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Currents Spotlight: Applying AI

Results, advice, and lessons learned from advancement teams
 

Artificial intelligence is rapidly developing, with new tools and opportunities arising every day. How can advancement teams best use it to accelerate their work?   

“There is a lot of noise—vendors, thought pieces, experimental tools—but little clarity about why and how to use AI in ways that strengthen advancement. And how does it integrate with our existing tools and technology?” reflects Josh Newton, Senior Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Engagement at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.  

Advancement leaders like Newton and their teams are in various stages of AI use now. Those stages, according to the CASE Insights on Generative AI report (2025), are: exploring, experimenting, operationalizing, and scaling. At Emory, Newton and his colleagues have experimented with AI for generating content and creating portals for alumni and donors to find answers to questions. But it’s all a learning process—and, Newton stresses, the point isn’t to use AI for AI’s sake. It’s to use AI to think differently and deploy it to solve problems.   

Here, in this spotlight on AI, explore how several teams today have applied AI to address specific challenges: reaching and engaging more donors; managing and cleaning up data; researching donors; and forging connections between more students and alumni. Find their advice and early takeaways—along with reflections on guidelines, ethics, and supporting a culture of innovation.   

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From Exploring to Scaling

An advancement leader offers advice and cautions for bringing AI into everyday operations

Gather a group of advancement professionals—at a conference, a webinar, or for informal “shop talk”—and artificial intelligence is likely to come up. How are you using it? Have you developed guidelines for staff? Where should teams be careful? In this interview, Josh Newton, Senior Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Engagement at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., and Chair of CASE 50, offers his AI advice and his takeaways from CASE's AI research. 

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Ava, Cleveland State University's virtual engagement officer

Jumping on the AI Train to Engage Alumni

Cleveland State University’s digital gift officer creates more touchpoints with alumni

How can advancement teams work smarter to maximize resources? This was the question that led John Templeman to explore artificial intelligence to help his small team at Cleveland State University with its workload. In 2025, the Ohio, U.S., institution launched Ava, an AI-powered digital gift officer. Here's how Ava works.

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Ask an Alum

Case Study: Building Connections

The London School of Economics uses AI to connect alumni with students looking for career advice

In 2022, the London School of Economics created an “Ask an Alum” digital tool. The goal? Connecting alumni with students seeking career insights and looking to build their networks. Here, Wallis Spence, Alumni Engagement Projects Manager, Philanthropy and Global Engagement Division, shares how the project has helped alumni and students build relationships.

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A screen displaying lines of code, and a person typing.

Case Study: Empowering Advancement Services

The University of Canterbury uses AI to simplify its data import process

In 2024, the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, created a process to streamline its graduation import process using artificial intelligence-assisted coding. Here, Ross Imbler, Advancement Services Manager at the university, shares his experience using AI and advice for other teams looking to implement it. 

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Clark Hall on the campus of Clark University in Massachusetts, U.S.

Case Study: AI-Powered Donor Research

Inside the EverTrue-Clark Advancement Lab’s process for accelerating research

In 2024, Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S., launched an artificial intelligence lab with software company EverTrue. Their goal? Explore how to use AI to modernize the most time-intensive and mission critical components of advancement. Donor research is a key focus. They designed an AI-assisted donor research system that dramatically accelerates research preparation. Here's how.

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