futures insights: Robots as charity fundraisers.
futures insights: by insight & foresight looks at trends, weak signals, and emerging change that could impact for-purpose organisations 5 to 10 years from now. The content is design fiction written from a futures viewpoint about possibilities that may or may not eventuate and should not be read as fact. It is designed to support creative, exploratory thinking about futures and what might happen next. Enjoy!
In a world different to today...
Mila had been in charity fundraising for over 10 years. She had worked hard at getting the job done but was seeing her job change dramatically. After many years of declining ROI in fundraising, CEOs were waking up to the fact there was a better way to do the job. Most of her traditional tasks were now automated with artificial intelligence. Robots were now the best fundraisers as they did tasks quicker, more efficiently, and to a higher standard with better outcomes. From proposal writing, donor communications, and prospecting - all done better by robots.
Mila felt nervous about her prospects in the field she loved so much. But then she met Raizer - one of the new breed of robots designed specifically for fundraising tasks. Raizer was able to do all of the things that Mila used to do but better. Raizer was quickly able to adapt and learn to understand donor behaviour and preferences. She was also built with the ability to process large amounts of data, something that was impossible for a human fundraiser.
The interesting outcome for Mila was that Raizer not only took on all of the traditional tasks of a fundraiser but also freed her up to do more strategic work. Mila was now able to focus on the bigger picture and think about how to grow the charity in new and innovative ways. The combination of human and robot fundraisers was proving to be a winning formula for many charities. Raizer did activities like sending out personalised emails to donors, identifying prospects, writing proposals, and setting up events whilst Mila could focus on more strategic tasks like building relationships, long-term planning, and thinking about how to drive innovation.
The journey to here.
In June 2037 Mila and Raizer presented at the Fundraising Institute of Australia Annual Conference. When asked about the evolution of the future of fundraising, Mila responded that the robot revolution was "inevitable" once artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technologies rapidly transformed the workplace. She urged for-purpose CEOs to embrace the transformation and look for methods to maximize the benefits.
“In the early 2020s, we didn't anticipate people to stick with their fundraising jobs for very long, it was becoming very difficult to retain people" she noted. "Raizer has absorbed many of the "busy work" tasks we used to do" said Mila. "We can now focus more on developing relationships and producing long-term strategies."
Looking to the future, Mila is optimistic about the potential for human-robot teams in fundraising.
"I think we'll see a lot more of these teams in the future," she said. "They can be very effective in driving fundraising success."
As an example, Mila told how Raizer had been working with a team of volunteers to plan an upcoming gala event.
"The volunteers are great at getting people to attend and donate but they don't have the time or skills to do all the behind-the-scenes work," she said. "Raizer can take care of all the details, from booking the venue and sending out invitations to preparing the event program. This frees up the volunteers to do what they're good at - raising funds and building relationships."
Mila believes that fundraising will continue to change and evolve, with technology playing an increasingly important role.
"We need to be open to new ideas and ways of doing things," she said. "The opportunities are endless if we're willing to embrace change."
Seeing the possibilities.
"In 2024 the for-purpose organisation I worked for embraced strategic foresight as a core planning methodology, this work gave us a road map for using signals to prepare for the futures of our sector. It allowed us to anticipate and prepare for the changes that were coming our way." (Long-term planning using strategic foresight includes the use of signals - data points that can be used to anticipate future trends.) "For example, in the early 2020s we started to see a lot of signals about the increasing use of artificial intelligence and robotics in the workforce," said Mila. "We knew that this was going to have a big impact on fundraising so we started to explore how we could use these technologies to our advantage."
Mila and her team were the first in the sector to experiment with using a robot as a fundraiser.
"We started by using Raizer to do some of the more repetitive tasks like sending out emails and making phone calls," she said. "We quickly realised that Raizer was very good at the tasks that we had to do every day"
This led to the creation of the first human-robot fundraising team.
"It was a bit of an experiment at first, but it quickly became clear that this was a winning combination," said Mila. "The robot could do the repetitive tasks and free up the humans to focus on more strategic tasks."
Mila is a strong advocate for using technology to create a more efficient and effective fundraising function.
"Technology can help us do our jobs better, faster, and cheaper," she said. "It's up to us to embrace it and use it to our advantage."
What Mila and Raizer are doing today is just the beginning. As artificial intelligence and machine learning continue to evolve, so too will the role of robots in fundraising. We can expect to see more human-robot teams in our futures, with each team member playing to their strengths to create a more efficient and effective fundraising operation.
What does the future hold for Mila and other human fundraisers?
Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure - the traditional job of a fundraiser is changing rapidly. Robots are taking over many of the tasks and responsibilities that have been traditionally done by humans. This is leading to a new breed of fundraiser - one that is more strategic, innovative, and focused on the big picture. The future of fundraising is exciting and full of possibilities. Thanks to robots like Raizer, the sky is the limit!
How could the emergence of robots as charity fundraisers impact your organisation?
Acknowledgement
The identification of these emerging change concepts started with the Futures Platform™ database of trends, signals and emerging change. You can read more about the Futures Platform™ here . insight & foresight is a paying customer of the Futures Platform™ and we use the data to support our clients think and plan for their futures.
