UI launches first AI-driven chatbot in advancement for 24/7/365 donor relations

After a successful pitch in the inaugural UIDEA batch, team Chatterbox shifted to a new vendor that could scale to an enterprise the size of the the University of Illinois system and launched the first artificial intelligence-driven chat bot in the advancement industry. While a small number of other universities offered chat bots staffed only for live answers during business hours, Chatterbox's bot expands donor and customer relations to 24/7/365.

The bot, now visible on the lower right corner of the UIF website in an unobtrusive, don't-annoy-the-donor way, can answer donor questions in seconds, rather than having the donor wait on a call back or a return email. It also learns key words and phrases over time to better provide the donor an accurate response to her question. And yes, it learns typos as well, because of course, it's an intelligent bot.

In addition to your standard Q&A, the bot also allows users to chat live with a staff member during business hours, schedule a callback using Calendly at a time convenient to the donor (thereby ending the infinite phone tag that can otherwise ensue), or leave a message.

During its UIDEA batch, and since, the team gathered from donors, alumni, advancement staff, etc. an inventory of questions donors are likely to ask when calling or emailing. The team then compiled responses and built an ever-growing knowledge base from which the bot can draw answers.

Behind the scenes, donor and customer relations staff can see which questions need answers, the most commonly asked questions, and statistics on customer service quality. They can also turn on and off answers depending on the timeliness of certain topics (bowl games, specific arts performances, #givingtuesday, etc.).

Stop by and say hello, using the bot. And see if you can find some of the easter egg questions and answers. Happy chatting!