How AI Coaching Helped Double an Annual Leadership Gift at UnityPoint Health
About the Customer
Kim French is the Development Director at the Allen Foundation, a healthcare foundation serving UnityPoint Health in Waterloo, Iowa. A natural relationship-builder with deep roots in her community, Kim has spent over a decade in foundation work and her entire career connected to the hospital system she serves.
Kim embodies what great healthcare fundraising looks like: she’s passionate about her mission, beloved by her donors, and consistently delivers results. When a donor recently walked in to make a gift after receiving a hospice brochure, Kim lit up describing the interaction: “This is why I love doing what I do.”
Her leadership recognized her talent early. Jake Heuser, VP of System Philanthropy for UnityPoint Health, describes Kim as “one of our very, very, very best” and credits her with remarkable growth: “A year and a half ago, we’re sitting in our portfolio review meeting, and she’s like, ‘Jake, you don’t understand. My portfolio is leadership annual employee giving.’ And a year after that, she’s like, ‘I’m never going back to leadership annual employee giving. I can actually start raising.'”
But even top performers face moments where they want more support—especially when preparing for conversations that push them beyond their comfort zone.
The Challenge
Kim’s foundation, like many healthcare shops, didn’t have a formal practice culture.
“We don’t do any role playing in our foundation, you know, as far as with our coworkers and stuff. So I think that’s why the Practivated is super important, like, for me, because we don’t do that here.”
And when she did imagine practicing with colleagues, Kim recognized the limitations: “I feel like if I would role play with my friend here in my office, she’s not gonna give me constructive feedback. You know what I mean? She’s gonna say, oh, you did great. Don’t you know, that was awesome.”
Kim had strong instincts and genuine donor relationships. But when it came to preparing for high-stakes conversations—particularly making specific asks for significant amounts—she wanted a way to practice that would genuinely challenge her.
“I can talk to people out of the blue. I mean, I have no problems talking to people, but actually sometimes making a specific ask for a specific dollar amount is hard for me. Like, I’ll ask people to consider a naming opportunity and here’s the levels or, you know, things like that. But to ask somebody for half a million or a million dollars is something I’ve never done before.”
So, when Kim learned she could have that type of conversation for the first time in a safe and private environment (instead of with an actual donor) she jumped into the product as fast as she could. And her reaction? “I was blown away.”
How Practivated Helps
Kim quickly discovered that Practivated filled a critical gap in her professional development—and fit seamlessly into her busy schedule.
Realistic Donor Simulations
Kim created a custom donor avatar to prepare for a major naming opportunity—her biggest ask ever. After her first practice session, she was impressed by how authentic it felt:
“I was impressed by what the donor was saying. You know what I mean? The voice didn’t sound too AI-ish. The voice sounded real. It really felt like you were talking to somebody. And just all the different interesting things that he said and brought up to, like, switch the conversation a little bit, I thought was really cool.”
Preparing for Unexpected Objections
The real power of Practivated became clear when Kim learned about a potential concern her donor might raise—something she hadn’t anticipated. She immediately went into Practivated to practice that exact scenario.
“I put that in the comments, you know, and then I asked Coach Tivy about it afterwards. And so, I mean, it was really good. So he asked the right questions.”
Coach Tivy helped her develop a thoughtful response strategy she could bring into the real conversation. Kim valued that she didn’t have to figure it out alone: “It just takes, like, ten minutes. You know, it’s not a big time consuming thing.”
Strategic Coaching for Hard-to-Reach Donors
Beyond practice simulations, Kim discovered value in Coach Tivy for brainstorming approaches to challenging situations.
“We have a cardiovascular surgeon at our hospital. He’s our only cardiovascular surgeon. Super busy. And he’s told me before, ‘Kim, I don’t open emails from you. I know you probably just want money.’ So he is really hard to pin down, but I know he always gives every year.”
Kim took the challenge to Coach Tivy: “I told Coach Tivy, like, exactly just what I said. You know, I had this cardiovascular surgeon. He’s hard to get ahold of. I wanna talk to him about our new career pathways program… How is my best approach? And we kinda went back and forth, and she gave me some ideas.”
