AI in Action: Practical tips for Legacy Fundraisers
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In this guest blog, Anna Dixon, Client Strategy Director at Yoyo Design, shares her reflections and practical tips on the use of AI in legacy fundraising.
Navigating the future of legacy fundraising
Legacy fundraising is uniquely personal, involving sensitive conversations about a supporter’s life, values and lasting impact. Balancing empathy and compassion with the need for efficiency and careful use of budget and resources means real attention must be paid to how we leverage the latest technology.
The conversation around AI in the charity sector has rapidly shifted from “what if?” to “how do we do it?”. In Remember A Charity’s 'AI in action' webinar earlier this month, I was joined by our Technical Director, Calvin Davis and Steve Law from Macmillan Cancer Support to unpack this question and explore the practicalities of AI for legacy fundraisers.
The goal was simple: to move past the hype and look at how AI can support the deeply human aspects of legacy fundraising and stewardship.
Starting small: a problem-first approach
One of the biggest takeaways from the session was the value of leading with a problem-first rather than an AI-first mindset. It’s often more effective to look at the real-world barriers in your daily workflow first, rather than trying to force a specific tool into a process where it might not fit.
A great way for charities to find their footing with data management and harnessing AI is to start with what you have already: by picking a manageable subset of data to experiment with safely, you can naturally scale your efforts as you start to see results. Messy data, or not having all the answers yet doesn’t need to be a blocker, AI can help you to clean and categorise as you go, making it better equipped for the task going forward.
Practical ways to lighten the load
Legacy fundraising can be time-intensive, but AI offers opportunities to reclaim valuable hours and refocus attention on building meaningful relationships. During the webinar, we explored some of the practical ways fundraisers might use AI to streamline their work, including:
- Mapping spreadsheets: By sharing your spreadsheet headers with an AI tool, you can get suggestions on how to group donors or identify promising leads.
- Knowledge management: Tools like Google NotebookLM are proving useful for turning internal reports into a searchable, grounded knowledge base.
- Creative sounding boards: Some fundraisers are using AI to draft campaign frameworks and better understand what might resonate with different donors by using specialist tools such as Dataro.
- Defining context: Simply asking an AI tool to "ask me 10 questions to establish context" can be a great way to kickstart a project and ensure important details aren't overlooked.
You can find out more about these tools in this short pdf we compiled after the event.
Taking a mindful approach
While the opportunities are exciting, staying aligned with your charity’s values and maintaining donor trust must remain the priority. It’s important to remember that your supporters value efficiency too. When AI acts as a supportive personal assistant, it frees up fundraisers’ time and attention for what matters most: genuine relationship building.
It can help to think of free AI tools as public notice boards. If you wouldn’t pin the information on a street corner, it’s best not to paste it into a prompt. These tools are creative drafters rather than definitive sources of truth, and they can occasionally ‘hallucinate’ facts. Taking a moment to sense-check against your own reports helps ensure your data stays accurate and your brand remains trusted.
The most effective way to keep your voice warm, accurate and sincere is to keep a human in the loop. Reading AI-generated drafts aloud can quickly highlight robotic phrasing or overused clichés. Adding that final personal layer ensures your communications always feels authentically yours.
The value of collaborative learning
Coming together for this webinar was a powerful reminder that while AI represents a significant shift for the sector, no-one has to navigate it alone. We’re all learning, experimenting, and asking questions about the possibilities. Discussing these tools as a community allows us to celebrate the successes, while also recognising the risks that deserve thoughtful attention.
Technology will continue to evolve, but the mission remains the same: helping people see the lasting difference their generosity makes. We see AI as an opportunity to make that experience more personal, ensuring your community knows exactly how much their support matters.
Watch the full webinar
If you’d like to revisit the ‘AI in Action’ session or share it with colleagues, members can watch the webinar recording on-demand and access the slides here.
About Yoyo Design
Yoyo Design is a B Corp certified brand and digital agency that helps purpose-driven organisations achieve greater impact. By putting people and planet first, Yoyo delivers meaningful digital experiences that drive positive change. From bold brands to winning strategy and immersive websites, they blend creative thinking with leading technology to ensure their partners succeed.
Yoyo focuses on using AI to amplify social impact while ensuring digital solutions remain accessible, sustainable, and human-centric. Their commitment to getting the best for their clients recently earned them the title of Best Charity & NPO Brand & Digital Agency 2025.
To learn more about our approach to artificial intelligence, you can visit Yoyo’s Approach to AI.