#16 - Adam Martel, CEO of Gravyty - On how AI redefines the impact of fundraising in Not for Profit

My guest on the podcast this week is Adam Martel, Co-founder and CEO of Gravyty.

During his career, Adam founded three companies and had a diverse and eclectic background in advertising, public relations, journalism and collegiate athletic coaching. His passion, however, is with fundraising. Being a seasoned major gifts fundraiser himself, he has gained a deep and personal understanding of the challenges that all nonprofit organizations face while trying to raise money to support their causes.

Solving these challenges is his mission – hence he founded Gravyty, a Boston-based artificial intelligence company developing products to revolutionize frontline fundraising at nonprofit organizations.

During our interview, we explore how to unlock potential beyond the value conventional business software provides us, what drives the opportunity, and what mindset is required to uncover and create completely new markets. Here are some quotes from Adam:

“…we found that because we were using the CRM as the primary tool for fundraising, it was limiting the number of donors that I could get to.

The thesis was that if you could have your technology learn you instead of you learning your technology, we could change the way that frontline fundraisers and sales folks interact with their tools. The tools could actually help them and be a multiplier for their efforts in building relationships. That's really where we started. We've come a long way since then but the thesis is still the same.

Blackbaud, Salesforce, Ellucian and Community Brands, they're all selling databases. They're all selling the cup that holds the water, but nobody's doing anything with the water itself.

We think that our work in artificial intelligence is going to define the next 5 to 10 years of what happens in fundraising in non‑profit organizations

This isn't about Gravyty, it's about our customers. It's about the wonderful work that our customers are doing. If we can accelerate cancer research, if we can help eradicate HIV, if we can change the world and help these organizations change the world, it's our job to do that. They don't need to fit into us, we need to accelerate them”.

By listening to this interview, you will learn three things:

1. That for AI to reach its full potential, it requires to change behaviors, not just provide insights
2. That looking for abundance can provide the key to introduce transformative change
3. Why UI-less experiences are the enabler for people to become far more powerful