The Fundraising & Fun Raising Podcast

0:00Welcome to the fundraising and fundraising podcast. I'm your host Robert B. Moran and you're listening in on WBCA 102.9 FM. Austin's Community Radio Station. The fundraising and fundraising podcast is where we explore ways to use humor to increase the effectiveness of nonprofits. Our topic today is going to be about AI for nonprofits. This is part two of a two-part series. It's important because being visible and findable by creating a website and in this episode we'll talk about using AI to generate a website for your nonprofit. Those things are important because you need to be seen to be followed. Okay, so let's talk about that. What are some of

1:08the best practices in resources that you could use to become available on the web? What are things you can do that are going to aid your development practices? How are you going to convey the wealth of experience that you have as a person concerned with this topic? Well, I think one of the things is to think about, first off, the structure. What is going to be the structure of the website? What are the kinds of things in broad buckets that you're going to want to have available for the public when they come in? If you've got a pen and paper you might want to draw some of these down. So the first one I think is going to be the home page or the landing page because people come to your website a lot of different ways these days. Sometimes they come in as a result of a web search or if you've got a social media account you might have a link to the website that might come in that way. If you have links in the emails that you send out they bring the person to the

2:13website. So what we used to call a home page back in the day is sometimes a landing page. That's the page where people land when they follow whatever the link was to get to your site. So a landing page is one of the key ones to have. Now we had talked in the previous episode about mission, vision, strategy, and values. So those are some things that you can have on the website. The mission, the vision, the strategy, and the values that you are all about. At this point I'd like to just stop for a second and talk about a concept that's very helpful when I first heard this and thought what a great idea I should keep that in mind. And that is the principle or the practice of something called repurposing content. Repurposing content. If you grew up in a household like I did my parents would repurpose the content

3:14in clothing. It was called hand me downs. Right. So you can also do the same thing with your content. You can use it over and over again in a conservative multiple different places in multiple different ways. So in the previous episode we talked about using AI to help you generate a mission, statement, a vision statement, etc. And those words, those statements that are created would then live on your computer. But you can take that same content and use that on your website. You could also use it in your newsletter. If you have an email newsletter that you send out, you could cut and paste it into the newsletter. If you have a print newsletter, you can cut and paste it into there. If you, in addition to the newsletter, if you have email blasts that you send out to your folks, you could also use it there. But that idea of create it once and then use it over and over and over again is a really excellent way to leverage your time and your creativity.

4:18So in this case we're talking about creating these things ourselves. But if you're working with an outside designer or an outside copywriter, you can ask them to give you the things that they create in formassage you could use over and over again. So for example, if somebody had a great image that they made and had text on it that had your vision statement, there's no way to get the information off of the image. So you might ask them to say not only give you the image file, which is many times as a JPEG or a GIF. But you could also say, please also send that information to us in a word document so we can use it. Now they may not want to do that because they may want you to come back to them every time you need to change. But that's part of being a savvy executive director as understanding ways that you can then repurpose the content yourself without incurring additional cost. And using the graphic designer for what they're really good at, which is the good look of things or the good layout, but then you can use that content repeatedly. So that's a little

5:21less center best practice in terms of repurposing content and getting the content back in ways that you can use it again and again. So one of the things with the website, so we talked about the landing page and those different things that would go on there. Another thing is oftentimes something about the team. So another page you might want to have is the team. And for me, one of the things that I like to do is when I go to a website, there is an organization or a group that I haven't met before I don't know. I oftentimes will want to look at the team page to see who are the people behind this company or behind this nonprofit in this case. And when I see the team, it does a couple of things. One is I haven't met them, but there's something about being able to get acquainted with the team. It gives me a sense of comfort and ease and a willingness to interact with them. Sometimes I go to a website where they don't have that. It's just sort of there's a page or there's a couple pages, but there's no people. And maybe not right, but for me, certainly,

6:26many times I'll feel a little bit leery or edgy about interacting with them because it leads me to question, why are they not willing to put their face with the project? Why are they not willing to put their name on it? Why are they not giving me a way that I could check them out on LinkedIn or do a web search to find out more about them to double check and to do my due diligence? So if you don't want to have a situation like that, then I would encourage creating a team page. Now, some people for various reasons don't like having their picture up. And if that's the case, then you could put up just sort of a like an outline like they might use on different websites, just sort of an outline that represents a person, you know, picture not a, well, you could say picture not available, but just having this sort of outline of the person, at least it conveys the idea, oh, there's a person here, and then having some information about that person. So what are some things you might want to include in the team page? Well, I think one of the things would be the

