Version2 Launches With Focus on Building Fully Autonomous Nonprofit Fundraiser
Adam Martel, an entrepreneur working with fundraising technology, launched Version2, an artificial intelligence (AI) research and design lab specifically focused on advancing the development of autonomous AI for fundraising in the nonprofit sector. Version2’s sole focus is to solve fundraising’s biggest challenges by creating and scaling a fully autonomous frontline fundraiser by the end of 2024.
"Many people believe that it’s impossible to create a fully autonomous fundraiser, especially for a profession that is built on relationships driving actions. Autonomous fundraising is, indeed, a moonshot, but it’s a worth-while challenge. When we prove that it’s possible, our success will have a deep, lasting, and consequential impact not only on fundraising, but on humanity as a whole,” said Adam Martel, CEO, Version2 and Givzey. “Similar to when a new employee starts a new job in a new industry, the first few days, weeks, and months are spent learning. Our focus at Version2 is to enable an autonomous fundraiser to learn efficiently so that we can prove the viability and effectiveness of autonomous fundraising and its benefits to nonprofits and donors, alike. Early tests have been overwhelmingly successful and the autonomous fundraiser is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. We believe it’s going to change the world."
The autonomous fundraiser starts every donor relationship with full transparency, identifying itself as an autonomous, virtual fundraiser, representing a specific organization. The autonomous fundraiser then asks donors for opt-in permission to communicate with AI. From there, the autonomous fundraiser guides donors through a set of discovery-focused engagement touchpoints, gift discovery and educational gift solicitation journeys, and stewardship touchpoints in ways that cross the digital boundaries of what was considered possible with technology.
Autonomous fundraisers won’t replace human fundraisers or fundraising relationships, but rather augment a nonprofit’s ability to scale their high-touch engagement with donors throughout the giving pyramid. For years, finding and recruiting fundraising staff has been one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that "low pay, burnout, and employees' desire for work-life balance have been stubborn problems for leaders to solve." Other reports find that as many as 75% of nonprofit organizations face staffing shortages. With fundraiser shortages reaching epic proportions, AI and autonomous fundraisers are well positioned to add real and meaningful assistance to short-staffed organizations.
In partnership with William & Mary, William & Mary’s autonomous fundraiser will partner with the student phonathon program, execute campus connections between donors and appropriate program leaders, scale alumni campus engagement and lifelong learning opportunities, facilitate annual unrestricted gifts, and execute multiple stewardship opportunities that break through the digital divide. This includes mailing branded gifts or sending hand-written postcards — made possible by AI-enabled robotics.
“Artificial intelligence has proven to be one of the most disruptive technologies and Adam’s mission with Version2 to prove that it’s possible to build the first fully autonomous frontline fundraiser could be one of the most important efforts to impact fundraising in our generation,” said Matthew T. Lambert, Senior Vice President for University Advancement at William & Mary. “The university is proud to be the first organization to partner with Adam and his team at Version2 to establish a leading-edge AI program that supplements our efforts as we support our community and grow our community of donors at William & Mary in the future. I’ve seen it in action, and I believe it’s going to transform fundraising for a new generation who want completely new ways of engaging with their philanthropy.”
Version2's fully autonomous virtual fundraiser combines empathetic AI with synthetic mimicking, perception-enabled technology, robotics, and a slew of other technologies to act as a fundraising liaison for donors across a nonprofit organization. By taking advantage of a new AI-friendly moves-management process, autonomous fundraisers have the ability to guide a set of donors through a series of donor-centric engagements, which leads to the natural outcome of a gift to support the organization.
Version2 is led by Givzey’s founder and CEO, Adam Martel, the inventor who first introduced generative artificial intelligence (AI) to nonprofit fundraising with the launch of Gravyty's First Draft, self-writing emails for frontline fundraisers, in 2016. Version2's mission is to create and accelerate the advancement of autonomous fundraising technology and mimic the cognitive functions of a fundraising staff to amplify the mission of every nonprofit organization changing the world.
Version2 intends to prove that autonomous fundraising is possible, good for humanity, and worth the risks associated with any world-altering endeavor. The first autonomous fundraisers are being tested now and we invite you to follow along as Version2 works with early nonprofit partners to prove that autonomous fundraising can solve problems many believe were unsolvable.
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.
