VEO FAQ for Internal Teams
This article serves as a customizable template for advancement and communications teams, providing an overview of the Virtual Engagement Officer (VEO) and answers to common questions about how it works, communicates with donors, and supports fundraising effort. It is intended to help ensure internal team members understand the VEO's role and are equipped to respond to basic inquiries.
Will the VEO replace humans?
No. 95% of our donors fall outside of gift officer portfolios. We are fortunate to have over ## donors and a staff size of only ##. The VEO provides the opportunity to scale individual and personal communications to more donors and engage in 2-way communications.
Why are you using a Virtual Engagement Officer?
To reach more donors with regular, personal communication and help strengthen connections between our supporters and our organization.
Why does the VEO have an avatar/personal identity?
The VEO’s identity helps donors conceptualize what they are engaging with and how they should interact with it. Giving it a name and identity encourages donors to reply as they would with a human team member, and ask it questions just as they would any other resource. Occasionally, the VEO will use this avatar video to deliver a message, such as describing the benefits of a giving society, or the exciting details of an upcoming signature event.
Who does the VEO communicate with?
Only donors in the VEO’s assigned portfolio will receive communications.
What will donors in the portfolio experience?
The VEO reaches out to each donor in 8-12 touchpoints over the course of the year. The majority of these engagements are not solicitations. Like a gift officer, the VEO will invite donors to events, share news, impact stories, and volunteer opportunities. The VEO will thank a donor when they make a gift, and works throughout the year to lead donors to the natural outcome of giving.
How does a VEO communicate?
The VEO uses primarily email and text message to communicate. Messages look like natural, conversational language. The VEO also sends robotically handwritten notes in the mail when a donor makes their first gift since entering the portfolio. Lastly, it uses occasional video messages that feature the VEO’s avatar that can be linked in text or email conversations. The avatar video is the primary way it introduces itself in the first communication, being fully transparent that it is a virtual engagement officer.
Can a donor interact in a 2-way conversation?
Yes. Donors can reply, and the VEO can respond to questions, acknowledge messages, and escalate more complex responses to human staff.
What can we expect for opt-outs?
Opt-out rates are incredibly low - less than .1% —thanks to relevant messaging and donor-friendly tone.
How does a donor opt out?
Donors can reply directly to any message with a request to stop/opt out, and the VEO is able to interpret this response and immediately comply with the donor’s request to either opt out of a particular communication channel, or from hearing from the VEO altogether.
Can someone opt in who isn’t in the portfolio?
Yes, a donor can sign up to join the VEO portfolio on the landing page here.
What does the VEO do if it can't answer a donor’s question?
If the VEO encounters a question it can't answer, it flags the conversation and seamlessly hands it off to a designated staff member for human follow-up.
How does the VEO refer donors to humans?
The VEO automatically routes inquiries to designated contacts for human follow up. The VEO can ask permission from the donor to introduce them to a human team member, and then actually make that introduction directly over email.
How does the VEO handle sensitive topics?
Every donor response in a 2-way conversation with the VEO is reviewed by human team members at Version2. Sensitive topics are flagged and the VEO directs questions directly to its managers - to either approve or modify a proposed response before the VEO sends it or provide an opportunity for a human to reach out and respond to the donor instead.
How does the VEO accept gifts?
The VEO can guide donors to our existing giving pages, share gift options, and offer support during the giving process. The VEO does not directly accept or process gifts.
What organization information is the VEO connected to? How does it know what to engage donors with?
The VEO builds a knowledge base specific to our organization. It does this using channels we have provided to it, including websites, social media, and seeding it on marketing emails.
How do we get the VEO to prioritize certain content?
Some content is prioritized on its own, such as major annual giving campaigns and signature events. The VEO’s managers can also prioritize content by replying to the weekly manager email, sending content to veo@version2.ai, or sharing priorities at the monthly meeting with Version2.
What information does the VEO have about each donor?
The VEO has data from our CRM, including donor contact information, giving history, and gift transaction details. There may be additional information we provide to the VEO to allow it to further personalize individual communications.
What is integrated with our CRM?
New gifts are exported from our CRM and sent to Version2, so the VEO always has updated giving information for each donor and can steward and solicit appropriately. The communications a VEO sends and receives are also imported back into our CRM on a regular basis.
How do we know what the VEO is doing?
We receive weekly manager reports, the data return file of communications, and meet with the Version2 team monthly to review progress.
How are other organizations using a VEO?
Autonomous Fundraising and the Virtual Engagement Officer were first invented and announced by Givzey’s Version2.ai in June, 2024. 13 organizations partnered with Givzey to research, develop, and deploy the first VEOs later that fall. Since then, additional cohorts of Innovation Partners have launched VEOs, defining use cases and opportunities for Autonomous Fundraising to engage more donors in nonprofit organizations across all verticals, including higher education, independent schools, healthcare, humane societies, activism, humanitarian, and more. A full dashboard of results across partners is available here.