AI Services

AI for Fundraising Teams
That Doesn't Sound Like a Robot.

Practical AI implementation built for development teams — designed by a fundraiser who has done the work, not a generalist who learned about it last year. Every engagement is filtered through the TRUST Framework so you adopt AI without losing the human in your fundraising.

Learn About the TRUST Audit™ — $2,500 → Schedule a Call First
The Reality

Your Team Is Doing Two Jobs.

Your fundraisers are good at what they were hired to do — building relationships, telling your story, securing gifts. But somewhere along the way, the job became something else: prospect research, data entry, drafting acknowledgments, managing reports, formatting grant proposals.

The work is necessary. It's also stealing the hours your team needs for the conversations that actually move money.

AI can take a meaningful share of that work — if it's set up correctly, with the right guardrails, by someone who understands what's at stake when a donor relationship is on the line.

15–20
Hours/Week Returned
From repetitive work back to relationships
3–5
Workflows Identified
In your TRUST Audit™ — ranked by impact
~4 yrs
Studying AI in the Sector
Before it became a buzzword
Why QDG

A General AI Consultant Will Tell You What the Tools Can Do.

We tell you what they shouldn't do — and why that matters when a donor relationship is on the other end of the workflow.

Most tech consultants have never written a case for support, managed a major gift portfolio, or sat across from a board chair fielding hard questions about organizational values. They optimize for efficiency. That's not wrong — it's just incomplete.

Our work starts from the other side: we're fundraisers first, and we built the AI practice because we saw what was coming for the sector. The tools your team will trust are the ones designed by people who understand the room they're going to be used in.

That's why every QDG engagement runs through the TRUST Framework — five principles for ethical AI adoption in mission-driven contexts.

Tara Quarrie leads the AI practice.

20+ years in equity-centered fundraising — including USC Athletics ($350M+ campaign) and Heifer International

Tracking AI's implications for nonprofits since ~2022 — practitioner perspective, not vendor pitch

Google AI certified — applied specifically to fundraising operations

Author of the TRUST Framework — proprietary methodology for ethical AI in mission-driven organizations

Vendor-agnostic. We recommend the right tool for your team — not the one that pays referral fees.

Service Options

Start Where You Are. Stop When You're Ready.

Most engagements begin with The TRUST Audit™. From there, you choose what's right for your team — strategy, full implementation, or ongoing support. The roadmap is yours either way. No long contracts.

Diagnostic Engagement · 3 Business Days

TRUST Audit™

A structured diagnostic engagement with Tara: pre-call intake form, live assessment session, branded scorecard, written report, and a 90-day priority action plan. Identify exactly where AI can save your team the most time—and where it creates more risk than reward.

  • Pre-call intake + working session with Tara Quarrie
  • Branded TRUST Audit™ scorecard, written report, and 90-day action plan
  • 3–5 specific AI opportunities ranked by impact
  • Tool recommendations with estimated costs
  • Written report delivered in 3 business days — yours to keep either way
Book The TRUST Audit™ →
$2,500
One-Time
Book Now
Done-For-You · 4-Week Build

AI Strategy Sprint

We don't hand you a roadmap and leave. In four weeks, we design and build one high-impact AI system for your team — scoped to your exact workflows, configured to your tools, and tested before we hand it off. Done for you, end to end.

  • Deep-dive audit of your fundraising workflows
  • One custom AI system designed, built, and deployed for your team
  • Tool selection, configuration, and integration — handled by us
  • 2 staff training sessions so your team can run it independently
  • 30 days of post-launch email support
Book a Scoping Call →
$15,000
4-Week Build
Book a Scoping Call
Done-For-You · 8–12 Week Build

AI Implementation Package

A full custom AI build across your fundraising operation. We design, configure, and deploy multiple systems — donor research, communications, CRM workflows, reporting — scoped to how your team actually works. We stay through live rollout and don't leave until your staff owns it.

What Each Phase Looks Like
Weeks 1–2: Scoping, workflow architecture & build kickoff
Weeks 3–8: Custom build, integration, and pilot rollout
Weeks 9–12: Staff training, governance setup & live handoff
  • Everything in AI Strategy Sprint
  • Multiple AI systems custom-built for your operation
  • Full tool configuration, integration, and testing — handled by us
  • Custom AI prompt libraries (50+ prompts) built to your voice and workflows
  • 4 advanced staff training sessions
  • AI governance framework and internal policy documentation
  • 90 days of post-launch troubleshooting and optimization

Many clients continue with the AI Advisory Retainer after launch to optimize workflows and address adoption questions as the team uses the systems in real fundraising cycles.

Book a Scoping Call →
Starting at $45,000
8–12 Week Build
Book a Scoping Call
Ongoing Monthly Support

AI Advisory Retainer

AI doesn't stand still — and neither should your implementation. Monthly retainer support keeps your systems optimized, your team current, and your workflows adapting as the tools evolve. Scope is customized to where you are post-launch.

  • Monthly strategy call + ongoing email/Slack support (24hr response)
  • Workflow optimization as your programs and team evolve
  • Quarterly training on new tools and model updates
  • On-call build support for new AI system requests
  • Access to exclusive AI resource library and prompt updates
Book a Scoping Call →
$6,000–$12,000
Per Month · Scope-Dependent
Book a Scoping Call
Common Questions

Honest Answers About AI in Fundraising

No vendor pitch. No hype. The questions we get asked most — and how we actually answer them.

Will AI make our fundraising feel impersonal? +
It can — if you let it. We've seen organizations send AI-generated thank-you notes that sound like every other AI-generated thank-you note, and donors notice. The work is in deciding which tasks AI should touch and which it shouldn't. Acknowledgments to your top 50 donors? Probably not. First drafts of grant narratives that you then rewrite in your voice? Almost always. The TRUST Framework is how we draw those lines together.
Do we need to be "tech-savvy" to use AI? +
No. If you can write a clear email, you can write a useful AI prompt. The harder skill is judgment — knowing when the output is good enough, when it's wrong, and when to throw it out. That part takes practice, and it's most of what training time gets spent on.
Is AI expensive? We have a limited budget. +
The tools themselves are usually $20–$30 per user per month. The expensive part is buying tools before you've mapped the workflows — most organizations end up paying for software they don't use. Our TRUST Audit™ costs $2,500 specifically to prevent that.
How do we handle donor data privacy? +
Carefully, and with rules everyone on the team understands. Consumer AI tools should never see confidential donor information. There are enterprise-tier tools that handle data appropriately, and there are workflows that don't require donor data to be in the tool at all. The TRUST Audit™ identifies which is which for your specific situation, and the Respect for Consent principle in TRUST runs through every recommendation.
What if our Executive Director or board is skeptical? +
Their skepticism is reasonable — a lot of AI adoption right now is poorly considered. The strongest case for AI in your organization isn't "everyone's doing it." It's "here is exactly what we'd use it for, here is what it would save, and here is what we wouldn't use it for." We help you build that case with specifics from your own workflows.
What's actually in the TRUST Framework? +
Five principles we apply to every engagement: Transparency (donors and staff know when AI is involved), Respect for Consent (donor data only flows where consent allows), Unintended Consequences (we pressure-test every workflow for bias and downstream harm), Staff & Stakeholder Voice (the people doing the work shape the tools), and The Human in the Loop (AI drafts, humans decide). It's a checklist for every workflow before it goes live.

Start With The TRUST Audit™.

The TRUST Audit™. A branded scorecard, written report, and 90-day priority action plan — delivered in 3 business days. Yours to keep, whether you work with us afterward or not.

Book The TRUST Audit™ — $2,500 → Have Questions? Schedule a Call