It’s a story that will sound painfully familiar to anyone who has ever poured their heart into a cause, only to be treated like an afterthought. A national nonprofit’s founder came to Colorado for a VIP reception and media interviews. The guest list was carefully curated. The volunteers who had raised millions for the organization were not on it. The explanation from a paid staff member? “We don’t want her to be overwhelmed.” The fallout was swift: nearly every board and committee member resigned.
That anecdote, recounted by a former volunteer to Deborah Sherman, a former investigative reporter, illustrates a chronic problem in the nonprofit world: the people who give the most are often the least appreciated. “I’ll give you my hours, and I’ll give you my blood, sweat and tears if you just appreciate me and say thank you,” the volunteer told her.
Sherman, who co-founded a Denver nonprofit during her journalism career, now leads AIEZ.ai, an AI workflow consulting firm. She holds a Cornell AI Strategy certificate and has channeled her understanding of nonprofit pain points into three new applications designed to solve the operational and relational gaps that drive supporters away.
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Three new AI tools help nonprofits find funding and keep people as year-end giving begins
I’ll give you my hours, and I’ll give you my blood, sweat and tears if you just appreciate me and say thank you.”— Nonprofit Volunteer
The first tool, True Prospects, tackles the challenge of finding new funders. It scours websites, news coverage and thousands of IRS 990-PF filings to match foundations to a nonprofit’s specific mission, saving development teams countless hours of manual research.
Next is True Again, which focuses on re-engaging lapsed donors. The app identifies people who gave once and then stopped, analyzes each person’s giving history, and drafts personalized outreach messages. These are donors who already know the organization’s name — the low-hanging fruit that often goes ignored.
The third app, True Volunteers, is designed to keep the people who show up. It handles scheduling, fills open slots, sends text reminders, ensures new volunteers receive a response within 48 hours, and tracks hours for board reports. It also records personal milestones like birthdays and anniversaries and drafts a personal thank-you after every single event — addressing the exact kind of neglect that sparked the resignations in the opening story.
Sherman frames the problem in stark terms. A foundation that would have said yes never hears the request. A donor who gave once remains a stranger. A volunteer who goes unthanked leaves — and sometimes others follow. With these apps, a three-person team can cover the workload of a full development department, freeing up hours to focus on the actual mission.
Three tools. One purpose. Helping good people do more good.
Nonprofits can try the apps now.
• True Prospects: https://aiez.ai/true-prospects
• True Again: https://trueagain.aiez.ai
• True Volunteers: https://aiez.ai/true-volunteers
• Four-minute demonstration video: https://youtu.be/unBeNeLijMM
About AIEZ.ai
AIEZ.ai is a Colorado firm that designs AI workflows, delivers training and builds governance frameworks for businesses, nonprofits and governments. MEDIA CONTACT: Deborah@AIEZ.ai, 303.887.7249
Deborah Sherman
AIEZ.ai
+1 303-887-7249
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Why it matters: Nonprofits operate on thin margins and even thinner staff, and losing a major donor or a dedicated volunteer can cripple a mission for years. By automating the relationship-building tasks that humans often neglect, these tools address a root cause of donor and volunteer churn — and may help cash-strapped organizations turn gratitude into a scalable system.
