# AI & machine learning in CRM systems – opportunities & benefits for charities

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/01/13/ai-machine-learning-in-crm-systems-opportunities-benefits-for-charities/
- Published: 2021-01-13T10:25:14+00:00
- Author: Melanie May

**While we tend to think first of robots and self-driving cars when we think of 
AI, in fact, along with its subset machine learning, it’s already firmly established
in our lives – making many everyday tasks easier and experiences smarter without
us even really noticing. But how is it helping charities?**

 

In our consumer lives, Siri, for example, uses voice processing to enable it to 
act as a virtual PA, and lots of retailers now use machine-learning algorithms to
provide recommended products. It even plays a key role in filtering out the spam
in our inboxes.

## Advertisement

 

The charity sector is also starting to use these technologies more, and one area
they’re proving of benefit is in CRM systems and the tech they link to.

 

 

 

#### Chatbots & digital assistants

 

For a start, Keith Collins, Senior Consultant at [Adapta Consulting](https://www.adaptaconsulting.co.uk/)
says:

 

> “Used with chatbots, telephony, and direct messaging, AI can, without human intervention,
> start to understand clients’ needs at a very early stage based on key words, and
> enable particular resources to be presented through the web, and to identify if
> there is a need to involve a human. This happens in the commercial world all the
> time, and there are a lot of potential applications here for charities too.”

 

Last summer for example, Versus Arthritis introduced its [COVA](https://www.versusarthritis.org/get-help/cova/)
chatbot to help give people with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions easy access
to relevant information relating to Covid-19. And, in collaboration with the British
Society for Rheumatology (BSR), it also launched BSR-COVA: a similar chatbot for
healthcare professionals.

 

 

 

![](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2018-02-09-at-07.39.40.
png)

WaterAid Sellu chatbot in action

 

WaterAid has [also used a chatbot](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/02/09/wateraid-chatbot-links-supporters-benefitting-communities/)
to engage and fundraise, introducing people to Sellu, a farmer and fisherman from
a remote village in Sierra Leone as part of its Untapped appeal. Through a mixture
of messages, photos and video content, Sellu introduced users to his home and family.
The chatbot also provided updates on water and sanitation infrastructures being 
built with help from WaterAid supporters, with users ultimately asked if they would
like to donate to the appeal.

 

Elsewhere, in 2018 the British Heart Foundation became the first UK charity to launch
an [Alexa skill](https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/donate/alexa). This enables
supporters to make a one-off donation through Amazon Pay or to organise a collection
of unwanted furniture and electrical items through voice commands. [At the time](https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/news-archive/2018/october/the-british-heart-foundation-becomes-the-first-uk-charity-to-collect-donations-through-amazon-alexa),
the charity’s Chief Executive Simon Gillespie said:

 

> “More people than ever own a digital assistant like Amazon Echo and it’s really
> exciting for our supporters to be able to use their device to support life saving
> heart research. We’re constantly adapting as an organisation to be where our supporters
> are and to give people choice to make donating as easy as possible.”

 

And last year, voice technology company, [Say It Now](https://www.sayitnow.ai/) 
teamed up with digital advertising exchange DAX to enable people to [respond to radio ads](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/10/06/alexa-radio-ads-let-people-donate-direct-charity/)
on their Alexa-enabled smart speaker and use voice commands to find out more about
a charity to donate directly to it, with NSPCC, RNIB, Crisis, Macmillan Cancer Support
and Global’s Make Some Noise among those set to use it.

 

 

 

#### Predictive modelling benefits

 

AI can also be used in CRM systems to help charities build predictive models, working
out which donors might have a greater propensity to become regular or major donors
for example, and who therefore to contact with which messages.

 

 

 

![keyboard](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2021/01/christian-wiediger-WkfDrhxDMC8-
unsplash-1-1.jpg)

 

 

 

[Salesforce](https://www.salesforce.com/uk/) says it has built AI into all its applications
to help charities make interactions smarter, through Salesforce Einstein. It believes
that the potential benefit from using machine learning and AI may be even greater
for individual non-profits than for commercial businesses.

 

> “As non-profits are often strapped for resources and time, targeting the right
> individuals is critical. Even with adequate research, it can be hard to understand
> which individuals will have a strong enough affinity to an organisation to make
> a major gift.
> “Imagine a combination of data on your donors’ giving history with a wealth engine
> tool that could provide predictive insights, built in to your organisation’s CRM
> where you can run the analysis with a click of a button.”
> “Machine learning can be used to analyse patterns and predict the actions that
> individuals will take, such as open, click through, or unsubscribe when sent an
> email. The results can then be used to build smarter segments and journeys. A 
> constituent unlikely to open an email can be sent a text, as an example, if this
> would result in a higher likelihood of engagement.”

 

 

 

#### Barriers to uptake

 

Certainly there’s a lot of potential for charities to benefit from AI and machine
learning, so what’s stopping more from using them? Often, it boils down to technology
and data issues.

 

Adapta Consulting’s Collins says:

 

> “A lot of non-profit organisations have tech challenges to work out. Mid-sized
> organisations can have the biggest ones. They don’t have the economies of scale
> of larger organisations or their lightness of foot, which is shared by smaller
> organisations who have smaller teams, no legacy system to deal with, and are often
> making their first foray into tools so there’s less inertia. Although these of
> course don’t always have the experience and knowledge to go and get the right 
> tech mix.”

 

But, he adds:

 

> “Leveraging AI tools also only works as well as the underlying data they have 
> access to, and lots of organisations have data in disparate places.”

 

David Simpson, CTO at [Beacon CRM](https://www.beaconcrm.org/), agrees data is key–
and not only having it one place, but having enough of it.

 

> “From a CRM point of view, charities need to bring all of their data together –
> from volunteer, to beneficiary, and fundraising data – and then we can do interesting
> things.”
> “We can use it to build predictive models about whether an organisation will win
> a grant, or the lifetime value of a donor based on their past supporter behaviour,
> for example. We know how to do that and the technology is there, but the only 
> way we can build these models is if we have all that data.”

 

He notes that many smaller organisations don’t necessarily have it in volume, something
perhaps that greater collaboration within the sector could help with in terms of
the sharing of anonymised data.

 

Either way, bringing your data together is the key to organisations of any size 
being able to take up the opportunities available now – both in terms of CRM, and
AI – as well as those to come in the future. Simpson’s advice is this:

 

> “Get your data ducks in a row. Prepare – get your data sorted within your organisation,
> make sure your CRM is flexible and that data flows into it, and if you’re doing
> those things, you will see a benefit.”

 

 

 

#### More help with CRM for charities:

 

[Beginner’s Guide to CRM for Charities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/01/06/beginners-guide-to-crm-systems-for-charities/)
6 January 2020

 

[How to convince your boss to invest in a CRM](https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/01/06/how-to-convince-your-boss-to-invest-in-a-crm/)
6 January 2020

 

[Oxfam’s Nicola Tallett on Salesforce’s Nonprofit Cloud](https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/01/07/oxfams-nicola-tallett-on-salesforces-nonprofit-cloud/)
7 January 2020

 

 

 

Main image by [Ash Edmonds](https://unsplash.com/@badashproducts?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)
on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/computer?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)