BetterUnite AI Connector for Claude & ChatGPT

Overview

The BetterUnite AI connector lets you ask Claude or ChatGPT questions about your organization in plain English and get answers from your live BetterUnite data. Instead of building a report or exporting a spreadsheet, you can ask "How much did we raise last month?" or "Who has checked in to the gala so far?" and get the answer in seconds, then keep asking follow-up questions in the same conversation.

The connector is read-only. It can look up and summarize information, but it cannot create, change or delete anything in BetterUnite.

What it can answer

Area	What the AI assistant can look up
Donors and contacts	Find people by name, email or company, and see a person's full profile with their giving history.
Giving	Totals for any period (amount raised, number of gifts, average gift, largest gift), for the whole organization or one campaign, plus lists of recent gifts for a campaign or a person.
Campaigns and events	Your campaigns and events, the ticket types and giving offers on each with prices and how many are left, and event registrations by status (registered, checked in, not attending).
Auctions	Auction items with starting bids and buy-now prices, and the confirmed bids on any item, highest first.
Memberships	Your membership plans and how many people are subscribed to each.

Why it's useful

Answers without reports. Ask a question the way you would ask a colleague, and skip the filters, exports and pivot tables.
Follow-up questions. Start broad ("How is the Spring Gala doing?") and narrow down ("Who are the top five donors to it?") in the same conversation.
Put the answers to work. Because the answers arrive inside Claude or ChatGPT, you can go straight on to drafting a thank-you note, a board update or a campaign recap from them.
Always current. The assistant reads your data at the moment you ask, so there is nothing to sync or refresh.

Built-in safeguards

Off until you turn it on. No AI assistant can reach your organization's data until AI assistant access is turned on in your settings.
Each person uses their own login. Everyone who connects signs in with their own BetterUnite account and approves the connection themselves.
Your roles still apply. The assistant can only see what the person who connected it can see in BetterUnite. If someone's role changes, or they are removed from your organization, the change applies to their connection from the next question.
One organization per connection. If you belong to several organizations, you choose which one each connection can reach.
Read-only. Nothing can be added, edited or deleted through the connector.
You stay in control. You can see every connected application and disconnect any of them at any time from your settings.

Before you start

You need:

A BetterUnite account with access to your organization.
AI assistant access turned on for your organization (see the next section).
A Claude or ChatGPT plan that supports custom connectors:
- Claude: Free (one custom connector), Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise.
- ChatGPT: a paid plan that includes developer mode. On Business and Enterprise workspaces, an administrator may need to allow custom connectors first.

Step 1: Turn on AI assistant access in BetterUnite

Sign in to BetterUnite as an administrator of your organization.
Go to Settings, then open the API Settings tab.
Turn on Allow AI assistant access.

During the pilot: AI assistant access is currently turned on by BetterUnite support. If the switch is unavailable, email support@betterunite.com with the name of your organization and we will turn it on for you.

Turning this setting off stops every AI assistant connection to your organization from the next question, without anyone needing to disconnect.

Step 2: Add the connector in Claude or ChatGPT

Follow the steps for the assistant you use. You can connect both.

Claude Free, Pro and Max

In Claude, go to Customize, then Connectors.
Click Add custom connector.
For the name, enter BetterUnite.
For the URL, enter https://app.betterunite.com/mcp
Under Authentication, choose Sign in now.
Under OAuth client, keep the default, Use Claude's published identity. You do not need a client ID or secret.
Leave Request headers empty and Advanced unchanged, then click Add.
Click Connect. A BetterUnite sign-in page opens.
Sign in with your BetterUnite account.
Review the permissions. The page names Claude (claude.ai) and lists four read-only permissions: your donor and contact records, your donations and giving history, your campaigns and events, and your membership plans.
Under Grant access to, choose your organization. Organizations without AI assistant access are shown as unavailable.
Click Allow access. You are returned to Claude, and the connector shows as connected.

Claude Team and Enterprise

On Team and Enterprise plans, a Claude Owner adds the connector once for your whole Claude organization, and then each person connects with their own BetterUnite login.

For the Claude Owner:

Go to Organization settings, then Connectors.
Click Add, then Custom. If asked for a connector type, choose Web.
Enter the URL https://app.betterunite.com/mcp, leave the OAuth fields empty, and click Add.

For each team member:

Go to Customize, then Connectors.
Find BetterUnite, which has a Custom label, and click Connect.
Sign in to BetterUnite, choose your organization and click Allow access.

Using BetterUnite in Claude

Start a new chat in Claude.
Click the + button, select Connectors, and make sure BetterUnite is turned on.
Ask your question. The first time Claude uses BetterUnite, it may ask for permission to use the tool. Choose Allow.

Once connected, BetterUnite is also available in the Claude desktop and mobile apps when you are signed in to the same Claude account.

ChatGPT: turn on developer mode

ChatGPT connects to BetterUnite through its developer mode. ChatGPT updates its menus from time to time, so if a label below is slightly different in your account, look for the equivalent option.

In ChatGPT on the web, open Settings.
Go to Apps (in some accounts, Apps & Connectors), then Advanced settings.
Turn on Developer mode.

On a ChatGPT Business or Enterprise workspace, if you do not see this option, ask your workspace administrator to allow custom connectors.

