Episode 83: Smarter Fundraising, Deeper Impact with Gabe Cooper

April 15, 20263 min read

Overview

This episode features Gabe Cooper, CEO and founder of Virtuous Software.

Starting the conversation, Gabe shares his journey, explaining how his background in the nonprofit sector inspired him to build Virtuous with a mission to make giving more personal and meaningful. He explores the idea of “responsive fundraising,” a model that uses data to create deeper, more human connections with donors rather than simply storing information.

As the conversation unfolds, Gabe discusses how this concept evolved and how it is transforming nonprofit engagement. He also explains the challenges nonprofits face in adopting AI, emphasizing curiosity, experimentation, and ethical responsibility. The episode closes with practical advice for nonprofit leaders and an optimistic view of how technology can empower generosity and drive meaningful impact.

Cover art for episode 83: Smarter Fundraising, Deeper Impact with Gabe Cooper

Episode highlights

03:28 Nathan's Journey with Virtuous
05:41 The Evolution of Responsive Fundraising
13:42 The Future of Responsive Fundraising and AI
18:01 Impact of AI on Fundraising and Generosity
26:01 Challenges and Opportunities in Adopting AI
31:38 Virtuous's Multi-Product Strategy and AI Leadership
34:41 Practical Advice for Nonprofit Leaders

Tips and tools to implement today

Focus on action, not just data collection in your CRM.
Personalize donor communication at every touchpoint.
Start small with AI. Experiment and learn as you go.
Use Notion to organize ideas, workflows, and AI notes.
Try Whisper for quick transcription and content creation.
Test tools like Replit to build simple AI-powered solutions.
Explore Lovable to prototype ideas without heavy coding.

Favorite quotes

"I get to work with shockingly smart people who are incredibly kind every day. That's just been such an amazing part of the job to this point." - Gabe Cooper
"We're in a world where you're always encouraged to buy something or always encouraged to spend 20 more minutes scrolling a feed. We live in this bombardment of consumption, and generosity is the thing that breaks down those walls, gets you more focused on your neighbor than yourself, and so it's just magic." - Gabe Cooper
"AI can make a massive impact on fundraising generosity." - Gabe Cooper
"If AI is deployed well in a human-first kind of way, it has the power to solve a lot of the problems like disease and poverty, wealth inequality, and joblessness. " - Gabe Cooper
"Leaning by default of the nonprofit sector is, how do we create good in the world? Now we have this massively powerful tool that can be used for good or not good. So in some sense, the sector should lead the way on making sure that on the program side, we're leveraging AI to get the best outcomes and being the out-front leaders in the world." - Gabe Cooper
"I think now for the first time, AI is this amazing technology that actually allows us to create content that's very unique to that person. We can know so much about who they are and what they care about that you can kind of think of it as the promise of responsive fundraising can only be like, you know, 80% fulfilled, yeah, model, and now you can kind of close the gap on that other 20% to really create truly personal moments at every stage." - Gabe Cooper
"It's maybe the most exciting/scary time to be a fundraiser, because all of the things that you thought were impossible are now possible, right today, not some future day, which is amazing." - Gabe Cooper
"So most fundraisers right now are dealing with sort of two simultaneous feelings, which is this amazing sort of optimism and excitement about what's possible and what this represents in the world. At the same time, there is this massive fear combined with ethical dilemmas. It's exciting, but it's a sort of non-trivial moment to navigate." - Gabe Cooper