Knowbot: AI-powered website search for non-profits

What is Knowbot?

Knowbot is an AI chatbot designed specifically for non-profit websites. It’s not just another chatbot offering pre-programmed responses. Instead, Knowbot intelligently answers visitors' questions by directly reading and citing information from the website’s own content. This ensures accuracy and builds trust with visitors, as answers are grounded in the charity’s own voice and information.

How does Knowbot work?

Visitors simply need to click the 'Chat with us' button on the bottom right hand corner of the screen and type in their question. Knowbot then processes the question, scans the website’s content, and provides a conversational answer, complete with links to relevant pages for further exploration.

Why use Knowbot?

Benefits for website visitors:

• Find answers to questions quickly reducing time spent searching through pages.
• Smart-guiding - Knowbot will direct you to relevant pages and call-to-action sections for a better experience.
• Accurate and up-to-date - Answers are based on the website's current content, ensuring accuracy and reflecting any recent updates. 

About Knowbot

Knowbot is a project of the Mike Hudson Foundation (MHF), a UK non-profit that supports charities and academic institutions. MHF believes AI can help non-profits become more effective. Knowbot offers a solution to enhance website navigation and engagement through free AI-powered search, providing charities with a practical AI web search tool allowing users to find the information they need without wading through hundreds of web pages. MHF offers Knowbot free of charge to many of the charities it supports.

Reach Volunteering and Knowbot

Reach was one of the first charity partners to trial Knowbot. Since that time, Knowbot has partnered with many other charities including CAST, ACEVO and the British Academy. 

Why on-site AI search is important

Important information can be hard to find on large websites. And in the age of ChatGPT and readily available information, visitors who can’t quickly find what they need on a website are likely to turn to external search engines or AI chatbots. This can lead to a loss of engagement and potential donors. Knowbot keeps users on the website, providing a seamless and informative experience.

Benefits of Knowbot for non-profits:

• Easy to use - adding the chat button is simple and quick and Knowbot automatically updates its knowledge base as web content changes.
• Help with enquiries and other communications - internal teams can use it to draft responses, communications and marketing materials.
• Sentiment analysis - charities can gain insights into visitor perceptions to inform improvements in service delivery.

MHF also provides a platform for charities to test Knowbot with their own website content. A list of participating charities is available on the Knowbot website, allowing potential users to experience firsthand how Knowbot would function on their own site. While Knowbot performs well out-of-the-box, MHF also offers optimisation for larger charities. By providing feedback from trials of the standard model, organisations can collaborate with MHF to tailor Knowbot with custom features, FAQs, and enhanced answer accuracy. The answer style can also be adjusted to suit different audiences, from children to technical experts.

If you’d like to get in touch and ask about having Knowbot on your organisation’s website, please go to the MHF website.

Mike Hudson is a tech entrepreneur who previously ran Testramp, a COVID non-profit. He’s also a fellow at CSG , University of London, and St Anthony’s College, University of Oxford.