When your board asks how the year is going, you probably know the drill. Export the data. Clean up the spreadsheet. Build a pivot table. (Or two or three.) Build the report.
Then hope the numbers are right… and anticipate the questions they’ll have.
For many nonprofits, the person doing all of that is usually also running the gala, writing the appeal and answering donor emails. That’s hours of work before anyone has even talked about what the numbers mean.
Check out the new 4aGoodCause AI Fundraising Insights feature: It connects your 4aGoodCause fundraising data to the AI assistant you already use, like Claude or ChatGPT, so you can ask a question in plain language and get an answer from your own numbers in seconds.
In this Office Hours session, we covered why we built it, how it works, how to set it up, and a live demo on a sample nonprofit’s data.
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Watch the full video
In this webinar, 4aGC’s Ronald Pruitt and lead developer Wanderski introduce AI Fundraising Insights, a secure, read-only connection between 4aGoodCause and AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT.
In this session, you’ll learn:
- Why only about 1% of nonprofits use AI on their own fundraising data, even though most already use AI tools
- How the connection works, in plain English, and why we built it to be read-only
- The three-step setup for Claude and ChatGPT, and how admins stay in control
- A live demo covering annual totals, campaign comparisons, monthly giving, failed payments and peer-to-peer fundraisers
6 top takeaways from the webinar
1. The gap is between your AI tool and your data
Most nonprofits already use AI. A 2026 report from Virtuous and Fundraising.AI found 92% of nonprofits use AI tools in some way. But the 2025 Nonprofit Tech for Good Survey found only about 1% use AI to track giving trends.
That’s the gap. Your team is probably already using ChatGPT or Claude to draft an appeal or clean up a board memo. It just can’t see your fundraising data yet.
📚 If you’re not using AI for everyday work yet, start with our AI for nonprofits webinar with Carolyn Salvador.
2. You ask a question instead of building a report
Instead of picking a report, setting filters and choosing dates from a date picker, you type a question the way you’d say it. You don’t need to be a data person or know how to build a pivot table. If you can ask a question, you can use this.
The answers can go further than one number, too. When we asked our sample nonprofit’s data how 2025 compared to 2024, the answer included the dollar and percentage increase, split giving between donations and registrations, and noted that the growth came from a higher number of gifts rather than larger gifts.
3. It’s built on an open standard, and it’s read-only
The technical name for the connection is an MCP server. As Steve explained, MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, an open standard that lets AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT connect to apps like 4aGoodCause. If you know what a public API is, it’s a similar idea: a connection between two digital platforms. We wrote our MCP server with instructions that help the AI understand what a donation, a registration, or a recurring monthly giving subscription is.
The connection is read-only. Your AI assistant can securely look up your data, but it can never change anything in 4aGC.
4. Setup takes only a few minutes, and admins stay in control
An admin turns on the integration, copies a connection link from 4aGC, adds it to Claude or ChatGPT, and signs in to approve it.
Only admins can connect, and every admin on the account gets an email when someone does. Nobody connects your data without the other admins knowing. (The full steps are below.)
5. Your donor data is protected on both sides of the connection
On our side, donor emails, phone numbers and mailing addresses are masked or replaced with placeholder values before anything reaches the AI. 4aGC doesn’t store usable payment details, so those can’t be shared with your AI either. Donor names do come through, because that’s what makes a question like “Which donors have an expired card?” useful.
Every piece of data exposed to the AI is carefully controlled and checked by automated tests. The connection uses the same security scoping that keeps you from seeing anyone else’s data when you log in.
On your side, if you’re on a personal Claude or ChatGPT plan, turn off model training before you connect. Business plans are generally covered by default.
6. You still need a human
It’s read-only, so it won’t change records, send emails or issue refunds. It doesn’t see full contact details. And it won’t fix messy data. If you have duplicates or bad records, it can’t tell the difference, and that can lead to wrong answers.
My guidance: ask specific questions, double-check key numbers in 4aGC before they go to your board or an auditor, and if an answer surprises you, dig a little deeper.
How can a small nonprofit start asking its fundraising data questions safely?
If you’re ready to try the AI Fundraising Insights feature, here’s the path from the session, plus the habits that will keep your answers accurate and your donor data protected.
Step 1: Turn on the connection in 4aGoodCause
An admin logs in to 4aGC and goes to Settings > Integrations > AI Assistants. Check the box that says “Allow AI assistants to connect” and click Save. Every admin on your account gets an email when this happens. If you get that email and didn’t expect it, check with your team.
Step 2: Copy your connection link
Once the integration is on, 4aGC gives you a connection link to paste into your AI assistant.
Step 3: Add the link to Claude or ChatGPT and approve it
Add the link to your AI assistant, then sign in to 4aGC when prompted to approve the connection. The two tools use different names for the same idea. In Claude, these are called connectors. In ChatGPT, they’re called plugins or apps if you’re on a business workspace.
📚 Our help guides walk through every click: AI Assistants overview, Connect Claude and Connect ChatGPT.
Step 4: Protect your data before your first question
Turn off model training on personal plans. In Claude Free, Pro or Max, go to Settings > Privacy and turn off “Help improve Claude.” In ChatGPT Free, Plus or Pro, go to Settings > Data Controls and turn off “Improve the model for everyone.”
Use your organization’s workspace when you can. Claude Team and Enterprise, and ChatGPT Business, Enterprise and Edu, don’t train on your data by default.
Skip the feedback buttons on personal ChatGPT plans. OpenAI says thumbs-up or thumbs-down feedback can send that whole conversation for training, even after you opt out.
Follow your own policies for storing and sharing donor information.
Step 5: Ask specific questions
Name the date range. “Since January 1, 2025” works better than “recently.” It also helps to tell your AI assistant to ask you a clarifying question if it isn’t sure what you mean. Here are a few questions to start with:
- Which donors gave last year but haven’t given yet this year?
- Which monthly donors had a failed payment or an expiring card?
- How much did the gala raise from donations versus ticket sales?
- Who was our top donor this year? Draft a thank-you letter.
- Summarize this quarter’s fundraising for the board.
Step 6: Double-check before it’s official
Any time a number is going to your board, an auditor or a funder, take 30 seconds and confirm it in 4aGC, like we did live during Office Hours with the flagged monthly donors. And if an answer surprises you, check it. Sometimes the surprise is real, and that’s useful to know too.
Want to see how 4aGoodCause and AI Fundraising Insights could work for your team? Book a demo to see how it works.
Supplemental resources mentioned in this session
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About the experts
Ronald Pruitt, founder of 4aGoodCause. Ronald is the President and Founder of 4aGoodCause, the fundraising CRM that makes recurring, monthly giving a breeze for small nonprofits. For over 25 years, Ronald has had the joy of doing what he loves, building online solutions that make a difference in the world. He’s helped raise millions of dollars online for small nonprofits across the country. Connect with Ronald on LinkedIn.
Steve Wanderski, lead developer at 4aGoodCause. Steve is the lead developer at 4aGoodCause and built the AI Fundraising Insights feature. Connect with Steve on LinkedIn.
