Guide · 2 min read
AI language in fundraising letters, and how to clear it out
AI pulls towards the average. A fundraising letter smoothed out to the average lacks a person, and then the human has to be the counterweight.
What AI language and brochure language sound like
Some phrases keep turning up in texts written without a person behind them.
- “In a world of constant change”.
- “It is not about X. It is about Y”.
- “Not about money, but about opportunities”.
- “Let us be honest” and “So what are you waiting for?”.
- Chopped mini sentences such as “Together. For the children. For the future.”.
- “More than words can describe”.
The voice disappeared, and the chili is missing
The voice is gone when nobody could say who wrote it. The text has been smoothed out to the average and lacks a person.
The chili is missing when everything is in the right place but nothing burns. The moves are there, but the nerve is not.
Numbers warm no one
When the letter reads like a report, numbers and facts have taken the place of the experience. Write about one person and one number rather than three paragraphs of statistics.
Invented details
AI-written letters often invent details that look credible. Everything in a fundraising letter has to be documentable, and what is invented must be marked and checked against the source before the letter is sent.
AI as editor, not as writer
The b.bold presentation is titled “Med KI som redaktør” (AI as editor), and the idea is that AI helps most when it points to what can get better, not when it writes the letter.
An assessment should be a wake-up call and not a pat on the back. The score may change little when the starting point is good, but the findings have to be honest. If you know something the AI does not, you decide.