Fundraising leaders know the unique challenge of championing new technology to executive teams and boards. The potential is clear, but translating that vision to governance stakeholders isn’t always easy. Many boards are asking teams to innovate with trusted digital labor while carrying understandable concerns. Leaders hesitate to bring even transformative tools forward unless they directly address mission-critical priorities. From the outset, Version2.ai made a simple commit

Most AI tools in fundraising help your team work faster or more efficiently. But what if AI could expand your team instead? While AI enablement creates more efficient workflows, it doesn't solve the real challenge facing nonprofits: there simply aren't enough frontline fundraisers to successfully manage all donors.  That's where Autonomous Fundraising comes into play. Autonomous AI is more than AI Enablement AI Enablement uses tools that augment human capabilities and support

October 2025 marked one full year of Autonomous Fundraising. As a team built of former fundraising professionals, we saw the gap in our industry: advancement teams simply do not have enough capacity to successfully manage anywhere close to the number of donors they’d like to have in portfolios. The biggest challenge facing all nonprofits is that we have a labor shortage. There simply aren’t enough frontline fundraisers. The average gift officer tenure maxes out at 3 years, an

In this exclusive interview, pioneering fundraising leader, Brooks Hull, Vice President for University Advancement at Texas State University and Executive Director for the Texas State University Development Foundation, shares his vision for further expanding Autonomous Fundraising. Q: Your team currently has two Virtual Engagement Officers but you plan on adding two more to the fundraising team. Can you share how you intend to build that out? A: Our mindset around expansion i

One year ago, Autonomous Fundraising became a reality. Today, the fundraising leaders that moved first aren't just proving the concept, they're expanding Autonomous Fundraising across their organizations to create a sustainable model that supports their work into the future. Take for example one of our higher ed Innovation Partners. They started by expanding from one to two VEOs focused on leadership annual giving and alumni engagement. The results were clear enough that they

A year ago, when we first introduced Virtual Engagement Officers to the nonprofit sector, we saw cautious optimism and doubt about how donors would perceive a VEO. Development directors would lean in with interest, then pull back with questions: "Will donors really engage with AI?" "What if they feel like we're replacing the human touch?" The concern was completely understandable. What immediately surprised us was the incredibly low opt-out rate, just .1%, which still holds t

Every advancement team knows events drive engagement, which in turn drives revenue. But they also know the reality: hundreds of invites to send, RSVPs to track, and follow-ups that never happen because there simply aren't enough hours in the day. That’s where Autonomous Fundraising makes a difference. The Event Attendance Challenge When something feels personal—a handwritten note or a thoughtful message—someone is more likely to engage with it. The same is true for events. In

One year after introducing Virtual Engagement Officers (VEOs) to real donor portfolios, we've learned what works, what doesn't, and what fundraising leaders should do next. Renee Quinn and Emily Groccia walked through the highlights in our recent webinar, “The Data & Results Are In: One Year of Autonomous Fundraising.”   Breaking the Capacity Ceiling Most advancement teams personally manage 2-3% of their donors. The bottleneck isn't prospects—it's capacity. Virtual Engagement

Onboarding new technology usually means endless meetings, overworked teams, and continuously pushed launch dates. When organizations announce new fundraising technology that promises transformation, the reality is a months-long implementation and delayed results. But what if onboarding could actually match the pace of advancement work? The Version2.ai Difference As a team of former fundraisers and advancement professionals, we knew very well the pain points of new technology

There’s a universal challenge most small fundraising teams face: very limited staff, ambitious goals, and a growing donor base that demands personalized attention. From a staff perspective, this contributes to the staff turnover and burnout. From a donor perspective, it leaves them feeling disconnected from your organization—and leaves revenue on the table. But what if small teams could expand their fundraising capacity using autonomous AI? Autonomous Fundraising in Action Te

Successful fundraising leaders approach the implementation of Virtual Engagement Officers (VEOs) systematically. While there are numerous possibilities spanning the entire donor lifecycle, it's important to identify where the VEO will solve the biggest challenges and generate measurable ROI for an organization. Steps for Building a VEO Portfolio Autonomous Fundraising expands capacity for advancement teams. VEOs manage portfolios of 1,000 donors. To see real results, there's

The Version2.ai team is comprised of former advancement professionals, so we knew just how important sharing best practices and learnings are with the community. When we launched Virtual Engagement Officers (VEOs), we decided to build a model that would embed itself into the collaborative nature of nonprofits, bringing more value for our innovation partners than just a software investment. Cohorts Initially created for the purpose of R&D, cohorts group innovation partners go

With development leaders across the country using Virtual Engagement Officers (VEOs), the most common question we get is: Which donors...

After one year of Autonomous Fundraising and managing over 70,000 donors, the data reveals something every fundraiser intuitively knows...

As more and more advancement teams incorporate AI into their fundraising strategy, an important question arises: will older donors engage...

October marks one year since the inaugural cohort of innovation partners fully introduced the world’s first autonomous fundraisers,...

The best question you can ask yourself when evaluating AI is “Will this directly drive revenue or will this create efficiencies?” If your...

What stands out in fundraising is how much potential lives at the base of the pyramid. Alumni, parents, and friends want to feel...

In recent months, there has been a change in the way leaders talk about adding trusted digital labor to their teams. Early conversations...

One year ago, a Virtual Engagement Officer raised the very first gift through Autonomous Fundraising. Today, autonomous fundraisers...