Writing brilliant copy

Good writing can make or break your charity’s communications.

You might have produced an appeal with an extraordinary story at its heart, or a report with some compelling evidence of your impact.

But if your writing is scattered with rambling sentences, baffling jargon or – whisper it – dodgy apostrophes, it will lose all its power. And you could be in danger of losing your readers.    

But we’re here to help. This workshop gives you tips and tools to write well and a deep dive into what makes good writing good.

We know that this topic can feel a little exposing. We can promise you a supportive, positive environment. This course features several exercises and you’ll only share your writing if you want to.

This is a half-day course. We’ve found that it works particularly well in the room, but we can also deliver it online. For in-house groups, we can tailor the course to suit your organisation and the issues you work with.

Course content

  • Ten top tips for good writing
    We cover everything from basic errors to writing with style in this interactive opening session. It includes several short exercises.
  • Charities’ writing: the good, the bad and the ugly
    In small groups, we analyse emails, appeal letters and social media posts produced by a range of charities. We look at what works and what doesn’t. (We only reveal the names of the charities who’ve produced the good stuff!)
  • Having a go
    This is your chance to apply what you’ve learned to your own writing. We provide you with a fictional letter from a supporter to turn into a social media post or story for your newsletter. You’ll have the option to get feedback from the trainer after the course.