“But our CEO doesn’t write like that!”
Four baby step solutions for getting your fundraising tone and voice approved
(AND getting results)
By Lisa Sargent ✍️
March 2025
You know what you want to say in that fundraising appeal. You know it takes an emotional, personal, clear and simple tone of voice to get results.
And yet... whether it’s your CEO or your ED or someone else signing your letter... that signatory won’t sign off.
“I don’t write like that,” they tell you. They make a distasteful face. “It’s too...
much.”
All hope is not lost, I promise.
Here are 4 baby step solutions, forged in the real world of fundraising writing, just for you.
(1.) Make small incremental changes, over time.
When I first start working with a nonprofit, edits are almost always at least double what they’ll be in a year. It takes time to nail tone and
voice.
And at many organizations, CEOs aren't comfortable using big words like "love." Your CEO or ED might be among them.
But you can still work together to add emotion.
For non-negotiables, I try to find workarounds.
For example, if something like, “Thank you for the lifeline of your love,” or “Your love works miracles” is too much for your signatory, soften
it.
Like this:
Stronger: Thank you for the lifeline of your love.
Softer: Your generosity is a lifeline to us here.
Stronger: Your love works miracles.
Softer: Your kindness works miracles.
Miracles a no go? Even softer: Your kindness moves mountains.
(2.) Feature a different main signatory.
Lots of nonprofits do incredibly effective fundraising by having non-CEO signatories. Grateful patients at hospital foundations, for example. Parents of children with serious health diagnoses like cancer, for another. Programs staff for almost any organization, volunteers
can also work.
At two of my nonprofit clients, one will often feature the family (mother/father) as signatory, and another features grateful patients and sometimes also experts in the field – surgeons, nurses, ICU director, etc.
👉 Caveat, though: this can require a bit of extra back and forth as sometimes you still come up against the tone issue. But it gives you a really good tool for featuring a totally different tone and voice, which can add
another layer of authenticity.
Here's an excerpt from a non-CEO signatory letter we did this past Christmas. Noteworthy items here are 3-fold: It's told in the first person, which is powerful. The signatory can mention here that his wife remembers praying, which is something a CEO may not always be able to include. The signatory can use common expressions.
Like this:
A heart attack
can cause potentially irreversible damage in just thirty minutes. The day I arrived at the [name of org] emergency room, I had two 100% blockages.
My wife remembers praying. She remembers worrying, "What if I have to go home to an empty house alone." I thank my lucky stars every day that didn’t happen.
There's nothing fancy about the copy. You can see that. But it gave us the chance to write in the voice of someone other
than the CEO.
