How ChatGPT Can Help Nonprofit Organizations
Introduction
Nonprofit organizations help many different people across all walks of life, and as such, they need solid processes in place to ensure the best service and attract donors to continue their operations. These processes include fundraising, marketing, grant accounting and writing, and producing reports detailing their financial standing and their programs’ success rates. ChatGPT is a boon to nonprofit organizations because it can help them produce their reports, create marketing campaigns, eliminate errors in grant proposals, among many others. By using ChatGPT, nonprofit organizations can save time on their day-to-day tasks while becoming more attractive to potential donors.
What is a Nonprofit Organization?
The terms “nonprofit” and “not-for-profit” sound similar and are often used interchangeably. However, they are vastly different in terms of structure and tax implications. Nonprofit organizations are dedicated to providing public benefits and serving a cause. Examples include charities, hospitals, and universities. As a result, they qualify for tax-exempt status by the IRS. Nonprofit organizations only distribute profits toward advancing their missions, so they must disclose all financial information to show donors how funds are being used. They are also exempt from paying taxes on money raised from fundraising efforts. Nonprofits earn 501( c )(3) status by the IRS. 501( c )(3) is the section of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code that stipulates nonprofits are tax-exempt by virtue of serving the public.
Not-for-profit organizations are similar to nonprofits in that they reinvest all profits into running the organization, however, they are not required to serve the public good. The NFL is an example of a not-for-profit organization, because it invests all profits into the organization, but does not serve a public cause. These organizations must apply for tax-exempt status, including exemptions from sales and property taxes. Not-for-profits also earn 501( c ) status by the IRS, but may fall under a different section depending on their purpose. Additionally, money donated to a not-for-profit cannot be deducted from a tax return, but money donated to a nonprofit can.
A for-profit organization exists to make money. Many, if not all businesses are for-profit organizations because they make money by selling products or services. For-profit and not-for-profit organizations will not be discussed in great detail in this post, but for-profit owners earn income from these organizations and may distribute the profits to investors and shareholders.
How Can ChatGPT Benefit Nonprofits?
There is no shortage of ways nonprofits can benefit from ChatGPT. One way is audience segmentation. Audience segmentation is a marketing technique to identify subgroups based on predetermined criteria to deliver tailored messages. Audiences can be segmented by age, ethnic group, education/income level, or religion, among others. In the context of media, audiences can also be segmented based on their interests and the types/subject matter of the content they interact with. ChatGPT can also create donor segments by any criteria specified simply by asking, “What are some donor segment my nonprofit can target?” ChatGPT can further facilitate audience segmentation by providing zip codes and/or income level as criteria, as those living in certain zip codes are more affluent than others. This information can be imported into Donorbox, a database for donor data, or a similar platform to store the data for future use and apply filters accordingly.
ChatGPT can also help nonprofits by creating personalized appeals. Studies show that personalized outreach efforts gain more traction. ChatGPT can produce an effective outreach appeal with few errors in a matter of seconds (although certain fields such as the addressee may need to be changed by the user). All that needs to be done is to ask ChatGPT to write an appeal containing the target (donors or volunteers), the type of organization (hospital, animal shelter, etc.), and the desired action (donations). However, when using ChatGPT to produce outreach appeals, it is important to use donor-centric language. Donor-centric language means showing readers how their support makes a difference rather than solely explaining what the organization does. ChatGPT may not produce appeals in the desired tone and voice, so it is important to use ChatGPT as a starting point rather than relying on it entirely. On a broader note, ChatGPT can also create marketing content and blog posts, as well as proper hashtags to follow. Nonprofits can use ChatGPT to produce content on a personal and a broader level for maximum reach and engagement.
Most importantly, ChatGPT can help nonprofits with preparing and analyzing their financial statements. As previously mentioned, nonprofits are required to publish their financial statements annually so that donors will know how their donations are being used and if the organization will continue to be worth donating to. ChatGPT can assist with producing financial statements as well as creating data visualizations detailing revenue, expenses, assets, and liabilities, among many others. Using ChatGPT for data visualizations provides donors transparency into organizations’ finances and it also helps the organizations themselves by showing where they are making or losing money and they can adjust accordingly.
Conclusion
Nonprofit organizations help people across all walks of life, and therefore need solid processes in place to attract donors and continue their operations. The benefits of ChatGPT are limitless and those mentioned in this post are far from exhaustive. ChatGPT can be an immense help to nonprofits by helping them reach donors and volunteers, analyze their finances, and many others. By using ChatGPT, nonprofits can improve and elevate their operations to propagate their missions so they can continue to help their communities.
