AI-driven fundraising transformation in Europe

European NPOs already leverage the power of AI

Three of the biggest 20 NPOs in Austria partnered with augedo to address the challenges of declining donations in a difficult fundraising environment. Through strategic AI implementation, these organisations achieved remarkable improvements in donor engagement and fundraising effectiveness, demonstrating that AI adoption can deliver immediate ROI while paving the way for future innovations on the road to AI agents.‍

Key Challenges

• Declining donations - therefore even marginal improvements are crucial
• Solutions even more needed than ever due to geopolitical challenges
• Blocked by current, fragmented data infrastructure /silos between channels
• Stuck with one-size-fits-all donor targeting, missing opportunities for personalised connections
• Despite expensive BI tools, organisations can't really leverage data insights in day to day work due to technical knowledge barriers for ad hoc needs

Solution Implementation

The solution was structured around four key pillars, which were also shown in the GivingTuesday´s report as most important in the US (see below) - there is a big gap between what people want and what people already use. We helped the three organisations to move ahead and closed the gap successfully:

Organise Data:

Common Challenge: Like most nonprofits the nonprofits of this case study had multiple disconnected channels (we typically see 3-7 different systems in medium-sized NGOs), and the thought of connecting them all seems daunting. Traditional approaches would suggest a rather big and months long data migration project - but we've found a smarter way.

The Solution in Practice: Modern AI is remarkably good at identifying and matching data types automatically. Here's how it works in reality:

• Instead of rebuilding the entire data infrastructure, we use existing exports (yes, those same CSV files you're already creating for your telemarketing agency, direct mail or online lookalikes)
• The AI automatically matches fields without manual mapping (for example, in a recent project, it correctly matched 'Spendenbetrag', 'Amount', and 'donation_sum' from three different systems without human intervention)
• No need for real-time integration initially - semi-automated import/export processes work perfectly fine to start (we've seen this work successfully with weekly or even monthly updates for most use cases)

There also will be some edge cases but we have already seen a lot and solved them together with the partners on the fly.

Predict Donor Behavior:

Common Challenge: Breaking Free from Static Donor Selection - Every nonprofit knows this story: Your donor selection process works, but it's like using a one-size-fits-all template in a world where every donor is unique. Traditional methods lock organisations into rigid patterns, repeatedly targeting the same groups while missing opportunities to connect with donors on a personal level. It's the equivalent of having a conversation where you're doing all the talking, but never really listening. Which results more in a campaign focused way of working instead of operating truly donor centered.

The Solution in Practice: AI-Powered Donor Engagement Revolution - We've transformed this static approach into a dynamic, responsive system that adapts to individual donor behaviours and preferences. Here's how we're breaking the module:

Intelligent Mailing Optimisation

• Implemented AI-driven analysis with predictive AI that reads and responds to donor patterns
• Created flexible targeting systems that evolve with your donor base
• Executed up to 3 A/B tests per organisation, yielding 4-12% revenue increases with option to optimise on response rate or a balanced approach

Strategic Planning Simulations

• Developed advanced yearly planning simulations with the prediction models we first built trust on in the Mailing Optimisation phase
• Introduced dynamic budget allocation modeling
• Achieved 0.7-3% additional donations through optimised timing and targeting of contact points per donor

Ask Personalisation at Scale

• Revolutionised donation asks with 1:1 personalisation
• Tested on 25,000 donors with statistical significant results
• Secured an 11.6% boost in donation rates

The Results Show the ROI Opportunity:

• 1-11% increase in revenue per mailing campaign
• 5% growth in active donor lists due to more flexible targeting
• More efficient resource allocation across yearly campaigns

Interpret Data in Natural Language:

Common Challenge: The Dashboard Dilemma - We've all been there: Heavy investments in sophisticated data visualization tools, yet when crunch time hits (which is often), these dashboards become digital paperweights. Why? Because:

• The right visual isn't readily available when you need it
• There's no time to learn complex BI tools or build new reports
• Trust issues emerge when self-building analyses under pressure 
• The gap between data availability and accessibility remains wide
• Technical barriers prevent quick, confident decision-making

The Solution in Practice: "Chat with Your Data" - We've flipped the script on data analysis by making it as simple as having a conversation. Here's how:

Natural Language Interface

1. "Ask and you shall receive" approach to data insights
2. Transformed complex queries into simple conversations
3. No more SQL or technical knowledge required

Democratised Data Access

1. Enabled everyone from fundraising managers to campaign coordinators to access insights
2. Removed the technical middleman so that those who know which questions to ask can get the answers they need directly from the solution
3. Made data accessible across all organisational levels

The result?

