Catholic Tech Table

Episode 8:  AI Fundraising Build Pt. 1: Teaching AI to Think Like a Fundraiser

What difference does a good prompt make when you use AI for fundraising?

In this first episode of the Catholic Tech Table’s fundraising build series, we introduce St. Jude Catholic Leadership Center, a fictional Catholic nonprofit with strong programs, a decade of goodwill, and no formal development program. Over the course of the series, we’ll use AI to help build St. Jude’s annual giving program from the ground up.

We begin with a simple demonstration: using a thin prompt and a detailed prompt to turn the same information into newsletter copy. The results show why context, audience, tone, purpose, and constraints matter.  You’ll learn how to move beyond generic AI output and begin collaborating with AI to create clearer, more donor-centered, impact-driven fundraising communication.

Episode 7:  Pete AI:  A Live Demonstration

Meet Pete, the new AI assistant for Catholic fundraisers from Petrus Development. This demo shows the capabilities and the Catholic guardrails built into Pete.

Episode 6:  Live Q&A: Virtual Summit on AI in Catholic Fundraising

Listen in to the closing session of the Virtual Summit on AI in Fundraising, where Andrew Robison, Sarah Rose, Matt Bond, and Rhen Hoehn answered live questions from attendees, including:

→ How do you respond to employees who refuse to use AI?

→ Are data centers and AI harmful to the environment?

→ Will offloading tedious tasks to AI cause burnout by leaving staff only with emotionally taxing work?

→ Is there a way to encourage AI adoption without undermining the dignity of workers doing replaceable tasks?  

Episode 5:  Live Demos: Collaborating with AI for Fundraising

This live session from Petrus Development's Virtual Summit on AI In Fundraising demonstrates practical uses of AI tools for common fundraising tasks.

Episode 4:  The Catholic Response to AI - Panel Discussion

This panel discussion from Petrus Development's Virtual Summit on AI In Fundraising unpacks how Catholic fundraisers can approach AI responsibly in light of Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.Panelists discuss:-Their own journey of learning and using AI-Their biggest takeaway is from Magnifica Humanitas-Whether the Catholic church is ready to embrace AI-Looking at where AI is heading in coming months and years

Episode 3:  LLMs Unveiled: Understanding AI Training

Andrew explains in plain language how large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are ACtrained and why that matters for ministry and fundraising. He notes what training doesn’t provide: human-like reasoning or your parish’s specific context. He ends with three weekly challenges: a pattern test, a context test, and checking the model’s cutoff limits.

Episode 2:  AI or Search Engines? Choosing Between Google and LLMs

Andrew explains the differences between Google search and large language models (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok) for Catholic Church and nonprofit fundraising work. He frames Google as a “librarian” for finding current, source-based information (news, rules, reviews, verifiable facts) and LLMs as “conversation/research partners” for brainstorming, drafting content, and simplifying complex topics.Andrew outlines key LLM limitations, including training cutoff dates, hallucinations/confident inaccuracies, and lack of knowledge about an organization’s specific documents unless provided. The episode ends with three practical challenges.

Episode 1:  Navigating AI in the Church: A New Era for Catholic Organizations

Join Andrew Robison and Rhen Hoehn from Petrus Development as they explore the transformative role of AI in the Church and in faith-based fundraising. In this episode, they discuss the necessity for Catholic organizations to be involved in AI development to create meaningful, efficient tools tailored to their needs. Key topics include the history and current landscape of AI, its applications, potential risks, and how Petrus Development is taking steps to develop AI tools specifically for Catholic fundraisers. Stay tuned for more educational content about AI, upcoming tools, and how they can serve your mission.