Weekly Challenge – March 4, 2024
This week’s challenge — using ChatGPT to help your fundraising.
Organizer:
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Mid-week Check In
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Mid-week Check In
Happy hump day friends! Checking in to see how many times you’ve turned to ChatGPT for some help so far this week. Let me know in the comments below.
AND!
I turned to chatGPT to create a list of ways YOU can use chatGPT in your fundraising life. The list is below (annotated with my thoughts in italics and in parens).
But first the prompt I gave chatGPT:
Can you create a list of 25 ways a fundraiser can use ChatGPT to help with their fundraising?
Your examples should be things fundraisers do every day. I’m not looking for big picture things like “create a fundraising campaign.” But rather small, tactical things a fundraiser does every day that ChatGPT can help make faster.
I’m looking for examples like “create 10 captivating subject lines for a fundraising email” or “create 10 powerful first sentences for a donor thank you note” or “summarize this long article in three sentences — so you can use it for an e-news story.”
For each item, please write a sentence that explains how ChatGPT can help. Or why using ChatGPT for the task is smarter and faster.And here’s what I got back
1. **Generate Captivating Email Subject Lines**: ChatGPT can swiftly produce a variety of creative and compelling email subject lines to increase open rates for fundraising campaigns.
2. **Craft Powerful Thank-You Note Openers**: With ChatGPT, you can quickly create heartfelt opening sentences for thank-you notes that make your donors feel truly appreciated.
3. **Summarize Articles for Newsletters**: ChatGPT can condense lengthy articles into concise summaries, saving time and making newsletter creation more efficient.
4. **Develop Fundraising Pitch Ideas**: ChatGPT can brainstorm multiple fundraising pitch angles, giving fundraisers a creative starting point for their campaigns.
5. **Create Social Media Post Templates**: Generate engaging social media templates with ChatGPT that can be easily customized for different fundraising appeals. (I LOVE using chatGPT for this).
6. **Write Event Invitation Copy**: Save time with ChatGPT by producing persuasive and inviting copy for fundraising event invitations.
7. **Formulate Donor Survey Questions**: ChatGPT can help design thoughtful survey questions to gather valuable donor feedback. (Great idea, but make sure you tell chatGPT you want questions that are donor focused and not org. focused! And ask for at least twice as many as you’d use in a survey.)
8. **Compose Impactful Stories for Appeals**: Leverage ChatGPT to write compelling stories that illustrate the impact of donations, enhancing appeal narratives. (Again, your mileage may very here … better to use the chatGPT content as a quick first draft for you to improve upon.)
9. **Generate Fundraising Strategy Ideas**: ChatGPT can offer innovative fundraising strategy suggestions tailored to your organization’s mission and goals.
10. **Write Press Releases for Fundraising Events**: Quickly create professional press releases for your fundraising events with ChatGPT’s writing capabilities.
11. **Craft Fundraising Call Scripts**: Use ChatGPT to develop effective call scripts that fundraisers can use during donor outreach. (YES!)
12. **Produce Donor Engagement Questions**: Generate meaningful questions with ChatGPT to deepen conversations with donors during meetings.
13. **Develop Grant Proposal Outlines**: ChatGPT can assist in structuring grant proposals, ensuring all key elements are addressed.
14. **Prepare Donor Profile Summaries**: ChatGPT can help synthesize donor data into comprehensive profiles for personalized engagement strategies.
15. **Create Fundraising Blog Post Ideas**: Brainstorm with ChatGPT to come up with unique and relevant blog post topics that can drive traffic and interest.
16. **Generate Fundraising Taglines**: Use ChatGPT’s creativity to quickly devise catchy taglines that capture the essence of your fundraising campaign.
17. **Compile Donor Acknowledgment Lists**: ChatGPT can assist in organizing and formatting lists of donors to acknowledge in reports and on your website.
18. **Formulate Responses to Donor Inquiries**: Draft courteous and informative responses to common donor questions with ChatGPT’s assistance.
19. **Write Donation Page Content**: Enhance your donation page with compelling content written by ChatGPT to encourage contributions. (YES!)
20. **Develop Direct Mail Letters**: ChatGPT can help create personalized direct mail letters, making large mail campaigns more manageable. (Again … it’s a lot more likely that chatGPT will give you a bad fundraising letter that’s just like all the other bad fundraising letters out there. So either DON’T do this, or use the draft as a very rough first draft to get you past the dreaded blank page.)
