Charity Branding in the Age of AI: From Polished to Proven
With rapid advancements in AI, the world has rarely felt more thrilling—efficiency is soaring, functionality expanding, and opportunities multiplying.
But, with every advancement in technology or evolution of society and culture we can often fail to take the time to understand the most significant shift to business: customer behaviour.
For years, I’ve advocated for charities and not-for-profits to not only embrace new technology but to do so in a way that identifies, defines and accommodates for the behavioural changes happening among wider society and ultimately, customers / donors. I call this approach donor-back logic and charities need to be far more focussed on it when planning ways to preserve, protect and secure their donation income.
Steve Jobs was renowned for building products from the customer back, focussing on the customer experience first and foremost and working his way back to the internal systems, structures and requirements. It was (and still is) a counter-cultural approach to product and business development that has historically built systems and products from the inside out, not the customer / donor back.
You don’t need to spend more than 30secs on LinkedIn to see people sharing a mountain of unbelievably helpful tools to leverage AI, cheat sheets, prompt sheets, copy-writing tools, design tools and the list could go on for miles and each of these are wildly mind-blowing in their power and potential but we’ve once again fallen victim to inside out thinking – not customer / donor back.
So, what are three quick shifts in human behaviour as a result of AI and how should we change our messaging and approach to suit?
AI video tools have resulted in a rise of fake news and an overall destabilising and distrust in the authenticity of marketing and communications.
AI voice tools have left people questioning the legitimacy of communication and more fearful when interacting with people on the phone.
AI design tools have left people questioning the credibility of images and as such the credibility of the organisation.
So, what does that mean for your brand?
It means charities need to move beyond polished and embrace authenticity with their brand.
Donors are OK with the truth. In fact, they’re longing for it. What they connect with today are the scars, the misses, the moments that show real-world grit and growth. The bruises that prove the battle was worth it and our marketing needs to show that, not veil it.
Vulnerability used well can be a brands greatest asset, overplayed becomes their greatest weakness. If charities can learn to use a sense of tempered vulnerability in their marketing and storytelling it will rebuild trust with their donors.
And just to be clear, this isn’t a anti-AI blog, not at all. Use it. Maximise it. But do it in a way that humanises your message, not sterilises it.
Use AI from the donor back, build trust and create community, don’t fall victim to simply using it for internal efficiency and cost savings because if you only use it from the inside out in your organisation you might find that what has brought you a sense of internal efficiency has also eroded trust with your most valuable asset, your donors.
Because in today’s landscape, the best brands are not the most polished ones, they’re the most authentic.
