Fundraising.AI
Episode 58
Episode 58 - Courage: From Fear to Forward Motion in the Age of AI with Mallory Erickson
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OVERVIEW
In today’s rapidly evolving landscape of technology, Artificial Intelligence isn’t just another tool but is becoming a part of the framework of how we live and work. But with that realization comes the question: What does it mean to use AI responsibly? How do we balance innovation with impact? And what happens if we let fear get in our way of engaging with AI at all? In this episode, Mallory Erickson and Nathan Chappell will dive into those tensions. Their aim is not to have all the answers but to explore the importance of curiosity, experimentation, and value-driven decision-making.
Mallory Erickson is a former fundraiser, keynote speaker, author, and host of What the Fundraising, and the creator of Practivated, the first-ever AI-powered donor conversation simulator. She helps fundraisers navigate the overlap of strategy, coaching, and behavior design so they can focus on the most human aspects of their work: connecting. She has helped more than 60,000 fundraisers raise more with less burnout, overwhelm, and more alignment. She is also a firm believer that the nonprofit sector has the capacity to address the problems of the world.
In this conversation, Mallory and Nathan find themselves discussing the following topics regarding the use and creation of responsible AI: the role of AI in solving fundraising challenges, the combination of curiosity, collaboration, and experimentation, the balance between innovation and responsibility, the fear of the unknown, the risk of not using AI at all. Mallory further explains the creation of Practivated and its impact on building fundraising confidence.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
- [04.19] Exploring the potential of AI in solving fundraising challenges.
- [09.08] Developing responsible AI tools for fundraising.
- [16.21] Curiosity, Collaboration, and experimentation.
- [21.27] The development of Practivated, a tool for building fundraising confidence through AI.
- [29.53] The balance between innovation and responsibility.
- [36.25] The risk of not trying to use AI at all.
TIPS AND TOOLS TO IMPLEMENT TODAY
- Stay curious about new AI tools and possibilities.
- Question and explore potential risks that could come with new AI tools thoughtfully.
- Focus on finding responsible solutions to integrate AI.
- Build tools that align with your values.
- Surround yourself with interdisciplinary friends who motivate and challenge you.
- Use accessible tools and platforms to prototype.
- You may not be able to estimate responsibility fully before you prototype. Build first, then audit.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- Allie K MIller's Linkedin Learning AI Course
- ChatGPT4 accurately predicts human behavior in social experiments at 85%, across genders, races, and political affiliations.
- AI Adoption Is Driving Real Top - And Bottom-Line Impact For Enterprises (Gartner)
- Gen AI is hitting a trough of disillusionment (Gartner Hype Cycle)
- A new AI Pendant created to combat loneliness
- AI-first organizations
- More departures at OpenAI
- OpenAI's GPT-5 is coming out soon. Here's what to expect.
FAVORITE QUOTES
- “I feel like I have this mix of that insatiable curiosity and unrelenting worry.” – Mallory Erickson
- “I don't really believe that something is good or bad. I'm always like, what does it take to make something good? What does it take to make something responsible, to make something beneficial?” – Mallory Erickson
- “It will break my heart if our solution to fundraiser burnout is to replace them with robots.” – Mallory Erickson
- “People talk about AI as a black box. But for me, it felt like digestible.” – Mallory Erickson
- “The ability for generative AI to have perfect recall, to take in all the context and be able to recall it instantly, is beyond what most people can comprehend.” – Nathan Chappell
- I'm not going to be able to figure out what the responsible version of this looks like until I create a version.”
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MEET YOUR HOSTS
Nathan Chappell
As a thought leader, public speaker, author and inventor, Nathan is one of the world’s foremost experts on the intersection between Artificial Intelligence and philanthropy. Nathan serves as Senior Vice President of DonorSearch AI, where he leads AI deployments for some of the nation’s largest nonprofit organizations. Nathan’s subject matter expertise has been featured in several publications, including Fast Company, University of Notre Dame and the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy. In 2021, Nathan founded Fundraising.Ai as a member-centric collaboration of nonprofit professionals with a focus on data ethics, data equality, privacy and security, sustainability. Nathan presented the first TEDx on the topic of artificial intelligence and the future of generosity in 2018. Nathan is a member of the Forbes Technology Council and holds a Masters in Nonprofit Administration from University of Notre Dame, an MBA from University of Redlands, a certificate in International Economics from University of Cambridge and a certificate in Artificial Intelligence from MIT.
Scott Rosenkrans
Scott Rosenkrans is the Assistant Vice President of DonorSearch Ai and has been with the organization for three years. He began his journey in the nonprofit sector twelve years ago as a prospect researcher. He quickly became fascinated with data as he noticed the organization that he previously worked for was amassing a wealth of information but was unsure how to efficiently use the data and resources to its full potential. This led him to become interested in predictive modeling and data analytics. During this time, he began to create an immense commitment to delivering tailor-made machine learning models to nonprofits.
The thing that Scott loves most about working for DonorSearch is the ability to prioritize what is best for the client and nonprofit sector above all else. He believes that growth is our most important core value because the DSAi team continuously evolves and brings a unique perspective that provides value to our clients. He stays ahead of industry trends because of his insatiable drive to constantly try out new things.
Favorite nonprofit: Shriner’s Children Hospital because of their extreme commitment to providing exceptional medical care, while also alleviating the financial burdens on families.
