{"id":74833,"date":"2026-03-31T10:10:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nonprofitpro.com\/?post_type=article&p=74833"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:10:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:10:26","slug":"how-ai-search-is-changing-donor-discovery-for-nonprofits","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.nonprofitpro.com\/article\/how-ai-search-is-changing-donor-discovery-for-nonprofits\/","title":{"rendered":"How AI Search Is Changing Donor Discovery for Nonprofits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donors aren’t just searching for nonprofits anymore — they’re asking artificial intelligence (AI). That shift is already reshaping how nonprofits are discovered — and ultimately, which organizations donors choose to support.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of clicking through search results, users are turning to tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews to get immediate answers about causes, organizations, and where to give. Increasingly, they are finding that information without ever visiting a nonprofit’s website.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the session, “The AI Factor: How Donors Discover and Choose Nonprofits in the Age of Algorithms,” at the <\/span>2026 Nonprofit Fundraisers Symposium<\/span><\/a>, speakers described how AI is transforming search into an answer engine — where visibility depends on being included in the response.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The landscape is getting really messy,” Alisa Scharf, vice president of AI and innovation at <\/span>Seer Interactive<\/span><\/a>, said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“People don’t have to click around and piece together information,” TJ Peeler, vice president of client strategy at <\/span>AGP<\/span><\/a>, added. “… People now expect one clean, credible, complete response.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Visibility No Longer Means Website Traffic<\/span><\/h2>\n

One of the most immediate impacts of AI search is declining traffic from traditional search engines as users get answers directly within search results or AI tools without visiting a website.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“SEO used to be about brand awareness …,” Peeler said. “Now this is really changing because it’s less about page views as a measurement, and it’s more about are you being pulled into AI and cited as a source of information?”<\/span><\/p>\n

But that doesn’t necessarily mean nonprofits are losing engagement. Instead, the donor journey is shifting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Early-stage discovery is increasingly happening inside AI platforms. By the time users reach a nonprofit’s website, they are further down the funnel and more likely to take action, Peeler said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“So it may mean that you have the same impact,” Peeler said. “People at the awareness stage weren’t converting a lot, but once they go further down the funnel, they’re more likely to convert. And since that awareness traffic is moving to a different channel, your channel on the website is going to continue to convert more.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, there is a tradeoff: If a nonprofit is not surfaced in those early AI-driven answers, it may never be part of a donor’s consideration.<\/span><\/p>\n

“So the two most important things to know are: One, don’t panic, and two, don’t block AI from crawling your website,” Peeler said.<\/span><\/p>\n

5 Steps to Position Your Nonprofit for AI Search<\/span><\/h2>\n

That shift in how trust is built doesn’t make search engine optimization irrelevant — but it does redefine its role.<\/span><\/p>\n

Historically, nonprofit SEO focused on keywords, rankings, and driving traffic to specific pages. In an AI-driven environment, visibility depends less on ranking for a term and more on being recognized as a credible source.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Scharf noted, search engines are sending far less traffic relative to the amount of content they index, with ratios worsening significantly in recent years. So, what does it take to stay visible — and credible — in an AI-driven search environment?<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Audit How AI Describes Your Organization<\/span><\/h3>\n

Start by searching your nonprofit in tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. What information appears? What sources are cited? How does it compare to peer organizations?<\/span><\/p>\n

This exercise can reveal gaps, inaccuracies, or missing context that may affect how donors perceive your organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The one thing everyone needs to make sure they do is go back and [search] themselves on ChatGPT and see what it says about you as an organization,” Peeler said. “What is it pulling from? What did it say that is surprising?”<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Structure Content for AI, Not Just SEO<\/span><\/h3>\n

Unlike traditional search, AI tools don’t provide keyword data — making it harder to understand how users are discovering information.<\/span><\/p>\n

“[Google’s original search algorithm] made a little more sense to us,” Scharf said. “You can do a little more to optimize and figure out how it works, what the different elements are. That is not true in an AI search world.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Seer Interactive found that brands cited in Google’s AI Overviews received 35% more organic clicks and 91% more paid clicks than brands that were not cited. AI tools prioritize clarity, completeness, and credibility over traditional keyword signals. That means nonprofits need to create content that:<\/span><\/p>\n