Telephone Appeals
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AskGive: Using AI to Build Donor Trust with Handshake’s Lev Gorelov & BBB Give org’s Bennett Weiner
How can nonprofits use AI to build donor trust—without sacrificing transparency or accuracy?
In this AI & Trust in the Charitable Sector conversation , Bennett Weiner (CEO, BBB Wise Giving Alliance / Give.org) is joined by Lev Gorelov (Co-founder & Research Director, Handshake) and Ezra Vazquez-D’Amico (Director of Digital Partnerships & Strategy, BBB Wise Giving Alliance) to unpack the launch of AskGive—Give.org’s AI-powered giving advisor.
They discuss why AI matters for donors and charities, how AskGive is built to be trustworthy by design (vetted sources, routing, and citations), and practical guidance for nonprofits exploring AI—start small, be transparent, and prioritize accuracy. You’ll also hear how BBB is revising its Charity Standards (with a 20-member advisory committee) to address AI, accuracy, and transparency, and why beta testing plus data hygiene are critical before any public rollout.
What you’ll learn:
How AskGive works: conversational AI that limits answers to vetted Give.org content (charity reports, blogs, podcasts, guides) and shows sources for transparency.
Why accuracy & transparency are the two must-have pillars for nonprofit AI (and how to mitigate “hallucinations”).
A practical framework for translating mission, tone, and values into AI systems (culture capture, routing, guardrails).
Why nonprofits should start narrow, run a beta, and clean up website content before connecting AI.
How AI can scale service (24/7 Q&A, multilingual access, aggregate insights) while freeing staff for high-value human interactions.
Training the whole org: why AI isn’t just an IT project—everyone should learn to prompt, review, and improve AI outputs.
Key takeaway
AI won’t replace trust or empathy—it can amplify both when it’s grounded in vetted data, clear disclosures, and mission-aligned design.
Featured speakers
- Bennett Weiner – CEO, BBB Wise Giving Alliance
- Lev Gorelov – Co-Founder & Research Director, Handshake
- Ezra Vazquez-D’Amico – Director, Digital Partnerships & Strategy, BBB Wise Giving Alliance
Resources & links
- Give.org (BBB Wise Giving Alliance): https://give.org/
- Try out AskGive (AI giving advisor): https://give.org/askgive
- Handshake (AI studio): https://www.handshake.fyi/
If you’re exploring AI for nonprofits, subscribe for more episodes in our playlist “AI & Trust in the Charitable Sector.” Drop your questions in the comments—what AI use-cases do you want us to cover next?
#nonprofits #aiforgood #DonorTrust #ethicalai #transparency #AskGive #GiveOrg #BBBWiseGivingAlliance #generativeai #CharityTech #philanthropy #digitaltransformation
