Use this guide to help you build a chatbot that enables your staff to easily access internal information. It covers researching, choosing a supplier and chatbot testing. The RSPCA developed their own chatbot. But depending on your needs, other options (such as Notebook LM or Knowbot) might also be suitable.
- Key software:
- Google Drive
- How they set it up:
- Developers built or adapted it for us
- Setup costs:
- Staff time
- Ongoing costs:
- Licensing costs of around £10,000 per month. This monthly amount sounds high, but the RSPCA is a large organisation and estimates that this tool will save 160,000 staff hours a year. This means savings of over £2 million in salaried time each year. The monthly cost also includes a licensing fee that enables the organisation to scale its approach to other contexts. These include branches, volunteers and the public. So these savings will multiply over time.
- Guide in use since:
- October 2024
Steps to helping staff find information using a chatbot
The first step in accurately identifying your information problem is clearly defining it. Without a clear definition, you risk wasting time, resources and effort.
Start by asking yourself, and your stakeholders, questions about:
the main problems and the changes you’d like to see
the symptoms and underlying causes
how this issue affects the organisation, its staff and its goals
the problem’s scope and boundaries
the assumptions and constraints involved
These questions will help you clarify the issue and prioritise which aspects to focus on.
The RSPCA wanted to help improve animal welfare by making it easier for staff to find internal information. The organisation's main issues were how to link up the different sources that staff use. And how to avoid adding any complexity to the information-finding process.
It knew that it didn’t want to use an information management platform. And because many of its staff aren’t office-based, having a mobile-first solution was important. So adding a chatbot, dubbed “The Brain”, to the organisation’s Google chat group messaging tool was ideal. It could be part of a tool staff were already using.
The chatbot had to solve real problems for staff, or else they wouldn’t use it. It needed to be a trusted source of information where staff could ask specific questions.
To be able to solve your information problem, you need to understand it from the point of view of the people who are dealing with it.
Here are guides on running:
And here are some free tools you can use to gather feedback:
NCVO has a guide on doing user research
The Brain team, part of the RSPCA’s Digital Transformation group, carried out staff surveys to understand how staff currently access information. Teams reported that it often took 3 to 5 days to receive responses to non-urgent information requests.
To gain deeper insights, the organisation held workshops where teams:
mapped out how they find information
identified where bottlenecks happen
shared common pain points
The Brain team also visited animal centres and listened in on calls at its national control centre. These activities provided valuable context about:
the day-to-day challenges staff face
the types of questions they’re asked
how a chatbot could support them in the field
Depending on your information problem, there may be an off the shelf option available to help you solve it. For example, an AI assistant like NotebookLM could work for smaller scale info needs. But if you’ve decided you need to find a company to build a chatbot for you, it’s important that you trust them and they have the expertise you need.
Here are some things to consider:
does the supplier understand and respect your organisation’s mission and values?
how do they work and communicate?
can they tailor the chatbot to support your specific information goals?
have they worked with nonprofits before?
can they demonstrate how they’ve delivered improved outcomes?
how do they handle sensitive user data?
are they compliant with relevant laws like GDPR?
will you own the chatbot and its data?
is ongoing support included, or will it cost extra?
Robust, enterprise-ready off-the-shelf options were not available when the RSPCA started the project. So it couldn’t find a suitable existing tool. The organisation’s Digital Advisory Board suggested a potential external partner that could develop a custom-built, early working model of the chatbot. It would connect the organisation’s G-Drive, intranet and website.
The RSPCA’s partner was aligned with the organisation's ways of working, ethics and values. It wanted to minimise the probability of hallucinations and biases. And because protecting the environment is vital to animal welfare, it wanted to take a sustainable approach.
Making your information more accessible will only be effective if your information is consistent, accurate and up to date.
Poor information governance can result in:
lost or inaccessible files
outdated or incorrect information
poor communication and collaboration
inefficiency and wasted time
To help avoid this, you should put clear policies and procedures in place to ensure information is properly managed.
Establishing effective systems and making responsibilities clear means staff will spend less time searching for information or duplicating work. Resources will be freed up for focusing on priorities. And staff will be confident that the information they’ve found is right and up-to-date.
The RSPCA knew that it needed to improve how it manages information, so staff can trust that what they find is up to date and useful.
Its goal was to create a system where it’s easy to see which team is responsible for each piece of information. That way, everyone can quickly find the content that’s most relevant to their work.
It worked with its science and veterinary teams who create a lot of the information that other teams rely on. The organisation is making sure that every document states:
the owner
the subject matter expert
who’s the audience (so staff know what can be shared externally)
when it was last updated
when it’s due to be reviewed
There were concerns that the chatbot might access and display personally identifiable information, like phone numbers. But the RSPCA put filters in place to ensure that private information is not surfaced.
As part of its risk management work, the organisation is deciding where the responsibility for information and data governance will sit.
You need to ensure the chatbot is effective and user-friendly for the staff who will be using it. Before inviting them to test it and provide feedback on specific areas, you should clearly communicate what the chatbot can and cannot do.
Offering multiple channels for feedback and encouraging honest and constructive input will help you gather valuable insights and make the necessary improvements.
During a 2 week-testing period, the RSPCA had teams:
using the chatbot out in the field
assessing how their information was being presented
testing the chatbot using their voices
Initially, some staff were apprehensive about using a chatbot. They were worried about:
getting the right information
whether it would be quick and easy to use
if it's ethical to use an AI tool
Some staff adapted to the chatbot more quickly than others. Those who spend less time on digital devices (for example, field-based staff) were less likely to use it as often.
You’ll need to understand what support your staff need to use the chatbot effectively. Some may feel confident exploring it on their own, and others might need help. This support could include written guides and instructional videos. Or interactive sessions where staff can practice using the chatbot and ask questions.
Because it was an early working model, the RSPCA made the chatbot available to a limited group of staff.
No formal training was needed, as the chatbot was included in channels staff were already familiar with. This sense of familiarity made it easy to use. However, some users noted they occasionally had to ask the same question more than once to get a helpful response.
The organisation plans to support staff to learn how to phrase questions and prompts effectively, so they can get the most out of the chatbot.
You need to start by defining what success looks like. For example, success might mean:
staff can find information more quickly than before
staff rely less on colleagues for routine queries
staff feel confident using the chatbot and find its responses helpful
the chatbot consistently provides accurate and relevant answers
Once you've set clear goals and targets you should identify the metrics and methods you'll use to evaluate them. Then you can begin collecting data to understand how well your chatbot is performing.
Because of the surveys and workshops it carried out, the RSPCA had baseline data to measure the chatbot’s performance.
It also had analytics which showed:
usage data
what questions are being asked
which responses are unhelpful
The analytics enabled the organisation to monitor topical trends too.
The chatbot removes bottlenecks by enabling teams to self-serve. Previously, the social media and web teams relied on subject matter experts to provide the information they needed. Now, they can independently find the information required for content creation, then have it sense-checked, checked for factual accuracy and approved.
When multiple versions of the same information exist, the chatbot helps clarify which source is original and when it was last updated.
This improves staff confidence in the information being used, and frees up subject matter experts to focus on other priorities.
Teams that create the information the chatbot uses have said they’re pleased to see their content becoming more accessible across the organisation.
Further information
Contact: Megan Rowlands, Senior Project Manager, [email protected]
NCVO has some trusted suppliers and a guide on choosing the right digital agency or freelancer.
Dovetail has a directory of digital agencies that are specialists in working with charities. It also has a set of how-to guides to walk you through each part of the supplier selection process.
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