Find passive voice in your writing
AI highlights every passive sentence so you can rewrite for stronger, more engaging nonprofit communications.
Find passive voice in your writing
River's Passive Voice Highlighter identifies every passive construction in your nonprofit writing. Upload your document and the AI highlights all passive sentences with comments. You get clear identification of weak passive constructions so you can rewrite them in active voice for stronger, more direct communication.
Unlike grammar checkers that miss context, this tool focuses solely on finding passive voice, which weakens nonprofit writing. The AI marks sentences like 'Donations were received' or 'Services are provided' so you can change them to 'We received donations' or 'We provide services.' Active voice is clearer, more engaging, and more persuasive. Donors respond better to active, direct language. You get focused feedback on one specific issue.
This tool is perfect for development staff, grant writers, and anyone writing for nonprofit audiences. Use it before submitting appeals, grants, reports, or website copy. It works best when you need to strengthen writing by eliminating passive constructions that distance readers from your impact. Active voice makes writing more compelling and easier to read.
Why Active Voice Matters for Nonprofits
Active voice makes subjects clear and creates stronger, more direct sentences. Passive: 'Services were provided to 100 families.' Active: 'We provided services to 100 families.' Active voice answers who did what immediately. Passive voice buries or omits the actor. In nonprofit writing, clarity about who is doing what (your organization, your staff, your donors) strengthens credibility and engagement. Passive voice creates distance. Active voice creates connection.
Passive voice weakens fundraising and impact writing because it removes human agency. 'Donations are needed' is passive and vague. 'We need your donation' or 'Your donation provides meals' is active and direct. Passive voice makes your organization seem less in control and your donors less essential. Active voice shows your organization taking action and donors enabling that action. This difference significantly affects reader engagement and response rates.
To convert passive to active, identify who is doing the action and make them the subject. Passive: 'Meals are served by volunteers.' Active: 'Volunteers serve meals.' Passive: 'Children are taught by certified teachers.' Active: 'Certified teachers teach children.' Sometimes passive voice is appropriate: when the actor is unknown, when the recipient is more important than the actor, or for variety. But nonprofit writing benefits from active voice 90% of the time. This tool helps you find passive constructions so you can decide whether to keep or change them.
What You Get
Every passive voice construction highlighted
Comments marking each passive sentence
Focus only on passive voice (no other issues)
Clear identification for easy rewriting
No automatic rewrites (you maintain control)
Works with appeals, grants, reports, and web copy
How It Works
- 1Upload documentUpload your nonprofit writing (appeal, grant, report, etc.)
- 2AI highlights passive voiceEvery passive construction gets highlighted with a comment in 1-2 minutes
- 3Review and rewriteGo through highlighted sentences and rewrite in active voice where appropriate
- 4Finalize documentAccept changes and complete your stronger, more direct writing
Frequently Asked Questions
Will this tool rewrite my sentences automatically?
No. This tool only highlights passive voice. You decide whether to rewrite and how. Automatic rewrites often change meaning or sound awkward. This tool gives you control. It identifies passive constructions and you rewrite them in active voice when appropriate. You maintain your voice and ensure meaning stays accurate. Think of it as a focused proofreading pass, not an automatic fixer.
Is passive voice always wrong?
No. Sometimes passive voice is appropriate: when the actor is unknown or unimportant ('The grant was awarded' when you do not know who decided), when emphasizing the recipient ('Children are welcomed into safe spaces' emphasizes children), or for sentence variety. However, nonprofit writing overuses passive voice, weakening impact. Use this tool to find all passive constructions, then consciously decide which to keep and which to change. Active voice should be your default.
How many passive voice instances should I expect?
Varies widely. Strong nonprofit writers might have 5-10% passive sentences. Weak writing often has 30-50% passive. Academic or government writers sometimes use passive even more out of habit. More is not always worse if used intentionally, but most nonprofit writing benefits from converting 80-90% of passive constructions to active. Use this tool to understand your passive voice habits, then work to reduce it.
Can I use this for grant proposals?
Absolutely. Grant proposals often suffer from excessive passive voice. Passive: 'Services will be provided to underserved populations.' Active: 'We will provide services to underserved populations' or 'Our team will serve 500 underserved families.' Active voice in grants shows your organization taking action and demonstrates capacity. Passive voice makes you seem less in control. Run your proposals through this tool before submitting. Reviewers respond better to active, confident writing.
Will this catch every passive construction?
The tool is highly accurate but no automated tool is perfect. Review results and trust your judgment. Some constructions might be borderline. Focus on clear passive voice ('was done,' 'were provided,' 'are served' with no clear actor upfront). The goal is not perfection but improvement. Even catching 90% of passive voice and rewriting it will significantly strengthen your document. Manual review of your writing remains important.
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