How a start-up is using AI to write fundraising emails

As artificial intelligence slowly seeps into the political space, one company is harnessing the technology to help write fundraising email copy for campaigns.

Writing out campaign fundraising emails can be tedious, time-consuming and contribute to burnout for political staff in a field that already sees high turnover.

Quiller, founded by Democratic strategist Mike Nellis, aims to use artificial intelligence to give Democratic campaigns a first draft of fundraising emails. 

Hillary Lehr, Quiller’s CEO, described the benefits of the product in three ways: “Efficiency, access and combating burnout for staff.”

“The narrative is that AI is a job killer, but the point here is it can combat burnout in this field,” Lehr said in an interview with The Hill.

The company officially launched in July after a pre-seed funding round that raised $1.2 million.

Nellis, the founder of Quiller, previously worked with Authentic Campaigns, a Democratic firm that specializes in fundraising, advertising and online organizing. He partnered with Higher Ground Labs, an investment firm that works on political tech start-ups.

The technology behind Quiller uses artificial intelligence to produce copy for fundraising emails that Lehr said are the equivalent of a first draft that is “70 percent of the way done.” 

Campaign staff can then add in more nuanced language, references to a particular candidate, race, or location and current events, and polish the email so it’s ready to send.

The technology can be particularly helpful for local and down-ballot candidates who may not be able to afford to hire an independent fundraising agency, Lehr said.

“We definitely need people in today’s world who can synthesize breaking news into the most effective way. Having the first draft can be a starting point,” she said.

Quiller was built by taking thousands of high-performing fundraising emails written for campaigns up and down the ballot, Lehr said, using those examples to train the underlying algorithm that generates drafts.

In addition, the technology allows clients to customize the platform and train Quiller on the particulars of what a candidate is campaigning for. For example, a candidate could put in writing samples and position statements, as well as nicknames for their district or other facts about their location.

“Quiller will spit out draft after draft after draft that can be refined,” Lehr said. “The goal here is to get your staffer that first draft of an email that’s 70 percent of the way there. It’s then up to a staffer to finalize and improve it.”

Quiller is still in Beta and refining its product as it prepares to make it more widely available. Lehr said company leaders will be careful about working with stakeholders and refining best practices, acknowledging that there are broad questions and concerns about the ethical use of AI in technology.

Artificial Intelligence has become increasingly prevalent in politics in a short time, and it appears poised to play a role in the 2024 campaign.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) in April released a campaign ad generated by artificial intelligence, billing it as the first of its kind.

The 30-second video, which the RNC called “an AI-generated look into the country’s possible future if Joe Biden is re-elected in 2024,” depicts dystopian hypothetical scenarios in a Biden second-term.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, has in recent months held multiple events focused on the future uses of AI.

During a June trip to San Francisco, Biden met with experts and researchers about managing the risks of the new technology.

“We need to manage the risks to our society, to our economy, and our national security,” he said at the time. “I have a lot to learn and we also have a lot to discuss.

The White House in July announced it had secured voluntary commitments from seven major companies around responsible use of AI, including a pledge to develop ways to help users determine when audio and visual content is AI-generated.

Lehr said Quiller views its role as one of the first companies using AI for campaign fundraising as a chance to help set guidelines and ensure the technology is used for its intended purpose.

“It’s easy from the sidelines to talk about doom and gloom and negative effects,” Lehr said. “But when you’re in there doing the work in the trenches…you see room to really cooperate on wins, and that’s when the best practices are going to be defined.”