Have you worked with nonprofits before?

Not yet. That's why this page says how I'd approach it, not what I've done. The Walkthrough is two sessions, and you'll know quickly whether I can help.

Do we have to switch donor databases?

No. I work with what you already run and connect it to your books.

With the Walkthrough. Two sessions with your team and a one-page map of the workflows worth fixing. If none of them are, I'll say so.

For nonprofits

AI and automation for small nonprofits

For small nonprofits where development and finance are a few people. The hard part is the gap between the donor database and the books.

Where this comes from

I haven’t worked with a nonprofit yet. This page comes from reading how small nonprofits run development and finance, and where the two keep coming apart.

Where the work piles up

The donor database knows who gave. The books know what got deposited. Funders want both, cut their own way. In between are a few people reconciling payouts, rebuilding reports and chasing pledges by hand.

That’s the work I’d take off their desks first.

What I'd automate first

1
Donor database and the books
Development's number and finance's number never quite agree. Payouts arrive lumped together, and someone reconciles them by hand every month.
What I'd build
Every gift matched to its payout and its deposit, with fees and dates kept, so both teams start from the same number.
Make Your Tools Talk
2
The same data, shaped for every funder
Every funder wants a report, and each wants the numbers in a different shape. Someone rebuilds them from scratch each time.
What I'd build
Ask for the numbers a report needs in a sentence and get them back from your own records, ready to drop in.
Ask-Your-Data
3
Pledges nobody's tracking
Pledges get made and then sit. Nobody's sure who's behind until the year is almost over.
What I'd build
Every pledge tracked against what's come in, with reminders drafted for a person to approve.
Handoff
4
Know-how that leaves with people
When a development director leaves, how things get done leaves too. The next person starts from scratch.
What I'd build
The how-to written down once, in an assistant the next person can ask.
Ask-Once

Systems I'd expect to work with

Bloomerang
DonorPerfect
QuickBooks
Stripe
PayPal

What I wouldn't build

Online receipts and year-end statements. Your donor database already sends them.
Time allocation tracking. Tools built for it already exist.
A new donor database. I'd rather connect the one you have to your books.

Something I've built

I haven't built anything for a nonprofit. The closest thing I've built is the DMB Poster Vault, where payments and seller payouts run through Stripe and have to come out right.

Personal build

DMB Poster Vault: an archive with a marketplace

Over 2,800 concert posters, a marketplace with real payments, and price history pulled from eBay. Live and running.

What it shows: Real payments, data from several sources that doesn't agree, and a review queue before anything counts.

My own project

How the Walkthrough works Take the 5-minute AI readiness checklist Working with me in Nashville

Questions

Have you worked with nonprofits before?: Not yet. That's why this page says how I'd approach it, not what I've done. The Walkthrough is two sessions, and you'll know quickly whether I can help.
Do we have to switch donor databases?: No. I work with what you already run and connect it to your books.
Where do we start?: With the Walkthrough. Two sessions with your team and a one-page map of the workflows worth fixing. If none of them are, I'll say so.

Start with a free 30-minute call.

If the Walkthrough is the right next step, I'll say so. If it isn't, I'll say that too.

Request a free 30-minute call

Where this comes from

Where the work piles up

What I'd automate first

Donor database and the books

The same data, shaped for every funder

Pledges nobody's tracking