AI for Fundraising: A Masterclass Series for Nonprofits

Batch 1 is now full and registrations are closed!

Interested in joining Batch 2? Fill out this form to let us know- https://forms.gle/LPGhrSEm7L3QLorg8

A four-part, cohort-based learning journey for organisations with an annual budget less than 5cr, focused on applying AI across the fundraising lifecycle — responsibly, and in your own organisational context.

About the series

Most nonprofits have now heard that AI can help with fundraising. Far fewer have been able to turn that into everyday practice. Learning typically stops at the one-off webinar or an article, and the fundraising work — donor research, proposal writing, communication, reporting — carries on eating the same lean team's time.

This masterclass series is built to close that gap. Over four sessions, structured around the fundraising lifecycle — Identify, Attract, Convert, Engage, Grow — you will work with AI on your own organisation's material rather than on generic examples. Each session pairs a live, hands-on exercise with embedded guiding principles and best practices: which tool to use, how to prompt, what context to safely share, how to evaluate output, when donors welcome AI and when they do not, and where AI should not be used at all.

It is a closed cohort, one session a week, with light assignments between sessions and a peer group in between.  You will leave with working drafts, not just slides and session recordings.

This series is an expanded version of a highly successful 2-hour masterclass delivered to consecutive cohorts of the ILSS Fundraising programme. Both these sessions received a rating of 6.5/7, with the participants calling the session “Absolutely Stunning” “Amazing” “Highly engaging”. ILSS summarised the session as “An eye-opening introduction to the practical use of AI in Fundraising.”

Programme Details

4 live online sessions: One session every week, with each session lasting 1.5 hours.

• A small, closed cohort: 20–25 participants (Only one person per organisation allowed)

• Application-focused learning: Hands-on exercises using your own organisational context and materials, supported by light assignments between sessions.

• Peer learning: A dedicated WhatsApp group to connect with fellow fundraisers and continue learning between sessions.

• Language: English

• Programme fee: ₹4,999 per participant. (Early Bird Offer: ₹3,499 per participant. Available until 11th Sept). All prices are inclusive of GST.

NOTE: The fee covers the complete four-part series. Individual sessions are not available separately

What you will learn

• How AI can be applied across each stage of the NGO fundraising lifecycle, improving fundraising effectiveness and efficiency

• Practical skills for using AI to strengthen donor pipeline development, donor outreach, communication and engagement

• Best practices and Guiding Principles for AI Usage across prompts, context , output evaluation, and managing risk

• The ethics and optics of AI in fundraising — what donors accept, what they do not, and how to position your use of it

What you will take away

Beyond the learnings listed above, each participant will take away:    

• An Ideal Donor Profile of your organisation and a shortlist of aligned donors built from your own material

• A tailored concept note for one of your ideal donors, drafted and reviewed during the sessions

• A starting framework for your organisation's generative AI policy

• Access to a “proposal reviewer” app 

•  A peer cohort of fundraisers working through the same questions

Series structure

1. Masterclass 1 — Laying the Foundation & Identifying Your Ideal Donors

Start with the fundraising lifecycle and the mindset that makes AI useful: treating AI as a collaborative buddy rather than a magic genie. Understand the three AI buddies — Thinking, Doing and Reviewing — and then apply it: build your Ideal Donor Profile from your own annual reports and use it to shortlist real CSR donors. Includes a look at specialised tools in the “Identify” stage.

2. Masterclass 2 — Attracting Prospects & Navigating the Ethics of AI Positioning

Understand what donors actually find acceptable, and how to position AI as a behind-the-scenes tool that strengthens accountability without replacing the human touch. The live exercise puts deep research capabilities to work mapping your board members, advisors and past leadership against your donor shortlist to surface overlapping board seats, executive movements and shared affiliations.

3. Masterclass 3 — Converting Donors & Perfecting Output Evaluation

Move from prospect to active donor. Work through what to prompt, what context is safe to share, and how to judge the output — including knowing where you are the expert and where you are the amateur, and using a second AI tool to peer-review the first. In the exercises, you will draft a tailored concept note, then have AI switch roles and review that proposal.

4. Masterclass 4 — Engaging, Growing & Establishing AI Governance

Scale donor engagement and retention without scaling effort. Use AI to brainstorm retention strategies, transform a single source document into videos, audio overviews, decks, social posts and multiple languages, and build donor dashboards. The series closes on governance: the real risks of automated translation and transformation, and why your organisation needs a generative AI policy covering human accountability, disclosure and DPDP compliance.

Who should attend

• Small and mid-sized nonprofits with an annual budget below INR 5 Cr only.

• Fundraising team leads or NGO leadership

• Participants who can commit to all four sessions and the exercises in between — this is a full series, not a drop-in webinar 

NOTE: Participants are expected to have access to an AI tool like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity. If no AI tool subscription is available, then participants must have at least a Gmail account. 

How the programme runs

• Pre-programme: Participant onboarding, a baseline assessment, and pre-read resources shared ahead of the first session

• Delivery: Four live, interactive sessions with case studies and hands-on activities

• Application: Light assignments between sessions to apply the learning inside your own organisation

• Post-programme: Continued access to the WhatsApp group, session recordings, curated tools and resources, and follow-up check-ins.

Session Dates and Timings

1. 18 September, Friday | 3:00-4:30 PM

2. 25 September, Friday | 3:00- 4:30 PM

3. 1 October, Thursday | 3:00- 4:30 PM

4. 9 October, Friday | 3:00- 4:30 PM

In case of any queries, please write to ipn@indiapartnernetwork.org