Knowledge Sources with Advancement Context

Overview

Knowledge Sources allow institutions to give AI-powered experiences access to approved web-based information. In advancement, this can help bots, agents, and other AI-supported workflows reference official content such as planned giving pages, campaign priorities, gift policies, alumni resources, event information, or institutional FAQs.

Knowledge Sources are most useful when users need AI to answer questions using institution-approved public or internal web content rather than relying only on the immediate Slate context.

Why this is useful

Advancement conversations often require institution-specific context. A planned giving bot may need approved bequest language. An alumni engagement assistant may need event information. A donor relations experience may need campaign priority descriptions or gift society language.

By configuring Knowledge Sources, administrators can point Slate toward approved URLs so AI-supported tools have better context for institution-specific answers. Knowledge Sources are created within Bots, can include one or more URL patterns, support exact URLs or wildcard patterns, and crawl up to 250 URLs per knowledge source. Newly added sources are not crawled immediately.

How to add a Knowledge Source

1. Navigate to Database > Bots.

2. Under Knowledge Sources, click New Source.

3. Add a clear, human-friendly Name.

4. Add one or more URL Patterns.

5. Use an exact URL when the source should include only one page.

6. Use an asterisk wildcard when the source should include pages under a folder or domain.

7. Click Save.

8. Allow time for the source to be crawled before relying on it in a bot or agent.

Sample URL patterns

https://advancement.example.edu/planned-giving
https://advancement.example.edu/campaign/*
https://advancement.example.edu/alumni/events/*

Recommended practices

Use Knowledge Sources only for content that is approved, current, and appropriate for the AI experience. Avoid connecting old campaign pages or pages with conflicting instructions.

Create focused Knowledge Sources rather than one overly broad source whenever possible. For example, a Planned Giving Knowledge Source should include planned giving content, approved sample language, office contact information, and relevant policy pages, not the entire institutional website.

Review Knowledge Sources periodically, especially before campaign launches, fiscal year changes, or policy updates.