By Simon Yost, Founder of Glued Network — an AI fundraising leader who uses software to automatically identify your top donors and AI to find similar new ones.

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In the evolving fundraising landscape, nonprofits have more tools than ever to engage donors, grow their base, and achieve their missions. AI-driven fundraising and wealth screening are the most powerful tools available today. Both offer unique advantages, but how do they stack up against each other? More importantly, which one will deliver the best results for your organization?

Here, we’ll explain the key differences between AI fundraising and wealth screening so you can make an informed decision.

AI Fundraising: The Power of Personalization and Precision

AI fundraising is a game-changer for nonprofits looking to maximize donations through data-driven insights and personalized outreach. Here’s how it stands out:

1. Predictive Donor Insights
   AI tools analyze your donor data to predict who is most likely to donate, how much, and when. This allows you to focus your efforts where they’ll be most impactful.
2. Personalized Outreach at Scale
   With AI, your nonprofit can tailor messaging based on donor behavior, creating a more personalized experience for each supporter. It’s not just about sending an email—it’s about sending the right message at the right time to the right person.
3. Real-Time Adaptability
   AI evolves with your campaigns, learning from data to continuously optimize your outreach. This means your strategy can adjust based on real-time performance on the fly to ensure maximum effectiveness.
4. Efficiency Gains
   By automating tasks like donor targeting and messaging, AI frees up your team to focus on building relationships and crafting high-level strategies, driving more value from every interaction.

Wealth Screening: Focus on High-Value Donors

Wealth screening identifies major gift prospects by analyzing financial assets, property ownership, and other wealth indicators. Here’s what it offers:

1. Financial Intelligence
   Wealth screening uses public and proprietary data sources to uncover high-net-worth individuals who can make large gifts. It’s about targeting those who can make a significant impact.
2. Prospect Prioritization
   For organizations looking to cultivate relationships with a small pool of high-value donors, wealth screening helps prioritize your outreach. It allows you to zero in on individuals most capable of giving more significant gifts.
3. Limited Personalization
   While wealth screening identifies potential major donors, it needs more depth of behavioral insights that AI provides. This limits how tailored your outreach can be to a donor’s interests or past engagement.
4. Manual Research Required
   Wealth screening often requires manual research and integration with other data sources, which can slow your outreach and demand more resources.

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Why AI Fundraising Comes Out on Top

Both AI fundraising and wealth screening have their place in a well-rounded fundraising strategy. But for many organizations, AI fundraising offers a more versatile, efficient, and personalized approach. Here’s why:

1. Ownership of Data and Insights
   Many wealth screening solutions, like those embedded in donor management platforms, provide data you don’t truly own. These insights are static, and you can view them but not operationalize them fully. On the other hand, AI fundraising allows your nonprofit to own its insights, building a long-term data asset that can grow and evolve with your organization.
2. More Than Financial Insights
   AI fundraising goes beyond financial data by incorporating various indicators, including social media activity, employment information, and census data. These insights create a more holistic view of each donor’s potential, enabling your nonprofit to predict not just wealth but lifetime value and long-term engagement.
3. Operationalize Insights with Ease
   One fundamental limitation of traditional wealth screening is its need for actionable insights. AI fundraising takes things a step further by integrating predictive models with tools like digital advertising, allowing you to operationalize donor insights in real time. For example, Google’s Performance Max allows for value-based bidding, letting you show ads only to individuals who resemble your highest-value donors.

Conclusion: The Future is AI Fundraising

While wealth screening has strengths in identifying major gift prospects, AI fundraising is the more comprehensive solution. It empowers your nonprofit to make data-driven decisions, build personalized relationships at scale, and fully leverage your donor insights for long-term growth.

If you want to take your fundraising strategy to the next level, AI fundraising offers the precision, adaptability, and ownership your organization needs to succeed.

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