Kevin Peters is from Avid AI - Avid AI sits on top of the data to support marketing and fundraising

AI definitions for this session. There are four times of AI in the context of nonprofits:

• Machine Learning (ML)
• Large Language Models (LLMs)
• AI Agents
• Very Scary Robots

He won’t be talking about the last two types (he’ll only discuss ML and LLMs)

ML

ML takes 3 key forms in today’s nonprofit software

• segmentation
• projections
• personalization

The more donors share the more they give. This includes if they share to multiple organizations. If they share to multiple organizations, they’ll give more to all organizations.

There is a potential problem with the current ML models. ROI is 80 cents on the dollar.

• For nonprofits nationally (globally?) fewer and fewer donors are providing the majority of the revenue.

ML Models should be made if they’ll

• reduce cost
• improve personalization –> key area to future growth

Realistically, you should have 5K+ donors in order to create a good model (rough estimate). Also, are you collecting enough and the right data to make a good model?

What are segments worth modeling?

• those who are likely to respond (direct mail, text, calling)
• those who are likely to upgrade
• those who are likely to give a recurring gifts
• those who are in affinity groups

Technology to consider:

• Fundraise Up
  • Smart Donation Amount Adjustments
  • Overcoming cart abandonment
• Wiland
• Donor Bureau
• Dataro

LLMs

There is a definite problem with scraping the internet for data.

LLMs didn’t know what good looked like.

Remember you market to your actual donor pool.

LLMs are good for:

• Summarizing donor reports
• Write fundraising copy
• Scale personalization
• Let the LLM become the fundraiser

Technology to consider:

• Zapier
• ChatGPT
• Avid (presenter self-promotion)

General Advice and Pitfalls with Marketing

• Do they like text or images more?
• How would they like to get their communication?
• Most major donors give a first gift of <$250.
• Ask an AI client for help overcoming behavioral psychology issues.
• Grok is better for marketing copy

People give to people!!!

• Is the LLM removing “the people”?

A Technology to Know About

• Version2.ai - AI bot that can build relationships with donors. Basically acts like

Next up is Barbara Villasenor telling the story of how the Inter-Belief Network (IBN) formed at Google.

Disclaimer - She is not speaking on behalf of Google.

I’ll let you listen to her story through the recap.

Four lessons she’s learned through her work at Google and building IBN

• Fear has to go. Pray.
• Things will/must happen on God’s timeline. Slow down. Pray.
• Love others with the love of Jesus.
• Find a mentor and be a mentor.

Now Gareth Russell from Jersey Road is discussing that the tide is turning for Christian organizations.

The US is going post-Christian. Europe is already post-post-Christian.

Christians need to:

1. tell positive stories of what Christianity is doing.
2. [missed this one]
3. get really good at saying I’m sorry for Christian abuses of power.

BUT… things are shifting!

He thinks the church is in a much better place than we often describe or discuss.

• [This aligns with Kinnaman’s description of you people and men increasing their belief.)

Here’s why Christian organizations will thrive in the near future:

• Spiritual purpose will soon be thought of as better than doing good.
  • Don’t tone down your Christianness
• Authenticity is a priority. It resonates with the media. The world wants authenticity.
  • Authenticity is a superpower.
• Identify fosters loyalty, especially our Christian identity.
  • We should be humble.
  • We should be less bothered about building our brand and more bothered by building trust.

The next keynote is a panel discussion with:

• Jacob Bullock
• Daniel Wilson
• Damien Daspit
• Caleb Bruce (panel facilitator)

This session is all about bible translation, which I find interesting, but I won’t be taking notes on this one.

Be back during the next keynote.

To start of the afternoon sessions, Richard Zhang opened us in prayer. He’ll be discussing how the technologies we develop should and can point to Jesus.

Founder of Christians in AI

Industry 5.0 is currently happening (started in 2020)

Autoraters are/have replaced humans as the feedback/raters. They rate how good a summary was.

Reasoning has empowered agentic workflows

Reasoning should

Based on the upside-down triangle photo, there are ways we can train our models. He will focus on prompt engineering.

• Rubric design
  • large prompt design because models are becoming more resilient to prompting
• Automatic Prompt Optimization (see photo for the paper that drives his work)

Agentic workflows aren’t taking value away from humans.

• They are showing the ways that we place value on things that aren’t of biblical importance.
  • His example was AI Agents being able to review academic papers just like human reviewers.

Some say

• AI will make us Gods (or like God)
• AI will make us useless

But if we use it well, it will enable us to do the redemptive work of God