Use Zoom's AI to Capture Donor Meeting Notes

What This Does

Zoom's AI Companion automatically generates a structured summary and action items from your donor cultivation calls — so instead of scrambling to capture notes during the call or reconstructing them from memory afterward, you get a complete record immediately after hanging up.

Before You Start

• You have Zoom with AI Companion enabled (included in Zoom One Pro and above plans at {{tool:Zoom.price}})
• You have donor's verbal consent to record/transcribe the call (required — inform them at the start)
• AI Companion is enabled in your Zoom settings (Settings → AI Companion → toggle on)

Steps

1. Enable AI Companion before the call

In Zoom settings (web portal at zoom.us → Settings → AI Companion), toggle on Meeting Summary. Set it to auto-start for your hosted meetings, or you can enable it manually at the start of each call.

2. Start the donor call

At the beginning of the cultivation call, say: "I want to let you know I'm using Zoom's AI summary feature to capture notes from our conversation — it helps me follow up accurately. Is that okay with you?"

Most donors will agree. If they decline, turn off AI Companion for this call (click the AI Companion icon in meeting controls → Stop Summary).

3. Have your normal cultivation conversation

Conduct the call as you normally would. The AI is transcribing in the background. You don't need to change anything about how you talk — just have the conversation.

4. Access the summary after the call

Within 5–10 minutes of ending the call, you'll receive an email with the meeting summary, or find it in your Zoom account under Recordings & Summaries. The summary includes:

• Key topics discussed
• Next steps and action items
• Any commitments or follow-ups mentioned

5. Paste key information into your donor CRM

Review the summary for accuracy. Correct any names or amounts the AI may have misheard. Copy the relevant notes (donor interests mentioned, gift capacity signals, next steps) into your CRM contact record (Bloomerang, DonorPerfect, Salesforce).

What you should see: A 1-page structured summary of the cultivation call arriving in your email within 10 minutes of ending the call. Troubleshooting: If the AI mishears donor names or nonprofit names, add them to Zoom's custom vocabulary (Settings → AI Companion → Custom Vocabulary) for better accuracy in future calls.

Real Example

Scenario: You had a 45-minute cultivation call with a prospect about their interest in endowing a scholarship. During the call they mentioned their children attended your served community, a gift range of $25,000–$50,000, and they want to be recognized but not publicly announced.

What you get: A summary that captures: "Prospect mentioned personal connection through family — key cultivation angle. Discussed gift range $25-50K. Expressed interest in endowment structure. Preference: named recognition without public announcement. Next step: send endowment naming opportunities by end of week."

What you do: Paste that directly into your CRM contact notes and schedule the follow-up task — no reconstruction from memory required.

Tips

• Always confirm consent before starting — not just for compliance, but because it builds trust with donors who appreciate your attention to detail and follow-through
• Review summaries the same day while the conversation is fresh — the AI captures what was said but not the emotional tenor of the conversation, which you'll want to add to your CRM notes
• For major gift cultivation calls, compare the AI summary to your own memory for anything it may have missed — use both together

Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.