It was science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke who said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” For nonprofits, digital giving platforms will become ever-more magical—and effective—as technology continues its rapid advance. What’s on the horizon, you ask?
In the coming decade, a number of technology trends are likely to intersect with nonprofit digital giving, creating new opportunities for donor engagement, fundraising, and recurring giving. Generational shifts will also mean that today’s younger givers—digital natives who demand speed, authenticity, and impact visibility, and enjoy social media, gamification, and influencer-led giving—will take over as primary nonprofit supporters.
As part of Payroc, a leading global payments company, Roc Giving is future-looking, always enhancing our platform to ensure that the nonprofits we serve have access to the cutting-edge technologies that can best support their missions. This article offers a peek behind the development curtain to help you understand and prepare for what’s coming. After all, the more you know, the more nimbly you can continue to adjust and retool your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy for long-term success. In particular, we encourage you to be on the watch for AI-powered personalization, text-to-give 2.0, subscription-based philanthropy, and more robust donor-advised funding to emerge. Let’s take a look.
Increasingly, donation asks will become hyper-targeted based on donor behaviors, values, and giving levels. And it’s the magic of AI data analysis that will make this possible. For example, already in the near-term, AI will be used to tailor email subject lines, ask amounts, and messaging tone to match donor profiles. In the future, AI could even be used to dynamically display different donation page banners or suggested donation amounts based on who’s visiting, instantly generate custom thank-you videos using donor names and impact data, and calculate “propensity to give” scores.
Similarly, look for AI chatbots that will be able to help tailor donation appeals. Imagine a donor having a live conversation with a fluent chatbot that can ask pertinent questions, offer up giving options that match their interests, suggest giving levels, and more.
Personalization works because it attends to what donors truly care about. The more you can target your communications and asks to donor preferences, the more likely you are to increase engagement and loyalty, in turn growing funding.
Text giving may already be a standard digital giving platform feature, but it’s still an exceptionally effective fundraising tool for nonprofits. If you’re not already using it, we encourage you to give it a try.
On the horizon we see the next generation of text giving, moving beyond SMS to WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and other platforms. With these services, donors will be taken on integrated campaign journeys that might include updates, thank-yous, surveys, and more via message threads. Also think voice notes, video asks, and influencer-led campaigns.
Again, chatbot two-way conversations with mobile wallet integration, prefilled forms, voice-to-donate via Siri and Google Assistant, text-to-pledge campaigns with gamified follow-up, and more will take text-to-give to the next level. Done well, it will feel tailored, special, and engaging to many donors.
Also on the digital giving horizon is subscription-based philanthropy. A form of recurring giving, subscription-based philanthropy reimagines monthly giving and updates its features and benefits for digital natives. While monthly giving can be a passive transaction, subscription-based philanthropy is more engaging and values-driven. It’s an experience, not just a monthly payment.
Think Netflix- or Spotify-like user experiences and transparency, with tailored giving recommendations, customized impact dashboards, exclusive content, community perks, and more donor control and visibility. Look for mobile-native giving subscriptions, bundled giving, group giving circles, gamification, and AI-curated giving paths—all magical developments in donor engagement and recurring giving.
Digital giving tools will allow donor-advised giving to flourish as well. Donor-advised funds (DAF) allow individual donors to set up a charitable fund with a third-party institution like an online brokerage or community foundation. This allows donors to access immediate tax benefits and decide how to disperse the money later. It also consolidates their charitable giving and accounting, allows funds to grow tax-free, and can be used for family giving. Then donors choose to recommend grants from that fund to the nonprofit of their choice. With DAFs, it’s as if each donor can have their own mini foundation. And what’s more magical than that?
Soon, nonprofits will be able to request DAF grants via buttons on their website (with, say, a custom landing page for DAF givers) or digital giving platform. AI will help identify DAF prospects, personalize appeals for DAF holders, automate monthly or annual grants, and create impact dashboards for DAF donors. With DAFs and AI, the possibilities are endless.
Roc Giving is an ideal digital giving platform for small to midsized nonprofits in need of an easy-to-use yet smart, features-rich fundraising tool. Our mission is to help nonprofits with your missions, and our dedicated support team—not chatbots but actual human experts—are standing by to offer assistance whenever you need it. Looking to the future, we are committed to building in ever-more advanced technology to better serve you and your donors in the years to come. Visit https://payroc.com/solutions/roc-giving/ or contact us at rocgiving@payroc.com to get started.