Darrin: Awesome. Awesome. And I definitely want to learn more about your background working in education and mental health because those are interests of mine personally too. But before we get into it, I have been talking to anyone who would listen — Mrudula really about digital clarity and having systems that work for your organization. We live in an environment where there are so many options. Option A, option B, option Z. Paid tools, free tools, run the gamut. Tell me why going into 2026 — which I cannot believe it's December already — why is it important to really have a clear plan and clear systems for your organization? Why is this so important now?

Mrudula: Yeah. I'm happy that you brought up the time frame that we're in because certain challenges that nonprofits have faced have become more pronounced with certain legislative changes. Especially going into 2026, it is very likely that nonprofits are going to see changes in giving behaviors with their donor base. Being able to pull data together to proactively identify groups who are going to have changes in their giving behaviors, whether that's individuals or corporate giving, is going to be really key. I'd love to dive a little bit deeper into what those specific challenges tend to be in those efforts, so I can jump in there — but if you wanted to double click on any of that, let me know.

Darrin: Yes. Yes. Yes. And one thing that stands out that I really love with HubSpot besides everything — it's almost like a Swiss army knife of the tools that you can do with the data and the CRM tools and marketing — tell me a little bit more about how HubSpot and your CEO, I was just watching a video. She's so amazing — how do you guys bridge tech and humanity? How do you all lead with a human-first effort versus systems and technology? Because I think that's so important.

Mrudula: Yeah. No, for sure. That's something that has always been a focal point with HubSpot for nonprofits — how do we leverage technology in a way that works for teams, works with their current processes, and allows folks to create a relationship with their donor base, constituent base, volunteer base, rather than simply unifying data and giving you tools. All of that is done with the purpose of creating and maintaining strong relationships. Moving into 2026, again, because of changing giving behaviors, it's more important to sustain strong relationships and to educate your donor base on changes that are happening. All of that means having meaningful touch points with your constituents and donors. If you want to get right into it now, I'm curious to share more about the changes for our listeners.

Darrin: Yeah. Sounds good. So, highlight three key challenges that you and your colleagues have been hearing about from nonprofit prospects, especially given those changing incentives for giving.

Mrudula: Sure. First, without data unified in one place, it's really challenging to understand past donor behavior and predict future behavior. You need marketing data, website engagement, content engagement, combined with giving history — what people have given in the past, which programs they donate to — so teams can work in lockstep and create meaningful relationships. A lot of data lives in spreadsheets, giving platforms, marketing and social tools. Bringing that together is super important. Second, adoption challenges: are folks using the software day-to-day? When software isn't leveraged, it becomes shelfware and you don't see value. Third, speed: how quickly can teams get up and running and reach donors with timely, relevant communications?

Darrin: The unified source of truth point — I wanted to stress that it's important to have everything in one place. If you have donor info in one silo, website data in another, Mailchimp or Klaviyo somewhere else, it's a full-time job to piece things together. Why is that so crucial from your standpoint as an engineer?

Mrudula: It ties back to allowing automation to complete ongoing processes so your teams can focus on high-value touch points. With a unified database and automation layered on top, you can automatically create donor segments — donors likely to give or less likely to give — freeing your team to focus on warm, one-on-one outreach for high-impact donors.

Darrin: I love that. For those listening, I want to share an analogy: think of a donor relationship as a holiday party. Your nonprofit is hosting a fancy dinner; your supporters are guests. You want to be warm, engaging, learn their preferences. It's not a transaction, it's hospitality. Agree?

Mrudula: Definitely. Donor relationships are often long — decades long — so touches need to be meaningful. It's an act of hospitality.

Darrin: Data becomes your memory — it helps you remember who gave what, where they're located, their preferences, initiatives they care about. But many nonprofits don't have big donors. What can smaller nonprofits do to keep afloat and extend runway until they secure larger donors?

Mrudula: Smaller nonprofits often rely on many smaller donations. You can create content to nurture donors and automate the donation intake and follow-up. HubSpot offers touchless giving tools: publish content, drive folks to a touchless donation point, receive donations that feed into your portal, trigger automated thank-you messages, and place donors into nurture segments for future campaigns. Automation helps lean teams collect donations and keep nurturing donors.

Darrin: I noticed HubSpot's roadmap has AI embedded. Briefly, how do you use AI out of the gate? What are advantages for someone starting with HubSpot and AI?

