The AI Problem No One Is Talking About
Imagine this:
You need to call customer service to reschedule a doctor’s appointment.
The voice on the line answers quickly (yay) to tell you that this is an automated call service (a.k.a. a robot or AI) and you need to answer their questions first.
You think, fine, perhaps the AI system can get you rescheduled quickly, but turns out, after supplying all your information, it cannot.
So you get redirected to hold until a human can answer the call. Someone finally does and asks you the same information the AI just asked you.
You share the information again, and the person is able to handle your scheduling needs within a minute.
Let’s think of another scenario:
You receive a text message. It’s from [insert any politician’s name here], reminding you to vote, since the election is only a few weeks away.
You think to yourself, Self, did you subscribe to this politician’s email or text list? Did you ever donate money to them? Do you even follow them or their campaign on social media?
No, you never did.
We’re in a stage where there is not a lot of privacy. Your information is shared, and people do not always trust others.
And the same goes for nonprofits.
I recently was chatting with a colleague at a large international nonprofit. He was telling me about how they wanted to incorporate new systems of AI to thank their donors.
That’s right – a robot to thank a person. Literally, it would say, Hi, I’m a chatbot from XYZ Nonprofit, and I’m here to thank you for your recent gift.
Does that make you feel warm and appreciated? Because I wouldn’t.
So I asked further: Are you using this tool so it can happen quicker?
He replied: No, not really; we can automate thank-yous that look like they’re coming from a real person just as quickly.
I then asked: Does the AI personalize the thank you? Would it be able to track where the donor was on the website (like a specific page about a specific program) before they made their online donation? Or can it tell if they came from Facebook or an email and then share more information about what the tracker knows about the person in the message?
Answer: Huh, no, it’s just a form thank you.
So this all really had me thinking. At this stage (and a few years from now, I may be proved wrong), I believe that people want to be thanked by people. Donors want to know their giving mattered. And (as of today in 2026) robots and AI don’t yet have feelings. They can’t yet tell if something is meaningful. They can’t understand impact.
So why would you thank your donors that way?
Decisions like these are often made with great intention. But the key is to be really strategic and align on goals, purposes, and overall readiness. It can be tricky, but this is the work we do with our clients all the time.
Now, I know that younger donors often don’t want to pick up a phone to ask a question and just want to find the information online. I get it. I really do. These generational differences are important to consider and understand the nuances.
But when there is a question, it is SO frustrating when you can’t find a phone number to call a real person who could answer your question in less than 3 minutes.
So how can you help your donor to have a better experience?
Consider the number one rule around donor relations that you probably already know, but no one wants to say out loud:
Don’t piss off your donors.
And here’s special rule number 2 that you definitely know, but sometimes might forget:
Donors don’t have to give.
So when they’re frustrated, when they’re annoyed, they can choose to do anything else instead of donating to YOUR nonprofit.
And when they do give, you want to make sure you follow rule number 3:
People want to be celebrated. People want to feel great about their decision. People want to feel like they are doing something good.
You want to know what won’t make them feel good?
A robot thanking them.