She particularly valued being able to save those insights: “That’s what I liked about the Coach Tivy thing too. You can save the transcript. You’re not, like, trying to jot down stuff that she said a million miles an hour. You can look at the transcript and figure out what she just told you.”
Fits Into a Busy Fundraiser’s Life
“I can do it when I want to. It literally takes ten minutes. I don’t have to go to a conference to learn some of this stuff. You can just do it on your own time when you have time.”
And the coaching conversations naturally evolve based on what Kim needs: “I feel like I had my first conversation with the donor, and then I clicked on Talk to Tivy and the feedback thing. And that conversation did go—I asked her then about a doctor that I’m trying to get ahold of. And then we just totally switched conversations, and she started talking about that. I was like, woah. It wasn’t just about what was just said.”
The Impact
Confidence for Her Biggest Ask
Kim walked into her major gift meeting feeling prepared for every scenario—including objections she hadn’t initially anticipated.
“I felt totally prepared after I practiced with Practivated. It just boosted my confidence level through the roof.”
While the naming gift ultimately didn’t close due to the donor’s family considerations, the relationship remained strong. In fact, the donor doubled their annual gift the following year—a testament to how Kim’s confident, well-prepared approach strengthened trust.
“I’m keeping him close to the vest. He just doubled his donation this year. So I feel good, you know, even though he said no when I asked about naming.”
Feedback That Goes Beyond What Humans Can Provide
Kim experienced something in Practivated that she couldn’t get anywhere else—instant, comprehensive feedback.
“The stuff that I got from Coach Tivy at the end was, like, I couldn’t—you know? I just couldn’t get that anywhere else.”
When Mallory noted that even as a coach, she couldn’t listen to a conversation and instantly give feedback on 16 indicators, Kim agreed: “I haven’t heard anything where Coach Tivy said something like, ‘What is she talking about?’ I have not heard that at all. So, no, I don’t know how you created that, but it’s really good.”
A Champion Who Spreads the Word
Kim didn’t just use Practivated—she became a huge advocate. She shared transcripts with her team, posted about it on LinkedIn, and brought it to leadership’s attention.
“I sent it to everyone. Like, look at this.”
The Ripple Effect: UnityPoint Health Expands Access
Kim’s enthusiasm and results caught the attention of Jake Heuser, VP of System Philanthropy for UnityPoint Health, who oversees fundraising across 12 foundations.
Jake witnessed Kim’s growth trajectory and recognized the role Practivated played: “She’s a great example of putting the right tools with the right person.”
He sees the broader need across the industry: “I think so quickly fundraising leaders go into prospect strategy conversations—’Tell me what we’re gonna do about this’—and then we start conditioning what we’re gonna say to a donor versus what we’re gonna learn. But we don’t really teach how are you being productive across your entire portfolio.”
Jake understands the confidence barrier fundraisers face: “We have that anxiety wall that we gotta break through oftentimes. It’s kinda like what ChatGPT has done. It’s kinda what the calculator did forty-five years ago. You start to realize that we’re binding up our relationship talents and our arts and overthinking some of this stuff.”
Based on Kim’s results and advocacy, UnityPoint Health expanded access to Practivated for more fundraisers across their foundation network—a direct result of one fundraiser’s willingness to invest in herself, share what she learned, and champion a tool she believed in.
Why Kim Believes Every Fundraiser Benefits from Practice
Kim is clear-eyed about what fundraising actually requires—even for the most experienced professionals:
“Every fundraiser is gonna have questions like, ‘How should I handle this?’ You really wanna be thoughtful about how you approach someone or something. You just don’t wanna fly off the cuff.”
“Why not have a coach in your ear that can say, ‘Hey. Have you thought about this?’ or ‘Try that?’ Sometimes people will tell you things that you didn’t think about.”
“I feel like you can build your confidence better on this than if you just role played with another coworker.”
