Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit, Nonprofit Management, Technology

How ChatGPT is Empowering Charity Fundraisers Worldwide

Artificial intelligence has entered the nonprofit world—and it’s changing the way fundraisers work. From writing appeals to building donor journeys, tools like ChatGPT are becoming powerful allies for fundraisers seeking to do more with less.

In a sector where time, budget, and resources are always stretched, ChatGPT is offering fundraisers a way to work smarter, faster, and more creatively. Here’s how charities around the world are putting it to use.

1. Writing Compelling Appeals, Instantly

Fundraisers are using ChatGPT to draft donor emails, direct mail copy, thank-you letters, and event invitations. Rather than starting from scratch, they can input a prompt like:

“Write a donor appeal for a food bank highlighting the rising cost of living.”

Within seconds, ChatGPT provides a working draft that fundraisers can refine and personalise. This saves hours of time and helps overcome writer’s block, especially during busy campaigns like Giving Tuesday or year-end appeals.

2. Generating Donor Stewardship Content

Keeping donors engaged requires thoughtful, timely communication. With ChatGPT, fundraisers are creating:

Custom thank-you messages
Personalised milestone emails (e.g., one-year donor anniversaries)
Donor impact stories based on program data

This AI support enables teams to maintain a high level of stewardship even when human capacity is limited.

3. Brainstorming Campaign Themes and Taglines

When it’s time to launch a new campaign, many fundraisers turn to ChatGPT as a creative sounding board. It can suggest campaign names, taglines, or even themes for donor engagement, helping teams explore fresh ideas quickly.

Example:

“Give me 10 campaign theme ideas for an animal rescue charity.”

4. Drafting Grant Proposals and Reports

Charity professionals are also using ChatGPT to outline grant proposals, write summaries, and simplify complex program descriptions for funding applications. While human oversight is always needed, ChatGPT can generate a structured first draft, reducing the burden of starting from a blank page.

Maintaining a social media presence is critical for fundraising, but coming up with content every day is daunting. ChatGPT can help build out month-long content calendars, suggest hashtags, and write posts tailored to donor personas, saving time and boosting consistency.

6. Internal Training and Onboarding

Some charities are even using ChatGPT to create onboarding materials, internal fundraising guidelines, or FAQs for staff and volunteers. By using AI to build templates and handbooks, teams can focus more on delivery and less on documentation.

7. Preparing for Donor Meetings

Need to prep for a major donor meeting? ChatGPT can help generate:

Talking points based on past giving
Questions to explore donor motivations
Summary briefs that help staff feel prepared and confident

Important Reminders for Ethical Use

While ChatGPT is a powerful tool, it should always be used responsibly and ethically:

Review everything it produces—never copy and paste without a human check.
Protect donor data—never input private or identifiable donor information.
Use AI to assist, not replace the human relationships at the heart of fundraising.

The Future of Fundraising is Augmented, Not Automated

AI tools like ChatGPT won’t replace fundraisers—but they are already becoming essential teammates. They’re helping fundraisers worldwide free up time, spark creativity, and expand their capacity to build meaningful donor relationships.

In the hands of mission-driven professionals, ChatGPT isn’t just a tool—it’s a lever for greater impact.