Major gifts fundraisers are spending increasing amounts of time on tasks that take them away from donors. That's where AI can make a real difference. Used well, it can reduce repetitive administration, speed up research, improve first drafts and support as a strategic thinking partner freeing up more time for the conversations and relationships that secure transformational gifts.

Technology won't build donor relationships. People will. But fundraisers who learn to use AI well will have more time, better preparation and stronger decision-making.

Prospect research can involve hours of reviewing various documents and information before you've even started to think strategically about whether someone should be prioritised.

This is where AI can make a real difference. It can help summarise public information, identify potential affinity, prepare donor briefings, highlight possible warm connections and organise research in minutes rather than hours.

AI can help major gifts fundraisers prepare more effectively. It can build briefing notes, suggest questions, test objections, create cultivation plans and structure post-meeting follow-up.

But there is a line it cannot cross. It cannot judge trust. It cannot read the room. It cannot decide whether the timing is right.
And it should never be treated as a substitute for data protection, ethical judgement or relationship insight.

The most useful application of AI in pipeline management is not producing another summary. It is turning existing information into decisions.

Which relationships need action now?Which prospects are stuck or being over cultivated? Where is income at risk? Is the forecast realistic? Where are ownership, stewardship or next steps unclear?

These are management questions. They require evidence, judgement and, often, a willingness to challenge the story the organisation has been telling itself about the pipeline.

Often fundraising reports are full of activity but the conversation still comes back to the same questions: Why has performance changed? Where is risk building? What should we do next?

This is where AI can be genuinely useful,  as a thinking partner. It can help us interrogate performance, challenge assumptions, run a premortem and turn pipeline data into a clearer, more useful conversation. But good judgement still matters. AI is only as reliable as the information we give it, and its conclusions must always be questioned by experienced fundraisers.

Reforecasting shouldn’t be about making the numbers look more comfortable.
By Q2, the real question is whether the assumptions behind the forecast still hold.

Which income is genuinely secure?
What is exposed?
Where is capacity constrained?
Which decisions are slowing performance?
And what is still realistically achievable this year?

AI can help to challenge assumptions, test scenarios, expose missing evidence and support better reforecasting decisions, without replacing leadership judgement. The objective is not a neater spreadsheet. It's clearer risk, better decisions and a plan the organisation can actually deliver.

After speaking to fundraisers over the summer, one thing has become very clear: outside of writing emails, proposals and first drafts, many people are still unsure where else AI can genuinely help.

The bigger opportunity is not simply faster drafting. It’s using AI to improve how fundraisers prepare, analyse information, manage workflows and make decisions across: major donors, trusts & foundations, corporate partnerships, events and fundraising operations

The key is knowing where AI adds value and where human judgement still matters. The aim is not more AI. It’s better fundraising.

Coming soon...