THE ARTS FUNDRAISER’S GUIDE TO USING AI IN MESSAGING

How to Save Time, Strengthen Your Writing, and Keep the Human at the Center

By Catherine Heitz New, with Nicki Inman and Katie Ellis

Fall is an exceptionally busy time for arts fundraisers. Seasons are opening, year-end fundraising is approaching, grant deadlines are piling up, and time is scarce.

That makes artificial intelligence especially compelling. Used well, AI can help us work faster, organize information, strengthen drafts, and get important work out the door. But “used well” is the key.

AI is a tool. Its output depends on what we provide, how clearly we direct it, and how thoughtfully we refine the result. It can improve efficiency, but it cannot replace our judgment, organizational knowledge, or relationships.

Two members of RSC’s coaching team, Nicki Inman and Katie Ellis, are applying those principles in practical ways.

Starting with a Blank Page

Nicki has been exploring AI in the production of direct mail solicitation letters—particularly when the person managing the mailing is skilled in project management but less experienced in writing.

A solicitation letter is just one piece of a direct mail campaign, but writing it can become a bottleneck that delays the entire project. AI can help eliminate the blank page.

Nicki recently worked with an RSC client to develop a solicitation letter using AI. But before asking it to write, they gathered the organization’s Case Statement, previous letters, examples of the signatory’s voice, key phrases, and an outline of what each paragraph needed to accomplish.

As Nicki put it, “The better your prompts, the better the initial output.”

And that is exactly what happened. Strong source material and clear direction gave the team a solid first draft. It still contained significant exaggerations, so they prompted the tool to correct them and refine the language. Once the draft was nearly there, the “humans” took over, reviewing and making the final touches. The letter was readily approved by the executive director and produced one of the organization’s strongest direct mail responses in recent memory.

The lesson isn’t that AI wrote a successful fundraising letter. It’s that good preparation, prompting, and human editing helped AI produce a useful draft much faster.

Give AI Something to Work With

There’s a temptation to type, “Write our year-end fundraising letter.” AI will. But will it sound like your organization or executive director? Will it understand your Case for Support, your donors, or what you want the reader to do? Probably not—unless you teach it.

Preparing AI means providing the information and direction it needs: examples of your writing, approved messaging, audience, purpose, tone, structure, and desired outcome.

Then refine. Ask the tool to make the message more concise, correct an overstatement, strengthen the opening, or adjust the tone. Tell it what worked—and what didn’t. AI shouldn’t eliminate editing; it should give you a better place to start.

Putting AI to Work on Grants

Katie has seen many of the same opportunities in grant research, proposal development, and reporting. Arts organizations accumulate useful Case language, program descriptions, impact statements, survey results, research, outcomes, and approved messaging. AI can organize that information for more consistent use across proposals and communications.

It can also find relevant research faster, summarize survey results, identify possible outputs and outcomes for new programs, and stress-test a proposal against a foundation’s guidelines and mission.

The same rules apply: prepare the tool, direct it carefully, and refine the output.

Relying too heavily on AI, however, can make proposals start to sound remarkably similar. As Katie reminded us, “The art of preparing a proposal really relies on the individuals and the organizations, the teams and the relationships.”

AI doesn’t know the history of a grantor relationship or the nuances of a family’s interests—unless you provide that context. Nor should it be trusted to verify every fact, statistic, or research source. That responsibility remains ours.

Funders also have varying expectations. Some acknowledge AI openly; others may ask applicants to disclose whether—and how—it was used. It is important for organizations to keep this in mind as they explore the use of AI in grant work.

Train. Prompt. Refine. Review.

Whether you’re drafting a solicitation letter, preparing a grant proposal, or crafting another fundraising message, the process is similar:

1. Train the tool. Provide AI with reliable information about your organization, its voice, its work, and the communication you’re developing.

2. Prompt with purpose. Be specific about what you need, who you’re communicating with, what you want the message to accomplish, and how it should sound.

3. Refine the output. Don’t settle for the first draft. Correct it, challenge it, redirect it, and keep working until it becomes accurate and genuinely useful.

4. Review it yourself. The final message belongs to you—not AI. Check the facts. Protect the voice. Make certain it sounds human, reflects your organization, and serves the relationship you’re trying to strengthen.

AI can help arts fundraisers organize their thoughts, sharpen their messaging, and save valuable time—especially when staff capacity is stretched.

But the fundamentals haven’t changed. We provide the purpose, context, and judgment. Most importantly, we build the relationships.

AI can make the work more efficient. It remains our responsibility to make it effective.

Put AI to Work—Thoughtfully

If your arts organization is exploring using AI in fundraising communications, schedule a complimentary 30-minute Zoom conversation with Catherine Heitz New, CEO of RSC Associates. Together, we can identify where AI can save time, where human judgment matters most, and how to preserve your organization’s voice and relationships.