Must-Try AI Tools for Associations & Non-Profits

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, AI has taken the world by storm. ChatGPT is up to 13M daily users, Microsoft has integrated AI into their Bing search tool and organizations are left wondering how this technology will impact business. 

Whether you realize it or not, artificial intelligence is already a part of your day-to-day – from those email auto-complete suggestions to the facial recognition that lets you unlock your phone and bypass logins on your favorite apps. 

However, innovations of late have seen AI to creep more closely into our professional lives and how we operate at an organizational level. 

So where does that leave your association?

AI’s Impact on Associations

While there’s a lot to be seen from AI in terms of ethics, security and industry-specific functionality, it does offer a unique look into the future. 

For associations, it creates opportunities to expand your organization's reach by leveraging your built-in expertise, streamlines personalized experiences regardless of your membership size and, more importantly, helps create content that’s more accessible for everyone you serve. 

And while the strategy shouldn’t be to become an AI-powered association overnight, it is critical to understand the potential impact and work to get prepared.  

“Let's take the time to do what we need to do to understand this technology,” says Reggie Henry, Chief Information and Performance Excellence Officer for ASAE. “How can we apply it safely, how can we apply it ethically, how can we apply it smartly and still have the context that only humans can provide.” 

AI Tools for Associations to Start Experimenting  

New AI tools are getting released daily, and while this list is in no way exhaustive (and we’ll continue to update it), most of these are free AI tools you can start experimenting with today. 

1. ChatGPT – Yes, the one you’ve heard so much about. ChatGPT is an advanced AI language model developed by OpenAI. It’s designed to generate human-like text based on input – like user questions and writing commands. ChatGPT is free, although ChatGPT-4 is already in beta for paying users. 

2. Jasper – Jasper uses generative AI to create content ranging from blog posts to Twitter threads. Beyond that, it can also help generate outlines for articles, brainstorm content topics and translate text into over 26 languages. Jasper is not a free tool, but does have a trial period and can be adjusted based on your usage to help control costs. 
3. Copy.ai – Another AI writing tool, Copy.ai can help with blog content, social media posts and emails. Its free version (limited to 2,000 words) gives you access to its editor and templates, including emails, LinkedIn messages and job descriptions. It has over 6M users and can also translate your copy into over 26 languages. 
4. DALL·E – Create images in any style with simple text prompts. DALL·E, also from OpenAI, is free to use and has a few unique features. While you can create original art with it, you also can upload and edit existing photos – with simple commands like “add a coffee mug to this desk.”
5. Stable Diffusion – A text-to-image generator, Stable Diffusion can generate high-quality images for free. Like DALL·E, it allows you to describe the scene you want illustrated along with the art style you’d like to see it in. It also has ChatGPT integration options and can also be used to generate and improve your prompts. 
6. Descript – From video editing to podcasting and clip creation, Descript is an all-in-one media AI tool. One of the coolest features is its ability to edit videos via transcript. Want to cut out those “um,” and awkward pauses? Edit the transcript, and the tool will cut it from your video. Also, if you need to add or fix pronunciation, it can dub the audio via AI. 

7. Synthesia – Don’t have a host for your association videos? No problem! Synthesia has over 85 avatars that can speak over 120 languages, with easy-to-use templates that make video creation at scale convenient. The only thing you need? A script to input. 
8. Rasa.io – Curated content can be a massive membership benefit – but putting that content together can be time-consuming and sometimes challenging for smaller teams. Rasa.io takes the guesswork out of newsletter building with the power of AI. Not only can associations highlight their own content and improve those open rates, but with the power of AI, your newsletter content is curated based on member interests and interactions, a win-win for all.
9. Contentware – Associations have tons of events – webinars, conferences, annual meetings and in-person meet-ups, to name a few. And building a marketing campaign around each can take a lot of time. Contentware uses Ai to make things easier. It creates a marketing campaign, emails and social media posts simply by inputting the URL for your event.  
10. Betty Bot – Chatbots aren't new tech, but a smarter chatbot that can leverage your association's content, that's new. Betty Bot is a one-of-a-kind solution that leverages the latest AI tech to provide a personalized member experience, connecting users to pertinent information, answers and 24/7 customer support.
11. MarketMuse – Looking to streamline your marketing campaigns? MarketMuse is an AI-powered content strategy and optimization tool that helps marketers create high-quality, SEO-friendly content. It uses natural language processing to analyze and identify content gaps, suggests relevant topics and provides optimization recommendations.
12. Surfer – For associations focused on SEO and organic search, Surfer can be a helpful tool that connects to your existing Google Search Console profile. It offers suggestions to improve your organic performance – from interlinking suggestions on your site to blog topics and keywords most pertinent to your audience. While there’s a paid option, the free version has plenty of helpful insights. 

11. Notion – Already a popular task management and brainstorming tool, Notion has integrated AI technology to make things easier. With Notion AI, you can summarize your notes, ask it to improve your writing, check for spelling and grammar or generate all-new content with simple commands. 
12. Grammarly – Cut the mistakes out of your writing with Grammarly. While it checks for grammatical errors and helps clean up typos, it’s also a powerful tool for improving your tone and clarity. It’s predominantly a free tool (that also comes with an extension to integrate with other tools) but also has a premium offering with additional features. 

The Future of AI-Powered Associations

AI-powered tools are transforming how associations and non-profits operate, offering innovative solutions to streamline tasks, enhance content creation and improve member engagement. Embracing AI technology allows organizations to stay competitive and better serve their members and communities. 

The future of AI-powered associations is undoubtedly promising. By experimenting with these AI tools, associations can unlock their full potential and confidently navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape. All it takes is a little curiosity.