Non-Profit Organizations and Bots: A Few Thoughts [List]

Remember Clippy, the talking paperclip in Microsoft Word? Goofy as he was, he helped millions of people learn their way around creating typed documents. Today, Siri and Cortana act as friendly helpers for our phones, and live chat boxes pop up to offer assistance with our online banking, personal shopping, and even government services. So what if we took bots to the next level and let them help us do more good? Let’s talk about non-profit organizations and bots. Two things usually not said in the same sentence.

What if instead of getting frustrated because we can’t find where to donate or how to sign up for an email newsletter on a nonprofit’s site, we were immediately pinged with some helpful pointers?

We’ve all had to sit through automated menus on the phone that make us want to scream to “speak to a representative.” It’s understandable that some folks might be wary of an automated helper on a charity’s website – the last place we want to talk to technology rather than a person.

There are opportunities here to make social good engagement even stronger and easier with the help of digital bots.

Here are just a few thoughts I have on the possible benefits of non-profit organizations and bots:

1. Peer-to-peer fundraising gets really personal: individualized, real-time tips when someone logs into their portal, based on their progress
2. Site search is better than ever with navigation suggestions based on where a visitor clicks
3. Donation form completion rates shoot up thanks to guided assistance and notes on what a gift will support
4. Supporters easily climb a ladder of engagement with prompts to other actions
5. New stories, content, and information are highlighted for return visitors
6. Shareable content and actions are presented throughout a site visit
7. Instead of hunting down and reading through FAQs, a bot can preemptively offer answers to common queries

Have any other ideas? Add them in the comments section or tell us on Twitter @creativesci