7:26role, right? What is the role that that individual person plays? What part are they on the team? Right? Are they the quarterback? Are they the running back? Are they the center? Are they an offensive defense? Right? So are they somebody that's involved with operations? Are they involved with personnel? Are they involved with fund development? Are they part of the leadership team? Are they a frontline supervisor? But these are different things that can help to convey who the people are that are on the team and what roles they're playing. Because if you think about it from the perspective of the donor, if somebody's thinking about making a donation to your nonprofit, they might want to know, well, if I give them the money to have enough people there to do the things that they're saying on their mission and vision statement that they want to accomplish, it does only, you know, one or two people and their thing is we're going to serve meals all over the city, then they might think, oh, it doesn't seem like the team is big enough. Or if on the team, they have a lot of people that are involved with doing the doing, do they have enough people on the fund development side to keep

8:32the organization going? Or conversely, if they have everybody on the team is all about fundraising, who's going to actually do the work? Right? There's an old saying that any plan eventually breaks down, someone's going to have to start doing some work. Excuse me. So team, having the role of the team, one of the other things I'd like to see on there is any sort of background or experience that the person has. So maybe there's somebody that's on the team that is responsible for fund development. If it says that they've got a decade of fund development experience, oh, that can be a certain message to me as a visitor to the website. If everybody is brand new, then I think that's wonderful. I mean, I think giving people an opportunity to start their career or to contribute to nonprofits is a wonderful way to broaden a person's life. But if everybody's not experienced, then it's especially important, then, well,

9:38is there an executive director or a leader who has a lot of experience to be able to direct them? So part of it has to do with the experience in terms of how long they've done something, and also what has been their experience. And if somebody is new to a particular role, maybe they've done a lot of work and operations their whole life and now they're getting into fund development. Well, at least knowing that they've got years of experience, either in nonprofit or in the corporate world, can also be helpful too in terms of conveying a sense of competence in the team. So the breadth of the team and the depth of the team are things you can convey on your team page. Right? So that's something to consider. Now, another thing that sometimes people will do, which I think is helpful, is they might have links out to the person's professional bio on another website that does that. So they might be able to provide a link so that if I come to the website and I see this person says they've got this, that, and the other experience, is there a

10:41link that I could click to take me to a different website where, oh, yeah, there it is on a different website and that might also provide some confidence and a sense of that the team is well-equipped. Right? Because in a sense, anybody could say anything about their experience on a website, but it was on a different website where they can sort of corroborate that, and that can also give the donors a sense of ease that, oh, yeah, okay, the team is here. They are staffed and I think they can do what they want to do. So they've got the homepage or landing page, right? There's the team page. I think another important page to have is a contact page. Because one of the things that ideally a person will do or feel and response to seeing what you're all about and who the team is is, you know what? I would like to get in touch with them. And I'm not sure why, but I know for a lot of different companies that I deal with, you know, these companies, not nonprofits, but

11:43dealing with the companies. For example, trying to get in touch with customer service is something usually buried or difficult or impossible to do. And in my case, if I want to contact the company, to not have it visible and easily available, I think says something about the company, is that they're making themselves hard to contact. So one of the things I would recommend for you and for your nonprofit would be to make yourself easy to contact, right? That let that difference between you and other companies be very stark. Make yourself easy to contact. And there are several ways that you can do that. One of the ways, sometimes people will put up their contact form, right? So in that case, you're sort of steering the people into, you know, please fill out these fields, right? What's your name? What's your email address? You know, why are you contacting us? What would you like? And that's one way to do it. And it's good because if the fields are required, then a person can't contact you unless they give you all the information. So by requiring an email address, that's one way to

12:48make them contactable again. So if they're asking a question that you've got a way to respond to them, and there's always the potential, right, that the person will put in a bogus email address, which you can't respond to them, but at least you've asked them for that. And by having the area, and you can direct them, as you can say, please tell us, you know, what is it you would like to know? What questions do you have? Another question you can ask on a contact form, how did you hear about it? So how did you find us? And that can be helpful, especially if you've been doing some sort of marketing. Maybe you've got some things that are on social media, on, you know, this platform or that platform, you know, how did you hear about us? Maybe some people came in because of a search, they did a search engine search, and they found you that way, or maybe they heard you doing an interview. If you've been on a podcast or another way, then people could hear about you. That might be a way. Did you hear about us in the email newsletter, but giving you information about the source of the contact