Data analysis has evolved from a specialised skill to an everyday tool, as natural as sending an email. No more waiting for the BI team, no more struggling with complex interfaces, just straightforward answers when you need them. Interestingly due to the easy access we already saw more (even unplanned) use cases emerge. Instead of changing everything at once we really looked at how AI can assist for not just a task but the entire process. Again available as chat and not a new (possibly complicated) interface that needs to be learnt. The goal here is to really get to co-intelligence where human fundraising stars work alongside technology and collaborate in the most natural way possible. The way we humans also communicate with each other - natural language. All solutions are developed as a first step towards true AI agents for NPOs with a lot of groundwork done and proven.

Extra Use cases emerged naturally

As mentioned, some additional use cases besides the planned ones emerged naturally when integrating the augedo solution in daily workflows, offering support for tasks no one had previously anticipated. As users continue to interact with the solution, many more innovative use cases are expected to evolve in the coming months. Here's a brief preview:

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Precise targeting for event invitations based on donor interests

Situation: A non-profit organised an exclusive tech innovation event with limited spots available. They needed to select the right donors from their database who would attend.

Outcome: Using the chat with your data feature, they identified with a simple chat and invited the 2,000 donors with the highest potential for increased future donations, maximising the event's impact on giving.

‍Optimised goody distribution strategies

‍Situation: An organisation had excess donor goodies that needed to be distributed by year-end. They needed a quick way to identify which donors would provide the best return on investment from receiving these gifts.

Outcome: Using augedo's AI solution, they had a brief conversation with the system that quickly analysed their donor data and identified the donors whose lifetime value would increase the most from receiving the goodies, ensuring optimal use of the remaining gifts.

‍Campaign performance analysis through natural language queries

Situation: Organisations traditionally spent time analysing mailing performance through dashboards and Excel calculations, comparing current results with previous year's data.

Outcome: By using the chat-with-your-data feature, they simply asked questions in natural language and instantly received comparative mailing performance insights, eliminating the need for manual analysis. 

ROI and Business Impact Overview

• Positive ROI on AI investments in all cases from day 0
• A minimum 2% yearly donation uplift with a full rollout across all organisations, even though not all potential additional boost opportunities have been fully leveraged yet.
• Improved operational efficiency, despite requiring effort upfront for data setup and onboarding. This foundational work establishes a strong base for future automation, streamlining processes in the long term.

Future Developments

1. Mass personalisation at scale with humans in the loop

1. Analyse past communications for donor preferences by enriching data (incl. sentiment, content, visuals) and connect it with actual donor behaviour
2. Create data-driven, practically usable prompts to engage each and every donor personally
3. Scale from standard communication to cluster-based or even to 1:1 personalisation

2. Channel Integration is projected to double the performance by leveraging more context and cross-channel flexibility for the system
3. Move all solutions step by step to more autonomous agents to truly work alongside the fundraising team and deliver results and not just punctual support in the process

Our key learnings

1. AI implementation can be incremental while maintaining positive ROI
2. Natural language interfaces (chats) increase adoption across organisation levels
3. Data-driven decisions improve fundraising effectiveness
4. Small improvements compound into significant results
5. Organisational leadership needed to manage the rethinking of processes

Conclusion

This case study demonstrates that strategic AI implementation can deliver immediate value while building towards more sophisticated solutions. The success achieved by these three leading NPOs provides a blueprint for other organisations looking to enhance their fundraising efforts through AI adoption.