AI is a powerful tool that can help nonprofits solve some of the most pressing challenges they face, such as increasing efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing fundraising, improving communication, and delivering better outcomes for their beneficiaries. In this blog, we’ll explore some AI use cases for nonprofits, based on real-world projects by Valorem Reply.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not some far off concept reserved only for large companies with big budgets and technical maturity. It is a powerful and approachable tool that can help nonprofits solve some of the most pressing challenges they face, such as increasing efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing fundraising, improving communication, and delivering better outcomes for their beneficiaries.

But how can nonprofits leverage AI in their work? In this blog post, we’ll explore some AI use cases for nonprofits, based on real-world projects by Valorem Reply.

1. Fundraising and Urgent Appeal Letters

Developed in collaboration with the Microsoft Tech for Social Impact team, the Azure OpenAI-powered Nonprofit Virtual Assistant reduces the creative cycle typically associated with producing new donor, patron, or community communications. Using natural language processing technology, the Microsoft Teams-based assistant leverages a deep understanding of the nonprofit sector to provide relevant suggestions and guidance tailored to the unique context and objectives of your organization, enabling you to respond quickly to emerging needs and opportunities with impactful and persuasive funding request letters and urgent appeals. What might have taken an experienced communications resource over an hour to put together from scratch can now be cut down to a few minutes or less, allowing nonprofits to focus more skilled resource time on their core mission. Click here to learn more about this solution.

2. Sentiment Analysis and Opinion Mining

Another AI use case for nonprofits that Valorem Reply developed for CARE, an international humanitarian organization, is an Azure OpenAI-powered application for sentiment analysis and opinion mining on survey responses. CARE was looking for a more efficient way to analyze their data as they would receive data in various formats, making it hard to piece together and derive meaningful insights. That’s why we helped CARE leverage Azure OpenAI to map survey questions to sector-based standard indicators to get a count of individuals reached by each sector. The results overwhelmingly showed an exact match, and in some cases, identified areas where a human had failed to identify all impacted areas. With this new application, CARE has witnessed 20% higher accuracy in their data and has reduced manual mapping efforts by 40%. Overall, this application enables nonprofits to make more informed decisions that enhance their impact, efficiency, and customer experience. Learn more about this story here.

3. Recruitment

Nonprofits today can receive hundreds of applicants for a single role, making the candidate review process overwhelming and time-consuming for hiring managers. We worked with the Microsoft Tech for Social Impact team to demonstrate the art of what’s possible for Nonprofits using AI on this specific challenge. The resulting Recruitment Assistant is a game-changing custom AI-powered app tailored for nonprofit organizations. The Azure OpenAI-powered app analyzes resumes to understand, identify, and highlight key skills in alignment with the job requirements. By automating the resume screening process, the Recruitment Assistant saves valuable time and increases the precision of candidate selection, empowering non-profits to make better-quality hires while promoting diversity and fair hiring practices. Click here to learn more about this use case.

4. Customer Experience

AI can play a major role in improving customer experience. Valorem Reply partnered with a leading organization that provides crisis intervention and support services to victims of domestic violence to build an Azure OpenAI-powered Teams-based assistant designed to support end-user questions. This intelligent assistant provides an intuitive interface for end users to ask questions in natural language and obtain quick, accurate responses thereby streamlining workflows and accelerating service. Now, this organization can provide timely and accurate information to those who need it most.

5. Learning Agent

Another example of how AI can help nonprofits is with an AI learning agent. Valorem Reply built a learning agent for a global educational organization that produces high-quality content for children and families. The learning agent is a conversational interface that integrates with the organization's online platform and allows direct service providers who work with young children to access relevant resources in an interactive and personalized way. The learning agent uses natural language processing and machine learning to understand user queries, retrieve appropriate content, and provide feedback. By using the learning agent, direct service providers can save time, find the best content for their needs, and engage children in meaningful learning experiences. This solution can be applied to any nonprofit that wants to leverage AI to make their content more accessible and engaging for their target audiences.

6. Research Assistant

AI can also assist nonprofits with simplifying research needs. For example, Valorem Reply created a research assistant for a prominent cancer research organization that publishes state-of-the-art scientific papers. The research assistant is an AI copilot that can produce summaries of research papers in plain language, based on the title and abstract of the documents. The app relies on Azure OpenAI's Language Model to generate clear and precise summaries that can be useful for communication, education, or fundraising purposes. Nonprofits can use the research assistant to save time, increase efficiency, and make their research more understandable and accessible for all.

Conclusion
AI is a powerful tool that can help nonprofits achieve their goals and amplify their impact in the communities they serve. Whether it’s writing persuasive fundraising letters, analyzing survey data, or screening candidates, AI can automate and enhance many aspects of nonprofit operations and decision-making.

At Valorem Reply, we are passionate about empowering nonprofits with AI solutions that are tailored to their unique needs and challenges. We leverage our expertise in Azure OpenAI and other cloud technologies to deliver innovative and scalable AI solutions that can transform how nonprofits work and communicate. If you are interested in learning more about how AI can benefit your nonprofit organization, contact us today for a free consultation.