10 Compelling Reasons Why Your Charity Needs a SaaS Chatbot to Support Your Customer Service Team

No matter whether you run a local not-for-profit organisation or an international charity, customer service should be your top priority. Through stellar customer service, you can enhance your relationships with donors and investors, reduce operational costs, and maximise your impact within the community.  

However, if you are running on a tight budget, scaling up your customer service strategy may be all but easy. That’s where a SaaS chatbot comes in.  

AI-powered, fully-customisable chatbot features allow you to level up your customer service strategy without major upfront investments or a full team of customer service agents. Discover the reasons why your charity needs a SaaS chatbot in this guide by Futr.  

Before We Start: Let’s Cover The Basics of SaaS Chatbots 

To understand why an AI-powered chatbot is so essential to your customer service strategy, it is important to clarify what a chatbot is. Below, we’ll look at the definition of SaaS and SaaS examples.  

• What is SaaS? 

SaaS stands for “Software as a Service”, which is a cloud computing model where software applications are provided over the internet by a third-party provider on a subscription basis.  

• What is a SaaS company? 

A SaaS company is a business that provides software as a service through a subscription-based system. Rather than selling software outright, the company offers access to it via the Internet, allowing users to use the software without needing to install it and maintain it locally on their own computers. 

• Examples of SaaS 

There are many examples of SaaS, including Salesforce, Zoom, Dropbox, Google Workspace, Slack, and HubSpot, among others. 

Enhancing Your Charity’s Customer Service: 10 Reasons Why You Need a Chatbot 

Below are some of the reasons why an AI-powered SaaS chatbot is a must-have tool in your charity.  

Reducing Overhead Costs 

No charity is free from operational costs, and most nonprofit associations have to spend up to a third of their revenue to cover overhead expenditures. However, you can reduce your running costs by introducing an AI chatbot. This strategy allows you to optimise your customer service without having to hire a full team of agents.  

Accessing The Latest AI Technologies  

One of the primary advantages of choosing a SaaS chatbot solution is the continuous access it provides to the latest AI technologies and updates, including sought-after features like multi-channel live chat capabilities. To illustrate this point, let’s consider a phone contract analogy: when you’re tied into a phone contract, you must wait until the contract expires before you can upgrade to the latest smartphone technologies. 

Similarly, in the realm of chatbots, opting to custom build your own solution, either internally or with the assistance of internal consultants, runs the risk of missing out on cutting-edge, hot off the press innovations. By utilising a SaaS chat solution like the one offered by Futr, you can rest assured that your software will always be up-to-date, secure, and equipped with the most advanced technologies. This alternative is not limited to a fixed-term contract; it encompasses the broader idea that building your own solution, even with internal resources or consultants, can still be considered a form of SaaS. 

Ease of Communication with Multi-Channel Access 

With the increasing prevalence of digital communication channels, it’s crucial for charities to meet audiences where they are. By incorporating a SaaS chatbot with multi-channel live chat features, such as Futr’s AI-powered solution, you can effectively engage users across various platforms.  

From your website to social media platforms and messaging apps, a SaaS chatbot ensures that your customer service team can provide real-time support and assistance on the channels preferred by your audience. This approach has gained significant traction, as seen in the remarkable adoption of multi-channel communication by organisations like CALM, a leading movement against suicide. Incorporating multi-channel chatbot solutions, CALM has effectively taken their charity services to users where they are, resulting in enhanced accessibility, heightened responsiveness, and increased overall satisfaction. To learn more about CALM’s success story and how multi-channel chatbots can revolutionise charity services, check out the full case study here. 

Building Personal Relationships With Donors and Beneficiaries 

Building a relationship of trust and respect with donors and beneficiaries is essential for any charity looking to thrive in the long term. However, building and maintaining these relationships as your nonprofit grows can be hard. Conversational AI technologies can help you overcome this issue by carrying out human-like, on-brand, and even personalised  interactions with your audience.  

Fully Customisable Around Your Needs 

Naturally, each charity is unique – and so are its goals, missions, values, and vision. That is why SaaS chatbot solutions are created to be fully customisable around your unique needs and brand features. For example, Futr AI has helped Bipolar UK achieve their customer service goals with a tailored approach that reflects its brand’s voice and values.  

Accessing Essential Customer Feedback

Another great advantage offered by AI-powered chatbots is that chat surveys make collecting feedback easy and engaging for every customer. This allows you to access vital data about your audience, which can be used to elevate your charity even further.  

Expanding Internationally 

If you are looking to expand internationally or increase your charity’s accessibility for people belonging to minorities and diverse ethnic groups, a multilingual chatbot can help. This single feature allows you to communicate and interact with your audience in over 120 languages.  

Providing Support After Office Hours 

If you have a lean customer service team, the chances are that inquiries presented after office hours have to wait until the next working day. This is no longer the case with a chatbot. With self-service features, SaaS chatbots provide around-the-clock access to customer support.  

Automating Answers To Frequently Asked Questions 

Your customer service team serves as a crucial bridge between your charity and its donors and beneficiaries. Nevertheless, as your organisation expands, it can become increasingly challenging for a small team to allocate sufficient time and energy to address every enquiry effectively. This is precisely where the automation capabilities of chatbots can make a significant difference. By leveraging automation features, customer service software solutions can efficiently handle FAQs and offer support around the clock. 

One of the key benefits of automation is that it frees up valuable time for your customer service agents to focus on more complex and specialised queries. By using chatbot automation to handle simple and repetitive tasks, alongside the ability for AI–powered live chat platforms to escalate complex conversation to a live agent, which provides personalised assistance, and nurturing stronger connections with donors and beneficiaries. 

By embracing chatbot automation, you not only enhance the efficiency and availability of your customer support but also enable your team to handle more intricate tasks that require human intervention. This synergy between automation and human expertise ensures a well-rounded and elevated customer experience for your charity. 

Scaling Up Without Major Costs 

Are you a charity organisation seeking to expand your operations while facing budgetary constraints? With a SaaS chatbot, you can effectively scale up your customer service capabilities without sacrificing quality, efficiency, or incurring unexpected costs. 

One notable advantage of utilising a SaaS chat solution is the ability to forecast and stick to a fixed budget. Unlike custom-built options that may carry the risk of development overruns and unforeseen cost escalations, a SaaS chatbot provides a predictable and transparent pricing structure. This means you can confidently plan and allocate your resources without worrying about any financial surprises. 

By embracing a software-as-a-service solution, you can scale up your customer service and unlock the potential for seamless growth, without compromising on quality, efficiency and costs. 

Find The Right SaaS Chat Solution For Your Charity at Futr 

If you are ready to get started with a fully-customisable SaaS chatbot, the only thing left to do is to get in touch with the specialists at Futr AI. If you still have questions, contact us today via our live chat or request a demo.