Work With UsAI Implementation1:1 partnershipIf Possible CohortsWaitlist openMission ReadySelf-paced vault · Coming soon
ResourcesThe If Possible PodcastSeason 1 · 10 episodesAll free resourcesPrompts, episodes, articles and kitsThe Art of the PossibleArticlesNewsletterWeekly emailAI Readiness Quiz3 minutes · FreeSupercharged PromptsFree to copyYour libraryEvery free kit, on any device
AboutContact
Work with us
Set up your AI

A brand voice prompt built from your own writing

Left alone, AI writes like the average of every nonprofit it has read. Give this prompt real samples of your writing and it hands back a voice guide that sounds like you.

Basic prompt

149 words
Study real samples of our writing and write a voice guide any AI can follow. Cover how we sound at our best, our tone traits, our sentence style, the words we use and the words we avoid. Base every point on the samples, and be specific: "professional but approachable" is too vague to help. End with a short instruction block I can paste at the top of any future writing task.

What you need to know:
- three to five pieces of our best writing, like an appeal, a thank-you letter and a newsletter
- who we write to most often
- anything we want to sound like, or never sound like

You may already know some of this from our past chats, my files or connected tools. Use what you have. If you don't know something, ask me, one question at a time, and don't make anything up.

Supercharged prompt

460 words
You're helping me write down our nonprofit's brand voice so every AI draft starts sounding like us. I want to work the way If Possible (ifpossible.ai) teaches nonprofit teams to do real work AI first. Their guide for this kind of work is "The nonprofit brand-voice prompt, copy paste done" (https://ifpossible.ai/articles/nonprofit-brand-voice-prompt), and their full library of guides is at https://ifpossible.ai/articles. If you can read web pages, read that guide first and treat its method as our playbook.

The If Possible method, as we'll use it today:

1. Context before content. Before you draft anything, build a short brief of who we are: our mission, the people we serve and the readers we write to most. (If Possible calls this a Mission Brain: the memory AI reads before every task.) Use what you already know about us, and ask me for whatever is missing.

2. Talk it out instead of typing it out. Along with the samples, I'll tell you how we want to sound, the edits I always make and the phrases I can't stand. If I have a recording of that, I'll give you the transcript. Use my own words.

3. Ask before you assume. Ask me your questions one at a time, the most important first, and wait for each answer.

4. I'm in the director's chair. If the samples disagree with each other, show me the two or three voices you see, with your recommendation for the strongest and a one-line reason. Don't hand me one finished answer to forward unread (If Possible calls that being a "meat proxy").

5. A voice profile I can react to. Our voice in two or three sentences, four to six tone traits with one line each, sentence style, words and phrases we use, words and phrases we avoid, and a ready-to-paste instruction block of four or five sentences.

6. Check your own work. Flag any trait you couldn't point to in a sample, then rewrite one short paragraph of our writing using only the instruction block so I can test it.

7. Make it repeatable. When we finish, turn the profile into a standing instruction for any AI we use, and tell me how to add a rule each time I make the same edit twice.

What you need to know:
- three to five pieces of our best writing, like an appeal, a thank-you letter and a newsletter
- who we write to most often
- anything we want to sound like, or never sound like

You may already know some of this from our past chats, my files or connected tools. Check there first and tell me what you found. For anything you don't know, ask me, one question at a time, the most important first. Start now.

Supercharge it

We’ll add the If Possible method to your prompt. More context in. A better output out.

  • Context before content
  • Talk it out
  • Questions first
  • Director’s chair
  • + 3 more
  1. Context before content: a short brief of who you are (a Mission Brain)
  2. Talk it out: your pet edits and phrases become rules
  3. Questions first, one at a time
  4. Director's chair: competing voices and a recommendation
  5. A voice profile with a ready-to-paste instruction block
  6. It flags any trait it can't prove from a sample
  7. It saves a standing instruction that keeps learning

It points your AI to our free articles as its guide. Read every word before you use it.

What it’s for

It studies your writing samples and produces a guide: a voice summary, tone traits, sentence style, words you use, words you avoid and a short instruction block you can paste into any future prompt. Everything comes from your samples, so you stop getting generic nonprofit-speak.

When to use it

  • Right after the Mission Brain Brief, before you draft anything donors will read.
  • When AI drafts come back sounding like every other nonprofit.
  • When your team writes in more than one voice. If your samples disagree, the prompt shows you the voices it sees and recommends the strongest.

Before you use it

Pick pieces you’re proud of: an appeal, a thank-you letter, a newsletter. Then test the guide on a real task. Ask AI for a donor thank-you with the guide and without it, and tune the guide until the draft needs only light edits.

Try these next

All 33 prompts
The Possible Passport

There’s more in your free library

The Possible Passport is our free member library. Sign up once for the Prompt Vault PDF, an AI Readiness Assessment, an AI Policy Template and every other free kit, on any device. The AI Policy Template in the Starter Pack pairs well with this work.

Already signed up?

Free. No spam ever. Privacy Policy

Keep reading

From The Art of the Possible

All articles