13:50can be helpful because you know, what's working and what's not. Now another way to let people contact you, of course, is by using email. So rather than a form, if on the contact page you put up your organizational email, and sometimes, you know, if you've got your own domain name, you could have an info at or contact at is a way for people to contact you, by giving out the personal email address for for you or for the people on the team. But that's another way that you can do it. Now the risk is, is that when you do that, that people could find that and they could start sending you spam emails, not related to what you're doing, and they're blasting you with their offer. And if that's the case, then that's something to weigh. But one of the nice things about it is it lets the people be free form, right? They can put in what they want to put in, what they want to tell you or what they want to ask you, rather than steering them into only certain fields. And one of the side benefits of that is if you let the people email you that way

14:51is that you also get their email address. And again, given that it's a valid email address, it's one of the ways to build your list of people that have contacted you, right? So you can just send up, send a follow up after them say, thank you for contacting us, right? We appreciate you reaching out on our website and really grateful to have your question and here's your answer. So it gives a way for that two-way communication. So what we're talking about is using AI for the nonprofit and specifically using AI to help you to build a website that is going to help you to be findable and visible. Findable and visible. Those are key things because you want to be findable and visible so that people can reach out to you. And that's what we're talking about in the first segment. In the next segment, we're going to be talking about image generation and graphics and how AI can help you with that as well. That'll be when we come back. You've been listening to the Fund Raising and Fund Raising podcast. I'm your host, Robert B. Moran. Thank you for listening.

15:54WBCA is an awesome way to learn about local artists from Boston and Massachusetts. Here's sweet track. Then you can visit wbcaradio.org and click our spin link to see who it is. You can also submit your own music or public service announcements at wbcaradio.org. Mr. Show by one of our great community producers. You guessed it. You can listen to the podcast with our pod being link at wbcaradio.org. It's because of you that wbca was awarded 2020 overall excellence by the Alliance for Community Media Foundation. So together, let's continue to make this our station. WBCA 102.9 FM Boston. Boston's Community Radio Station. Whether you need it to cool off after a workout or warm you up in a hot bath, your tap water is there when you need it. It is even used to produce your morning

16:58coffee that clothes you wear or cleaning the fruits and veggies you like to snack on. Your water utility works hard around the clock to ensure high quality drinking water is there when you need it on demand. To learn about your water's journey from source to tap, contact your local water provider. Visit drinktap.org to learn more. This message is brought to you by the American Waterworks Association. Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Podbean, tune in Alexa, I Heart Radio Player FM, listen, note Samsung, podchaser, boomplay, overcast, podcast, gastrocast, podch, podfrang, good podch. What do all these and more have in common? They're all sites where you can stream and download to WBCA Radio Show podcasts. WBCA 102.9 FM Boston is Boston's Community Radio Station.

18:10Welcome back to the Fund Raising and Fund Raising Podcast here on WBCA 102.9 FM. I'm your host, Robert B. Moran, and we're talking about using the web as a way to use AI to help you create that website to help you be findable and visible. In the first segment we talked about the website construction. What are the pages to have? We talked about having a homepage or a landing page. We talked about having a team page. We also talked about having a contact page and several options there about using a form or using an email address. In this segment we're going to be talking about images and graphics. Images and graphics. One of the things which is exciting to me is the capacity of AI to help you to leverage your creative ideas and create images and graphics that are going to put you and put your website in the top tier where people are going to see them and

19:13say, I want to know more. I want to work with these people. I want to help support what they're doing because what they've shown me in these images and these graphics conveys that they're sharp, that they know what they're doing, and they have a great way to connect with people. What are some things you can do? One of the things is you can, again, go into a search engine, you can put in there AI to help me create graphics and it'll come back with some sites. No sites will be free. One of the things you can do is you can use that capacity for logo creation. logo creation. The logo is essentially a small visible image that conveys, in essence, what it is you're all about. One of the things you can do is when you're using these image programs and they're AI-based, you can give them some specifics about what you'd like it to look like. For example, these are some criteria that you might want to consider. You could say, please create a graphic that is too dimensional, which is flat. Or you could say, please create a logo that is

