NGP VAN Wants Campaigns to Chat With Its CRM

NGP VAN wants to make it easier for campaigns to search their databases. They’re betting that artificial intelligence is the solution. 

The new feature, dubbed Navigator, is essentially a natural-language search assistant baked into NGP VAN’s core segmentation tool, Create a List. It lets fundraisers and digital directors describe in plain language who they’re looking for rather than manually building searches through filters and criteria.

Once a user types in a request, Navigator translates it into the appropriate search criteria and shows exactly what it selected before the search actually runs. Users can then edit any of the generated criteria, change it entirely or skip using Navigator altogether and run a manual search.

In other words, nothing runs without explicit approval, and previously saved searches remain untouched.

“The test for us has always been simple: Will this save a campaign time? Does this help a first-time candidate get started? Can an organizer or fundraiser use this to have the right conversation with the right person at the right time? Ultimately, does it help elect more Democrats?” NGP VAN’s General Manager Chelsea Peterson Thompson said. “If the answer is yes, that’s where we want to invest.”

At launch, Navigator works across eight of NGP VAN’s most commonly used search categories, including activist codes, addresses, email, online forms, recurring commitments, contributions, contribution summaries and saved lists, the company said.

The new feature marks the latest effort by NGP VAN to integrate AI into the tech stack used by the vast majority of Democratic and progressive campaigns and organizations. 

Earlier this year, the company rolled out an AI-powered feature designed to detect potential errors and compliance issues in campaign finance disclosures. It also launched NGP VAN Interface earlier this month in an effort to provide a secure connection between AI tools and the company’s platforms.

The Navigator launch also comes amid a broader push by the Democratic data giant to expand its tech offerings. In January, the company announced a seven-figure investment in a push to modernize and expand its application programming interfaces, or APIs, that effectively allow users to access NGP VAN’s data and integrate them into their own organizing tech. 

The latest product launch, according to the company, is to lower the learning curve for campaigners – particularly less experienced staff and candidates – by allowing them to search their databases in their own words, rather than through a complex network of search filters.

“Navigator is about meeting our users where they already do their work and making it easier to find the right people,” NGP VAN Senior Vice President Lou Levine NGP VAN said. “You tell Navigator who you’re trying to find, it builds the search, and then you can run it as-is or tweak anything you want.