All aboard the ai train!
Hop on or miss out.
90% of nonprofit organizations are utilizing AI in their engagement initiatives. (Nonprofit PRO)
59% of schools are exploring AI in some fashion. (Veracross)
There is no data available for summer camps. (Google)
AI is everywhere and if your organization has not yet punched its ticket, now is the time to explore what tactics may/may not work.
Marketing professionals are tasked with balancing impactful messaging, prompting engagement, raising more money, meeting the exponentially growing demand for personalized communication, all the while with limited human resources.
Let’s work smarter, not harder.
Why AI?
For the purposes of marketing and communications, AI is a tool for:
Organizing your thoughts: Your message can’t be everywhere targeting everyone all of the time. We are not Coca-Cola or Google. Need a campaign outline? Ask for one.
Improving voice and tone consistency: Maintain a unified voice across platforms, even if one professional is charged with Facebook and another is charged with blog writing.
Analyzing data: Recently conducted a survey? Plug the results into AI. Remove all personal identifiers.
Optimizing Resource Allocation: Focus staff efforts on creative and strategic tasks rather than repetitive ones.
Increasing Efficiencies: Save time by automating tedious tasks like proofreading.
Write a first draft yourself. If your first drafts are routinely perfect, you are the exception, not the rule. Your first draft is your brainstorm. Your thinking draft. Your first crack.
Looking at a blank page? Ask AI to create an outline and fill it in yourself.
The list of practical applications is extensive, but let’s look at a few ways to actually use AI.
Check appeal or brochure copy for consistent tense, voice + tone, grammar, and spelling. Even if multiple people wrote text, it should all be in one voice.
Create an outline for a welcome sequence for inquiring visitors. Again, an outline to help structure your thinking.
Generate headings and meta tags to update your website CMS. SEO does need a refresh every so often.
Turn blogs into a series of social media posts or carousels. Why reinvent the wheel?
Create subject lines to A/B test. Your audience is selective and fickle. Make no assumptions.
Who are the people opening and not opening your emails? Are there trending characteristics of each group?
Summarize open-ended feedback from a survey, and pull out the positive and constructive themes.
There are so many AI tools! What do I use? There are personal preference, budget, style, and need considerations.
Monitor trends and engagement using OwlyWriter or WriteSonic.
Enhance readability and consistency with Grammarly and Hemingway .
Edit photos and videos quickly with tools like Canva and DALL-E.
Craft a social media campaign using OwlyWriter, WriteSonic
Refine your SEO with SurferSEO
Looking for an all-in-one? Try ChatGPT, Gemini, Pi, and Claude.
Let’s remember that while AI offers immense potential, there are limitations to keep in mind:
Nuanced Understanding: AI lacks deep insight into your organization’s unique mission and community culture.
Conflicting Information: Cross-referenced data may not always be accurate.
Privacy Concerns: Safeguard donor and family data with robust policies.
Consumer Behavior: If you don’t provide enough detail, AI will assume that all audiences are the same. A Gen X audience responds differently and has varied preferences than Gen Z, for example.
To get the most out of AI, train it! Feed your AI tools with a detailed brief about your organization’s mission, values, target audience, and goals. Use these insights to fine-tune outputs and maintain alignment with your brand. Each time you enter a prompt, tell your tool of choice your role, goals, and how you are going to use the information you are asking for.
AI is not going away any time soon, so find a seat and enjoy the ride. Figure out what role AI can play in your work and on your team, and embrace it. Think of AI as your smartest assistant, freeing up time and resources so you can focus on what truly matters: building relationships and amplifying your mission. You aren’t replacing creativity or authenticity. You are enhancing your capabilities, making data-driven decisions, and maximizing impact.
