In mid-March, crowdfunding platform GoFundMe unveiled its smart fundraising coach, retrofitted with a raft of artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities. The new offering, functioning as an AI-powered assistant, is designed to improve the process of creating and managing fundraisers for GoFundMe users.
In an interview with Charity Journal, a spokesperson for GoFundMe shared insights on the newly minted Smart Fundraising Coach. While this is the newest AI tool from the company, it certainly will not be the last as the broader nonprofit and social impact ecosystem embraces emerging technologies at a frenetic pace.
GoFundMe Smart Fundraising Coach positions campaigns for success
According to the official announcement, GoFundMe disclosed that the new smart fundraising coach is designed to improve the efficiency of donation campaigns. The company achieves this by taking a hard look at its own data and previous experiences with AI tools.
Right off the bat, the platform identified that the difference between a fully funded project and a stalled campaign often lies in a tiny, twenty-four-hour window. Failing to get the word out within the first day of launch could see campaigns lose as much as 10% of community support.
Several reasons account for why people hesitate to share their fundraisers, including being overwhelmed by platform processes, social stigma, and audience fatigue. The GoFundMe Smart Fundraising Coach wades in to address these concerns by helping organizers tell a clearer story to resonate with a broader audience.
“People come to GoFundMe looking for help from their community, often during the most challenging moments in their life,” said GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan.
The tool assists users in crafting compelling titles and stories while generating ready-to-share content that is optimized for social media, email, and SMS. By offering personalized recommendations, organizers can get their campaigns off to a flying start, teeing them up for success.
“It helps address one of the biggest barriers to fundraising in the first place: asking for help,” said a GoFundMe spokesperson. “We often hear from organizers that it took them a long time to build the courage to ask for help because they were unsure what to do or how people would respond.”
The spokesperson added that once initial momentum is established, broader sharing on social media becomes significantly more effective. GoFundMe’s data indicates that people are more likely to support a fundraiser that has already shown signs of traction.
Early users have already seen impressive success, hailing the smart fundraising coach for reducing the stress of running campaigns. Windy Pham, a fundraiser organizer on the platform, noted that the feature allows users to “spend less time guessing,” freeing up time to focus on making a sustained community impact.
Navigating donor fatigue
While the smart fundraising coach has recorded success levels in kickstarting projects, the tool is proving effective in handling donor fatigue.
In 2026, donor fatigue has evolved into a structural shift in how people give, raising grave concerns for the broader industry. Fewer people are giving with small donors, which are the backbone of fundraising, dropping off sharply, with double-digit declines in segments.
The company’s spokesperson disclosed that the coach navigates this by suggesting a data-informed goal while recognizing that the entire fundraising process is “deeply human” and needs can change over time.
“The aim is to recommend a starting point that feels grounded, credible, and motivating enough to help people build momentum,” said the spokesperson.
Furthermore, the interactive coach supports users with personalized steps to drive donations. For instance, the GoFundMe Smart Fundraising Coach provides intuitive suggestions on who to share fundraising campaigns with and what channels to use for outreaches. Meanwhile, the coach nudges the organizers to send follow-up messages to donors and send gratitude notes.
At the moment, donors expect relationships beyond mere campaigns underscored by clear impact, personal connection, and ongoing connection. By helping organizers maintain clear communication lines, GoFundMe’s new AI tool addresses the rising concerns of donor fatigue.
Ethical concerns continue to trail AI use in social impact
As conversations about the ethical implications of AI use across several sectors grow louder, GoFundMe says its new tool comes fitted with guardrails to prevent misuse. Per the press release, the team stated that the innovation is “guided by a dedicated and cross-functional AI governance committee and responsible AI practices.”
A company spokesperson told Charity Journal that the smart fundraising coach prioritizes transparency, security, and user control. Despite AI at the core, the company clarified that organizers remain in control with the tool designed to provide support and not replace human judgment.
The smart fundraising coach is not GoFundMe’s first tango with AI tools. The company has rolled out tools like the Intelligent Ask Amounts, allowing nonprofits to provide personalized requests based on specific goals while finding success with AI-generated, ready-to-share videos and posters.
“Since 2024, our use of AI has been reviewed through a dedicated, cros-functional AI Governance Committee that brings together Legal, Security, Product, Engineering, and other teams to oversee development and deployment,” said the spokesperson.
While GoFundMe has embedded AI on its platform without much fallout, other social impact platforms have not fared better. Critics have argued that AI systems, if trained on biased data, can reinforce existing inequalities and risk unfair decisions in aid distribution and beneficiary targeting.
For now, the GoFundMe smart fundraising coach is open to US-based organizers with a planned global rollout scheduled in the coming weeks.