20:18three-dimensional, so they'll have some depth to it. By specifying that in the prompt, it'll tell AI what you want them to do and it'll create it in accordance with your wishes. Nothing you can do is you can specify the colors. You could say, please create a two-color logo that is green and red or a three-color logo that is red, white, and blue. But you can specify the colors that you want. You can say that you want a specific type of red or a specific type of blue. I'd like it just to be light blue or dark blue. So two-d or two-dimensional or three-dimensional, two-d or three-d, you can also specify the colors that you like in your logo. And then you can also give some stylistic things. So if you think about it, if you're working with a human graphic designer, you could let them know, well, you know what? I would like this to convey fun. Or maybe I'd like it to be serious. Or I'd like it to be religious. Or I'd like it to convey a sense of community. In other words, some broad strokes about what that logo is going to convey when a person looks at it.

21:25Nothing you could be vey, you could convey the tone. I could like it to be warm. Or like it to be cool. And you put these things into the prompt, ask it to generate the logo, and then it comes back. And then what you can do is you can then download that image. And we'd mention in the first second about repurposing it. And then once you've got it downloaded, you could use that logo on your website, but you could also use it on your business card. You could use it in your emails that you send out. You could use it in any sort of advertising that you do. Because one of the things that happens is that, and I think it's five or six times, it takes a person five or six times to see something, you know, an advertisement before it really starts to register. And that's just because we're bombarded with so many images. But if you use the logo repeatedly, and people see it repeatedly, then eventually it's going to work their way into their consciousness and they're going to recognize, oh, when I see that, I know that it's your nonprofit. So using it for the kind of specific of logo creation is one of the things you can do. But it's not the only thing.

22:30One of the things you can also do is you can ask it to generate images. And this is a phenomenal breakthrough. And it's very mysterious. It's very wonderful how it does it. But if you've got a mission, and you want people to understand, for example, what effect it's going to have, you could ask it to generate an image of satisfied and happy people. So with the image generation, you could also specify the subjects you want. You could say, for example, please generate an image of a group of five people and they will do that. It will add five people to the image. And you can also, and so those are the subjects, right? You could also specify the objects. Please make an image with five people holding maybe it's groceries or holding healthy babies or wearing warm winter coats.

23:32But you can specify what it is you would like in terms of objects that are in there as well. And if your ministry, your nonprofit is about providing warm coats to people, then having people smiling, wearing warm coats is a great way to convey in an image what it is you're all about. You can also convey the scene. So for example, if you're nonprofit is all about warm coats, you could say people that are bundled up against the weather and they're outside and they're smiling and they've got warm coats and they've got warm hats on. Or maybe it's a food pantry. You know, please show a mother and children or a couple coming out of a food pantry with several bags of groceries and they're smiling. Or you could have another image you say, please create an image of a person loading some groceries into the back of a car, right, showing that the fact that you deliver groceries as well, right.

24:34And whatever it is that your ministry is all about or your nonprofit's all about, conveying that idea of people doing what it is your mission is in accomplishing your vision, it's a great way to convey very quickly to people, oh, this is what they do. Oh, they are good at what they do. The people are smiling, right. Now it could be, you know, there's not to be a small, it could be a large group, right. You know, please show us an image of a auditorium filled with people who are listening attentively to a speaker, right. That can be a great way if it's a public information nonprofit where you're trying to convey and educate people. Or if it's a sports ministry or nonprofit where you're helping young people to learn how to play sports, let's show some people, you know, playing soccer, playing football, playing baseball. Okay, so with images, there's another thing you can do is you can also convey the style. So you could say, please create an image of five people doing xyz and make the style of the image

25:37modern or futuristic or retro or anime. That's another way to convey the output of what you want the image to look like. Another option is, if you know a famous artist, you could say, please create this image in the style of Picasso or Basquiat or Rembrandt. And all of these are things you can do to tell the AI what you want the image to look like. So there are a lot of things you can do with AI and AI generation for your website. You can create the content, you can create the structure, you can also generate the images. So glad you're listening in, you're listening to Robert B. Moran and this is the fundraising and fundraising podcast. Here on WBCA 102.9 FM Boston's Community Radio Station.