influence of your organization's board members to introduce your cause to potential funders.
11. **Grant-Writing Workshops**: Host workshops or webinars to help other nonprofits in your community improve their grant-writing skills, positioning your organization as a resource.
12. **Demonstrate Capacity Building**: Show how their funding can support capacity-building initiatives within your organization, such as staff training or infrastructure improvements.
13. **Provide Regular Updates**: Keep funders informed about the progress of funded projects through regular updates, reports, and impact assessments.
14. **Seek Multi-Year Funding**: Request multi-year funding commitments to provide stability and continuity for your organization's programs and operations.
15. **Highlight Match Opportunities**: Encourage trusts and foundations to consider matching grant opportunities to leverage their support and inspire other donors to contribute.
16. **Host Site Visits**: Invite trustees and foundation representatives to visit your organization's facilities and witness your work firsthand.
17. **Utilize Technology**: Utilize online platforms and tools for grant applications, reporting, and communication to streamline the process for both parties.
18. **Offer Flexibility**: Be open to discussing flexible funding arrangements that accommodate the unique preferences and requirements of different trusts and foundations.
19. **Acknowledge Donor Preferences**: Respect and accommodate donor preferences regarding anonymity or specific conditions attached to their funding.
20. **Express Gratitude**: Express genuine gratitude for their support, demonstrating the impact of their generosity and the value they bring to your organization's mission.
By implementing these ideas, you can enhance your organization's fundraising efforts and build stronger partnerships with charitable trusts and foundations.
Thanks, ChatGPT!
These ideas are ok and they make sense.
But they’re generic and US focused.
There’s no sense of which activity to do first, which to go all in on and which to experiment lightly with.
*The bit where I panicked a little about imminent robot replacement*
Version 2
Caroline: “Give me twenty ideas to help me raise more money from charitable trusts and foundations including examples and case studies”.
The response was similar but with an example from a named trust / foundation for every tip.
‘The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hosts annual events to build relationships with supporters’
My mind was blown on seeing that the software was capable of pulling specific examples as requested.
Once I’d had a sit down and a cup of tea (and by ‘tea’ I mean ‘luxury hot chocolate with a splash of amaretto in it’), I relaxed a bit.
There was still no context, nuance or specificity.
What sort of events do the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation host?
How do they define ‘supporters’?
How can I even begin to use this as an example in my own charity?
Version 3
My third and final iteration of the question:
Caroline: “Give me twenty ideas to help me raise more money from UK charitable trusts and foundations including examples and case studies”.
I got twenty similar tips without the examples, bar this at the bottom:
“The National Literacy Trust partnered with several UK trusts and foundations to launch a pilot literacy program targeting disadvantaged communities. Through tailored proposals highlighting the alignment with each trust's funding priorities, they secured significant support for the initiative. Impact reports showcasing improved literacy rates among participating children and families further strengthened trust relationships, leading to continued funding and expansion opportunities”.
So, do I need to retrain as a Life Coach / Michelin Starred Chef / Gladiator?
What (I think?) I learned from this experiment is that we all know the basic tenets of great trust fundraising practice (and if we don’t, ChatGPT can list them for us).
What we can’t deduce from generative AI is:
Which tactics work in different contexts
Which principles are the most important
How to actually do some of the things suggested
And the thing which is missing the most?
Connection, humanity, networking and the truth from someone who has been there, done the things and (maybe) secured a decent wedge of grant funding for their efforts.
Whilst I’m committed to exploring what AI can do for us, I’m not yet panicking too much about being fully replaced.
Yet.
Interesting. We've been using ChatGPT for a whole range of things for well over a year now (coming up to two, even). The really REALLY important thing is the GPT, not the Chat. Getting the GPT bit right is what matters. Generative Pre-trained Transformer - Pre-trained is the key bit. Set up the training that means ChatGPT (or others, like Claude.ai) work for you. UK English. Preferred language tone. Style of output. Training it - much like I imagine with a puppy, so that when it really matters what you are getting is useful, saving you time.