Chatbots, which are pieces of AI technology designed to have automated conversations, are a hot topic right now, and with good reason. Anyone who spends any amount of time online knows that more and more business, both small and large, are fighting for your attention. It has become crucial for businesses to find ways to reach out to customers that are more personal, and more tailored to their individual experience. This is even more true for Nonprofits.

Chatbots create a more humanized experience, regardless of the channel or application. This is a crucial element for creating a connection between nonprofits and their supporters. While we often see chatbots used in customer service applications, in the form of pop-up support boxes, nonprofits are learning that there are many innovative ways chatbot technology can be used to bolster their success.

Highly Sensitive Chatbots Meet The Immediate Needs Of Users

Being accessible through mobile technology is important for any business. It is estimated that about 60% of searches are initiated from a mobile device. When someone is reaching out to you from their mobile device, it is because they have an immediate need or question that they want answered. For years, nonprofits have used simple AI mobile messaging apps to make themselves more accessible to users at their exact moment of need. Now, those messaging apps are taking a more sophisticated turn by becoming sensitive and personalized to the individual user experience.

Take for example, the Facebook messaging app Woebot, a mental health chatbot, that was designed to deal with issues pertaining to depression and anxiety. Woebot always starts by letting the user know that it isn’t human and to contact 911 in case of an emergency, but from there it uses sophisticated
“decision tree” thinking to craft responses during the conversation. The technology is so sensitive that it picks up on the use of certain words, or combination of words, to simulate a human to human conversation that meets an immediate, and very important, need.

While this type of technology can’t replace qualified human expertise, it does help nonprofits in the mental health and crisis field by allowing them to be more accessible 24/7 without impacting the bottom line of their business. Chatbots, like Woebot, are being developed to address a variety of immediate needs on a real time basis, which is a great tool for any nonprofit.

Chatbots Encourage Engagement

Nonprofits depend on supporter engagement for success. Chatbots can help nonprofits by enabling them to create nonstop streams of user engagement. For example, the environmental advocacy group Climate Reality uses a chatbot on their Facebook page that not only responds instantly to user inquiries, but encourages engagement through pop up alerts on activism opportunities and relevant breaking news, all while generating new leads for the organization.

Chatbots help nonprofits build engagement and generate leads by simulating a one on one human experience. Nonprofits can use this type of technology, similar in the way the Climate Reality does, to appeal to emotion. Sophisticated chatbots can detect the exact moment in a conversation to strike with an appeal to action.

Chatbots Fuel Growth

The main goal of every nonprofit can be summarized in just one word.

Growth.

You can think of nonprofits as a web, starting small at the center with a much larger goal in mind. Expanding that web to reach out to all corners is time consuming and costly in resources. Because many nonprofits need to appeal to the charitable nature of their supporters, they often must work twice as hard for success as for-profit agencies.

For nonprofits to build a large support network, they must reach out and appeal to people and encourage them to share their vision. This requires the ability to reach users on multiple platforms. Chatbots make it possible for nonprofits to expand their reach and make a larger impact while at the same time reducing operating costs.

Chatbots are multi-platform tools that can also transcend language and time zone barriers. They make it possible for nonprofits to be accessible to users all over the world. Sure, not every nonprofit is looking for this capability, but think of the possibilities.

Why You Should Be Using Chatbots

The advantages are clear. Chatbots save your nonprofit organization time and money, while at the same time appealing to broader audience. But, advancements in technology have made chatbots so much more than a money saving tool for nonprofits. They have become sophisticated to point that a chatbot actually builds a greater user experience. In some cases, chatbots help users connect to the world around them, in others they actually save lives. Gone forever are the days when a chatbot was only there to ask, “How many I help you?”

Today’s chatbots are intelligent enough to already know that answer, and they are a tool that every nonprofit needs to help build their reputation