I recently had the opportunity to interview Mallory Erickson, founder of Practivated. Practivated is an AI-guided platform designed to help fundraisers practice speaking with donors, thereby strengthening donor connections through confident, authentic conversations.
The Need for a Platform Like Practivated
AE: Why did you create Practivated?
ME: I built Practivated because fundraising is one of the highest-stakes, lowest-rehearsed parts of nonprofit work — and I’d lived it. I was an “accidental fundraiser” who suddenly had big goals and donor meetings that made my stomach flip.
The more I talked to other fundraisers, the more I realized that nervousness, uncertainty about what to say, and a lack of realistic rehearsal were everywhere — not because people didn’t care, but because they rarely get good practice before the moments that matter.
So I set out to build the first AI-powered conversation simulator made specifically for fundraisers: a private, low-pressure place to rehearse real donor conversations, get structured feedback, and build confidence before live meetings.
Why Practicing Donor Conversations is So Helpful
AE: In what ways does practicing help fundraisers be more successful? How do you know it works?
ME: Practice creates repeatable muscle memory for the parts of donor conversations that are learnable:
- building rapport
- framing impact
- handling hesitation
- and making asks that land
By turning those skills into “reps” (realistic simulations + targeted coaching), fundraisers show measurable improvements in confidence and conversion.
We see this across pilots and customers: teams report faster onboarding, higher ask effectiveness (for example, PeaceHealth saw a 33% increase in ask effectiveness in their first 30 days), and early revenue/activation wins in the first weeks of onboarding.
On the team level we also track funnel improvement and cleaner disqualification earlier in the cycle — concrete signals that better preparation is changing outcomes. Those results come from our pilot and customer case studies and from the way teams embed practice into their routines (weekly practice, manager dashboards, short coach touchpoints).
AE: We all know the wisdom about practice, practice, practice. You’ve leveraged AI and put it into action, and it seems to be getting great results!
How Practivated Works to Help Fundraisers
How does Practivated work and why should fundraisers be excited about it?
ME: Practivated is an on-demand practice and coaching platform built around realistic donor and funder simulations. Fundraisers choose or create donor-specific scenarios, run a simulated conversation, then get structured, actionable feedback and micro-coaching from our built-in coach (Tivy).
AE: The actional feedback and micro-coaching is what got me really excited about the platform. It not only helps fundraisers practice but helps them improve. What else?
ME: Managers get team-level dashboards so they can see reps completed and skill trends — without policing individuals — and coaches can layer short review checkpoints into their work to amplify impact.
The best part: it’s fast, private, and human-centered. You get targeted practice that’s directly relevant to your donors, instant coaching to try different approaches, and the confidence to walk into a real meeting knowing you’ve rehearsed the hard parts. That combination — realistic simulation, immediate feedback, and manager visibility — is what drives real improvement.
Practivated Success Stories
AE: Can you give an example of a success story?
ME: Yes — a few quick examples that capture the pattern: UCF (Central Florida) used Practivated to embed practice into weekly routines and celebrated early, visible wins — including a five-thousand-dollar win within one week of onboarding — plus stronger team culture and faster onboarding for new staff.
I already mentioned PeaceHealth because they saw a 33% increase in ask effectiveness in the first 30 days of using Practivated.
Another example we’ve seen is with new fundraiser onboarding at the University of Texas El Paso. Annual giving officers onboarding with Practivated are entering into real-world donor conversations 280x faster than previous employees.
Practivated Does Not Replace the Fundraiser
AE: AE: Those are some exciting results. When might Practivated not be helpful?
ME: Practivated is a practice and coaching tool — it’s not a magic replacement for human relationship work or for teams that won’t actually rehearse. It’s less helpful if an organization expects an AI to replace human judgment in highly sensitive, bespoke conversations, or if leaders aren’t willing to embed short, regular practice into their workflows.
Also, in its early (lightweight) form we operate as a standalone practice platform (separate from some CRMs), so teams that require deep, out-of-the-box CRM integration today should factor that into their plans.
In short: it works when teams commit to practicing and using the feedback; it’s not a silver bullet if nobody runs the reps or if people expect it to be the fundraiser.
AE: Good point. Technology doesn’t replace human fundraisers. It simply helps us be more effective.
Final Insights About Practivated
What else would I like to share?
ME: A few things I always emphasize:
- Privacy & trust — Practice is private to the user; managers see team trends, not individual raw transcripts unless a user chooses to share. That safe space matters for honest practice.
- Tivy, our coach — We give the platform a friendly, helpful voice — Tivy the octopus — because practice should be smart, protective, and a little playful. Fundraisers tell us that having a consistent, nonjudgmental coach changes the vibe of rehearsal.
- Designed for teams — Managers get dashboards and coaches can integrate Practivated into engagements so you can scale coaching without multiplying synchronous hours. That’s how practice becomes an organizational muscle, not a nice-to-have.
AE: Mallory, thanks for sharing your thoughts and this amazing new tool with our community.
Full Disclosure
In full disclosure, when Mallory originally showed me this tool, I was so excited, I invested! But I hope that won’t deter you from giving it a try.
Practivated is now offering a free trial to my blog readers — click here to practice for free!
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