Writing to key donors and prospects on behalf of institutional leaders is a high-stakes endeavor. People give to people, as the saying goes, and a personal, well-written letter is an important building block of donor-centric, relationship-based fundraising.

Capturing the voice of the various university and development executives who sign the messages you write is challenging. It can be hard to find the right words or to strike the right tone, especially when apologies or condolences are part of the job. But you don't have to be a wordsmith to compose effective, strategic letters and emails. Here are some tips to help your writing.

Etiquette trumps originality

Personalized donor correspondence must be, well, personal. It should put the donor's interests front and center, but the good news is you don't have to craft something entirely new each time you write. Etiquette, common sense, and some insight into the donor can help you decide what to say and how best to say it.

Stock language exists for a reason. Phrases such as "my thoughts are with you and your family" are time-tested ways of acknowledging and respecting the letter recipient's needs and feelings. Invest in a useful resource from which you can borrow, such as Rosalie Maggio's How to Say It: Choice Words, Phrases, Sentences, and Paragraphs for Every Situation.

Deciding how much to rely on stock language and how many personal details to include is a balancing act. Find the balance by focusing on the message's purpose. A condolence letter, for instance, typically relies more on these practical phrases than a congratulatory message would. Mentioning a recent meeting or shared vision is often appropriate in a congratulatory letter, but a grieving person simply wants to know you are thinking of them.

One voice, many tones

Achieving the right tone is tricky. The leader's correspondence represents the institution and should align with its priorities and messaging. But accurately reflecting the signatory's style will save messages from sounding formulaic and repetitive, especially if the person knows the donor well. To find the right tone, think of the signatory's voice as one of the many tones of the institution's voice.

Let's consider the difference. You have a writing style—favorite words and phrases, grammatical choices, and other tendencies that distinguish your writing. That's your voice. The emails you write to your boss, a peer, or a friend, however, will strike different tones depending on your relationship to the recipient, even though the messages will all sound like you.

The signatory's relationship with the recipient is key. Consider what your institution's voice sounds like—formal, down-to-earth, direct, or familiar—and then focus on the relationship. Has the leader not yet met with this prospect or did they go to dinner again last week? Is the letter recipient a highly engaged champion of the university or a principal gift prospect? Is the relationship close enough that the leader would be remiss not to mention one or more personal details in a note? Or would a handwritten signature be a sufficiently personal touch for a newer acquaintance?

The donor database and a development officer familiar with the donor are powerful research tools that can help determine your strategy. If you don't work closely with a particular executive, you can observe her speaking style at meetings and events, ask for samples and pointers, and read previous letters that were written over her signature. Being familiar with the signatory's personal style and fluent in the institution's voice will help you communicate authentically with the reader.

Build your language bank

Facing a blank page is tough, but what if you could hit the ground running? Develop a language bank. Identify some useful words and phrases that align with your signatory's communication needs, writing style, and the institution's brand to put yourself in the right frame of mind and help get the prose flowing.

As you come across well-crafted examples in writing resources such as Maggio's book or letters in the donor database, hear a pet phrase at a meeting or event at which the leader speaks, or receive positive feedback on assignments, make a deposit.

The primary purpose of the language bank is to jump-start the thinking process. Let's say, for example, that the phrase "Being the recipient of this honor is a testament to your leadership/vision/the impact of your generosity" is in the bank. A letter congratulating a University of California, Davis, alumna who won a campus award could include the student body's nickname: "Being the recipient of this honor is a testament to your Aggie spirit and commitment to our campus community." An email congratulating a CEO prospect who won an industry award might read: "Being the recipient of your industry's premier honor is a testament to your leadership and vision."

Elevate your proofreading game

Proofreading seems like obvious advice, but catching mistakes, which can be mortifying for you and the institution, requires more than simply rereading a document on screen. Depending on the project, at least three other people review my work. Here are some suggestions for minimizing errors:

• Print a copy and read the draft aloud and away from your desk. This physical separation helps your brain shift away from the method and space you used to compose the message.
• Create a "worst hits" proofreading checklist of mistakes that have haunted you after you've hit send. Review it when you read your draft. The act of checking each box will make you pause and think. I always refer to the section on who and whom on the list of frequently misused words my office developed.
• Start at the end. Reading a letter backward isolates individual words and takes them out of their context, making errors easier to see.

Here's a final tip for improving your writing: Spend more time reading. Start the new year right by checking out Steven Pinker's The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. In this refreshing and funny comprehensive style guide, Pinker argues that "writers acquire their technique by spotting, savoring, and reverse-engineering examples of good prose." He then discusses how to develop your ear while reading. It's time to face the blank page (or screen) with confidence.