When every charity sounds the same: avoiding the AI copy trap

The challenge charities face today isn’t writing more words, it’s making sure their words actually resonate.

With the rise of tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and Copy.ai, many comms teams now have the ability to produce supporter emails, fundraising appeals, and social captions in seconds. The appeal is obvious: less time spent drafting, more time freed up for delivery.

But there’s a problem. AI-generated text often sounds slick, polished, and… well… almost identical. When everyone uses the same models in the same way, the results blend together. For charities that rely on storytelling to connect with supporters, that’s a serious risk.

The rise of AI copy in charity comms

AI-assisted writing is here to stay. It offers real advantages:

Speed – generating drafts in seconds.
Consistency – following simple prompts to produce “on-brand” messages.
Overcoming blocks – giving teams a starting point instead of a blank page.

But these models are trained on vast pools of existing writing. They don’t create, they remix. And by remixing what’s already out there, they tend to produce the average. Generic phrasing, overused metaphors, predictable calls to action.

For charities trying to cut through crowded inboxes, “average” just ain’t cutting it

Your distinctive voice. And why it matters

Fundraising and engagement are built on trust, empathy, and connection. Donors don’t respond to just any appeal, they respond to stories that feel real.

Think about two appeals:

One reads: “Together, we can build a brighter future. Your support changes lives.”
The other shares: “When Maria fled her home with nothing but a backpack, she didn’t know where she would sleep that night. Your support gave her safety and a chance to rebuild.”

Both could have been generated by AI. But the second contains texture, specificity, and a human truth that stands out. It speaks directly to donors because it’s rooted in lived experience. Distinctive voice is what keeps a charity from sounding like everyone else. And distinctive voice is exactly what AI struggles to capture.

How to use AI without losing your voice

AI can be useful, but only if it’s positioned as a tool, not a replacement. A few principles:

Use AI for rough drafts, not final copy. Treat outputs as scaffolding you’ll edit, not the end product.
Keep your tone of voice guide front and centre. If your brand voice is clear, you can refine AI outputs to match it. Without that, AI tends to default to “generic corporate.”
Feed it the right raw material. AI won’t invent authentic stories. You need real supporter quotes, service-user experiences, and organisational insights. Those inputs matter far more than the polish AI provides.

The copywriter’s new role

So where does this leave our humble copywriter? Far from redundant, their role becomes more important.

Instead of being asked simply to bang out a few hundred words, the copywriter now curates, edits, and ensures meaning. They bring emotional intelligence, nuance, and ethical judgement to the table, all skills that AI lacks.

At Yarn, we see copywriters not as competitors to AI, but as interpreters. Their job is to protect brand voice, find stories worth telling, and shape them in ways that resonate. In a world of automated sameness, difference is value.

Closing thoughts

If everyone is using AI in the same way, then everyone risks sounding the same. That sameness undermines trust and weakens connection – two things charities cannot afford to lose.

The answer isn’t to ignore AI, but to use it wisely. Efficiency has its place, but it should never come at the cost of authenticity.

At Yarn, our work helps charities define and protect their unique voice, ensuring they sound distinctive in a landscape increasingly crowded with machine-written words.