ChatGPT: add BetterUnite

In the same settings area, click Create to add a new app or connector.
For the name, enter BetterUnite. For the description, you can enter Donors, giving, campaigns, events, auctions and memberships from BetterUnite.
For the MCP server URL, enter https://app.betterunite.com/mcp
For authentication, choose OAuth. You do not need a client ID or secret.
Confirm that you trust this application, then click Create.
When the BetterUnite sign-in page opens, sign in, choose your organization under Grant access to, and click Allow access. The permissions page names ChatGPT (chatgpt.com).

Using BetterUnite in ChatGPT

Start a new chat.
Click the + button, choose Developer mode, and select BetterUnite.
Ask your question.

Sample questions

You can ask in your own words. These examples show the kinds of questions the connector answers well.

Donors and contacts

Find donors named Garcia.
Show me Jane Smith's giving history.
Which of our contacts work at Acme Corporation?

Giving

How much did we raise last month, and what was our average gift?
What was our largest gift this year?
Show me the 10 most recent donations to the Spring Gala.
How does giving this quarter compare with last quarter?

Campaigns and events

What events do we have coming up?
How many people have registered for the Spring Gala, and how many have checked in?
What ticket types are available for the golf tournament, and how many are left?

Auctions

List the items in the gala auction with their starting bids.
What is the highest bid on the weekend getaway package?

Memberships

How many members do we have on each membership plan?

Putting it together

Summarize how the Spring Gala is doing: registrations, money raised and auction activity.
Write a short giving update for this month's board meeting.
Draft a thank-you note to each of our five most recent donors. (The assistant drafts the notes for you to review and send. It cannot send anything from BetterUnite.)

Read-only today, more to come

Today the connector only reads information. It cannot record gifts, update contacts, send emails or change settings, which makes it a safe way to start using AI with your data.

We plan to expand what the connector can do over time. Future updates may include more areas of BetterUnite, such as reports, and carefully controlled actions, such as recording an offline gift or updating a contact's details. Any new ability that changes data will need your approval: it will appear as a new permission on the BetterUnite sign-in page, and nothing will change for your existing connections until you reconnect and allow it.

Managing connections

See who is connected. Go to Settings, then API Settings, and look under Connected applications. Each connection shows the application, the person who authorized it, its permissions and when it was authorized.
Disconnect one application. Revoke it under Connected applications. It stops working within an hour, and the assistant then asks to reconnect.
Stop all AI assistant access. Turn off Allow AI assistant access. Every AI assistant connection to your organization stops from the next question.
Remove it from Claude or ChatGPT. Remove the BetterUnite connector in the assistant's connector settings. This removes it from your assistant but does not revoke it in BetterUnite, so revoke it there too if you no longer need it.

Frequently asked questions

Can the connector change or delete my data?

No. The connector is read-only. It can look up and summarize information, but it cannot add, edit or delete anything in BetterUnite.

What can each person see?

Exactly what their BetterUnite role allows, and nothing more. Donor and contact records require permission to view contacts. Giving, campaigns, events, auctions and memberships require permission to view donations. If a question needs a permission the person does not have, the assistant is told so and cannot see the information.

Does everyone on my team need to connect separately?

Yes. Each person connects with their own BetterUnite login, so every answer respects that person's permissions, and every connection can be seen and revoked individually.

I belong to more than one organization. Which one does the assistant see?

Only the one you choose on the BetterUnite sign-in page when you connect. To use a different organization, disconnect and connect again, then choose the other organization.

Why is my organization unavailable on the sign-in page?

AI assistant access is turned off for that organization. An administrator can turn it on under Settings, API Settings. During the pilot, email support@betterunite.com to have it turned on. If none of your organizations have it on, the sign-in page explains how to turn it on instead of asking you to choose.

The assistant says my organization has not enabled access. What happened?

AI assistant access was turned off after you connected. Ask an administrator to turn it back on, and your existing connection starts working again.

How current is the information?

It is live. The assistant reads your BetterUnite data at the moment you ask, so new gifts and registrations appear right away.

Is there a limit to how much it returns?

Each answer includes at most 50 records, such as 50 donors or 50 gifts. For totals and averages, the assistant uses summaries rather than lists, so those cover all of your data. If you need a longer list, ask a narrower question, or run a report in BetterUnite.

Can the assistant make mistakes?

Yes. AI assistants can occasionally misread a question or summarize something incorrectly. Check important figures against your BetterUnite reports before sharing them with your board, donors or the public.

What happens to our data in Claude or ChatGPT?

When you ask a question, BetterUnite sends the answer to the assistant you connected, and it becomes part of that conversation. How Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI (ChatGPT) stores conversations, and whether they are used to improve their models, depends on their policies and your plan's settings. Review those settings, and your organization's own policy on AI tools, before connecting.

Why am I asked to sign in again?

Your connection renews itself automatically while you use it. You are asked to sign in again if the connection was revoked in BetterUnite, or if you have not used it for 30 days.

Which AI tools are supported?

Claude on the web, desktop and mobile, and ChatGPT with developer mode. Claude Code and other AI tools are not supported at this time.

Who do I contact for help?

Email support@betterunite.com. It helps to include which assistant you are using (Claude or ChatGPT), the name of your organization, and any error message you saw.