21. **Create Monthly Donor Update Templates**: Generate templates for monthly donor updates with ChatGPT, ensuring consistent and engaging communication.
22. **Produce Fundraising FAQ Sections**: ChatGPT can compile a list of FAQs for your fundraising page to preemptively answer potential donor questions.
23. **Draft Speeches for Fundraising Events**: Save time writing speeches for events by collaborating with ChatGPT for content ideas and drafting. (YES! Love this.)
24. **Prepare Impact Report Narratives**: ChatGPT can aid in writing narratives for impact reports that highlight successes and stories of change.
25. **Generate Ideas for Donor Recognition**: Come up with creative ways to recognize donors with ChatGPT’s brainstorming abilities.
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11 Replies
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Ther eyou go @carmen-rey! Subject lines can be such a bore … and such a bear (at the same time, which is kinda hard to do!).
What’ll you do with the time chatGPT saves you?
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More time to soak up some of this (nearly) springtime sun!
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Now that’s the ticket. I might cut out a few minutes early and put some softballs on the batting tee so my daughter can get some batting practice 🙂
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My first fundraising prompt. write a 2-page donor report letter to the Jennings foundation that is hear-warming and written in a female voice that thanks the donor for making a difference in the lives of children in their community by supporting the Music in the Mountains Youth Orchestra.
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I changed donor report to donor-centric report and it made significant improvements to the letter.
Here’s what I got (a little too much flowery language, but a great start):
Dear [Recipient Name],
I hope this letter finds you well and filled with the same warmth and joy your generosity has brought to our hearts and community. It is with immense gratitude and joy that I reach out to express our deepest appreciation for the profound impact The Jennings Foundation has made through your support of the Music in the Mountains Youth Orchestra.
Your commitment to nurturing the talents and dreams of our young musicians has created ripples of hope and inspiration that extend far beyond the notes they play. Through your generous contributions, you have provided the gift of music to children who may have never had the opportunity to experience its transformative power otherwise.
As we reflect on the past year, I am overwhelmed by the countless moments of joy, growth, and camaraderie witnessed within our orchestra. Your support has allowed us to create a safe and inclusive space where children from all walks of life come together to learn, grow, and create beautiful music.
I wish you could see the sparkle in their eyes as they master a challenging piece or the sense of pride that radiates from them as they take the stage to perform for their friends, family, and community. Your belief in their potential has not only fueled their passion for music but has also instilled in them a sense of confidence and self-worth that will stay with them for a lifetime.
It is often said that music has the power to heal, inspire, and unite. Thanks to your generosity, we have witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of music on the lives of our young musicians. They have not only honed their musical skills but have also developed important life skills such as teamwork, resilience, and empathy, which will serve them well in all aspects of their lives.
As we look ahead to the future, we are filled with hope and excitement for the endless possibilities that lie ahead for our orchestra and the children we serve. Your continued support and belief in our mission mean the world to us and serve as a constant reminder of the difference that can be made when individuals come together with a shared vision and purpose.
In closing, please accept our heartfelt thanks for your unwavering support and dedication to our cause. Your generosity has touched the lives of countless children in our community and has helped to shape a brighter, more harmonious future for us all.
With deepest gratitude and warmest regards,
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My second prompt: write a 2-page donor-centric report letter to a foundation that is hear-warming and written in a female voice that thanks the donor for making a difference in the lives of children in their community by supporting the Music in the Mountains after school music lessons and purchasing violins and violas.
Because I used this program, I wrote two reports in about an hour, which would have taken me half a day or more if I had done it without Chat GPT’s help.
I spent my time editing and adding a personal story to the letter instead of trying to write it from scratch. It was well worth stepping out of my comfort zone to do this.
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Yay Jenny! So glad you got quality first drafts done quickly – and spent the rest of the time doing something to ‘make it better!’
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Great list! One of my favs is to combine ChatGPT with Canva! I asked it to help me create 20 social media posts — took about ten minutes. I told it what I do, who I work for, our mission, and asked for 20 quotes for social media. I uploaded the list to Canva, used the bulk create app and voila! (below is just an example, not edited, wrong font, etc.)
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Oh this is awesome @marti-thomas! I need to play around with Canva and the AI tools it has built in. The bulk upload is also new to me! How else do you use Canva?
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You can also use bulk create for Reels too! And mailings, reply cards, appeals, etc. I use Canva for a LOT, it’s almost replace Word for me and definitely Publisher.
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