Mrudula: First, organizations should decide internally how they'll leverage AI. HubSpot uses AI to help with adoption and speed challenges — the HubSpot Assistant is like ChatGPT inside your portal, giving insights based on CRM data and guiding users through tasks like building segments. There are AI tools for marketing and content (email copy, social posts) that require human oversight and editing. There are also team-based AI agents to handle basic website queries before escalating to live agents. The idea is to meet customers where they are and help them get comfortable with AI in small steps.

Darrin: I view automation with empathy — as an extension of your team, the sous-chef at the holiday party. Automate approvals, copy suggestions, segmentations, so your team can focus on high-value human tasks.

Mrudula: Exactly. AI should help your team focus on valuable human interactions. Start by automating small, regular tasks and expand from there. Use the assistant to ask simple questions and generate content, then move into more embedded tools as you grow comfortable.

Darrin: What's a baby step for someone hesitant about AI?

Mrudula: Start small. Use the assistant to ask simple questions, build a segment, or write an email. If you like the output, progress to tools that generate landing pages or social posts which you then tweak. As teams gain comfort, they can move to more autonomous agents.

Darrin: You mentioned resources in the chat like Loop Marketing. Tell the audience briefly about that roadmap and how HubSpot helps with an AI-driven marketing framework.

Mrudula: Loop Marketing is HubSpot's newer marketing philosophy building on inbound marketing — put out value to attract the right people. Loop Marketing focuses on expressing your message specifically for your brand, tailoring content to audiences, amplifying across platforms, and continuously evolving via AEO (AI Engine Optimization). AEO differs from SEO — it rewards consistent presence across platforms and aims to appear as a cited source in AI summaries rather than just ranking on page one of Google. HubSpot provides tools to help generate and amplify content across platforms to support AEO.

Darrin: Measuring effectively — what are best practices for proving results?

Mrudula: Reporting is key. HubSpot offers attribution reporting to connect donations to specific marketing efforts and donor journey analytics to visualize how donors move through lifecycle stages — website visit, form fill, email open, donation. Dashboards that compile these insights automatically prove ROI and help guide future marketing.

Darrin: Low-hanging automation fruit — what can someone automate this week?

Mrudula: Touchless donations journeys: create content to engage people, a drip campaign to nurture them toward giving, a touchless donation point, and automation to thank donors and send impact updates. Automate segment creation, drip campaigns, thank-you notes, and impact reporting to free teams for high-touch work.

Darrin: Segmenting is essential — evergreen segments that refresh as lists grow. HubSpot keeps segments updated automatically.

Mrudula: Yes — evergreen segments update continuously so the right people are always in the right buckets.

Darrin: I did a discovery call with a nonprofit leader — their website didn't clearly explain the mission, but a five-second LinkedIn video did. If you want donors, make the mission obvious. HubSpot tools help tighten message and segment audiences.

Mrudula: Exactly — start with expressing your message clearly. Use brand identity and voice to ensure AI-generated content matches your style. HubSpot has tools to help set brand voice and keep content consistent. AEO is changing discovery — many people read AI summaries rather than clicking links, so appearing as a cited source is increasingly valuable. Consistent presence across platforms helps with AEO.

Darrin: HubSpot makes it easier to stay ahead of trends. You mentioned hubspot.com/nonprofits as a resource. How does pricing work for nonprofits?

Mrudula: You can start for free to try marketing, content, and service tools. HubSpot offers a flexible, simple data architecture that works with donations, gifts, donors, constituents, and volunteers. As you grow, you can upgrade for more features — HubSpot also offers a 40% nonprofit discount.

Darrin: We're almost out of time. What personally drew you to working with nonprofits? What's your why?

Mrudula: There are many needs that nonprofits fill. I personally worked in education and mental health services, and nonprofits meet people's changing needs. That's what drives me — they meet ongoing needs in communities.

Darrin: Thank you so much for this. I'd love to do a part two to dive deeper into using AI for nonprofits — are you available?

Mrudula: I'd love that. For folks who want resources, Darrin's team will share them. The HubSpot for Nonprofits homepage is a great place to learn more. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn for specific questions.

Darrin: Mrudula is listed under speakers on the events page. We'll have this recording on our website and on LinkedIn. Any last thoughts?

Mrudula: No — I think we covered a lot of ground. Thanks for having me; I hope this was helpful for attendees.

Darrin: Thank you so much for your time. This was great — I cannot believe we're going into 2026 already. Goodbye everyone.