Clients often ask if they should use AI in their communications workflows. After we say absolutely, everyone wants to know how to get started. Here are some tips for effectively using AI to boost nonprofit communications.

Download Multiple AI Models

We find that no AI model is perfect. When I want AI to turn my outline into the first draft or edit a document for me, I use the same prompt across three different AI models: Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini.

Prompts Matter

When you enter a prompt, be as specific as possible. Tell the model who your audience is, what tone you want to use, and how long you think the document should be. Often, I'm not satisfied with the initial results and find that I may have to modify my prompt. This is similar to doing a Google search and having to refine it to get exactly what you want. Don’t Trust the Output Every model explicitly says that AI makes mistakes. It does. Always check the facts. Always check the grammar.

Think About Tone

After fact-checking, I cut and paste the three different AI responses into a near-final draft. Your voice and your organization's voice matter. AI is good, but it's also generic. Your writing should have a personality that reflects your organization and who you are. Make sure that the final edited product reflects that. When you edit the near-final draft, make sure that your voice and your organization’s guidelines come through.

Why This Matters

You may say that you don’t have time to learn AI because you have deadlines and work to get done. But, when you are up to your ears in alligators, it’s hard to remember you are there to drain the swamp. You need to make the time because AI will make your work easier. An investment in learning how to use AI now will pay short- and long-term dividends. AI can create quicker first drafts than any human. It also does a great job streamlining your writing. And it will get better. If you don't get started using AI now, you're falling behind colleagues and competitors who are effectively using the tool to save time and improve their communications with internal and external stakeholders.​

We had a conversation with a client yesterday, a nonprofit leader who's at the beginning of her storytelling journey. She had video testimonials from the people her organizations served and wanted help pulling out the best stories from those videos.

This is a key challenge for nonprofits. They often gather testimonials without ensuring that they support the organization’s key messages.

We asked her, “Before we start using the videos to tell stories about the organization, what types of stories do you want to tell? What three things do you want your organization to be known for?” Once we answer those questions, we can fit the narratives to support the organization’s key messaging.

So, two things have to happen here:

1. Before starting a project to gather testimonials, know what you want the story to be. It's OK if you discover unexpected gems while working on the project, but it's critical to make sure that you have an end product that supports the organization’s key messaging.
   
   
2. When gathering testimonials, organizations must use a standard set of questions designed to identify content and narratives that support their key messaging.

In storytelling, there are outliners and discovery writers. Be an outliner, and then embrace the unexpected discoveries you find along the way.

Most of our clients are not proficient in communications, a domain that is usually just a part of their overall job portfolio. Part of our role is communicating what they need to know and sharing that information so that it doesn't overwhelm or scare them.

Last week, we needed to draft an email for a client about the next steps for their communications program. We wanted to lay the foundation for a conversation that we will have this week about goals, strategy and tactics. Our initial email was lengthy, more than 700 words. The draft included suggestions for developing an “About Us” one-pager, using their current assets to drive a social media campaign for the year and recommended edits for their website. We tried to anticipate and answer the client's potential questions in the email. It's a common approach for consultants. Don't make you work for the answers.

Then, we turned to Gemini. We asked it to revise our email, keeping in mind that the recipient was a communications novice. Gemini's email was roughly 300 words, primarily high-level bullet points. We used Gemini’s suggestions, although we did add in a few details that Gemini had scrapped, a request for information that we needed for the “About Us” page, and some clarification about the video assets for the social media calendar.

As it turned out, AI was right. We got a speedy response from the client, who didn't feel overwhelmed by a long email. She immediately completed her action items and said she felt prepared for our call.

We can't trust AI to write everything for us, but we need to learn how to use AI to write with us. The more we work with AI, the more fine-tuned it will become, a great collaborator. We see the start of a beautiful friendship.

As part of a freelance assignment, we were asked to provide writing tips to an executive struggling to make their communications stronger and clearer.

Here's a high-level outline of the talking points that we used to guide the conversation.

Why does this matter to the reader

• It’s not what you have to say but what they do want to know.

Before you write, answer these questions.

• How do I know this person?
• For large audiences like newsletters, imagine you are at a reception with a key member of that group, and instead of writing to them, you need to tell them something before one of you is pulled away.
• How do you capture and keep their attention so they to finish what they are reading?
• What do they know?
• What do I need them to know?
• What do I need them to do after reading?

Eye-tracking studies show we spend 26 seconds on average reading a piece of content.

• Most people skim. They do not read.
• Get to the point quickly.
• Use bullets and subheaders to guide people's eyes.

Tactical techniques

• Use small words.
• Use short sentences (people get lost in long sentences, both the writer and the reader).
• Use short paragraphs
• People look to see how long the thing is. They don't like dense blocks of text unless they're reading a research paper.
• If you have to communicate something lengthy, put the highlights up front so people know what they're getting into and then use clearly marked sections.

For lengthy content, it helps to create a bulleted outline.

• Outlining gets you to a place where you can write a first draft that sucks. That's OK.
• Unless you are a talented writer, you will need to heavily revise a first draft.
• It's better to get something on paper that you can correct than strive for perfection on the first pass.