Free Prompt Templates
For NGOs and the People Who Support Them
These are 3 prompts from our upcoming book, The Practical AI Guide for NGOs: How to Build Smarter Systems, Save Time, and Increase Your Impact — full prompts, with the thinking, the tips, and the mistakes to avoid. Not just a prompt, the system behind it.
Before You Start
Getting the Most Out of These Prompts
These prompts work with the AI tools you already use. Most NGOs use ChatGPT or Claude, so here are a few tips for both — but the structure works with any capable AI assistant.
If you're using Claude:
Use Projects to save your NGO’s name, mission, tone of voice, and key facts once — Claude will remember them across every conversation in that project, so you don’t need to re-explain yourself every time.
Upload documents directly (annual reports, donor lists, past proposals) and ask Claude to work from them — it handles long documents better than most tools.
Claude follows detailed tone and voice instructions very precisely — worth being specific.
If you're using ChatGPT:
Build a Custom GPT with your NGO’s information pre-loaded so every conversation starts with the right context.
Use the image generation feature (DALL-E) to create social media visuals alongside your caption copy.
GPT-4o handles voice notes if your team prefers speaking prompts rather than typing them.
One rule that applies to both: Every prompt below ends with an instruction asking the AI to clarify before it writes. Don’t skip this step — the 2 minutes it takes to answer a few questions is what separates a generic draft from something you’d actually send.
Free Prompt Templates
Prompt 1. Grant Proposal Writing
Why this prompt works: Grant proposals fail most often because they don’t speak the funder’s language — they describe what the NGO does rather than what the funder cares about achieving. This prompt forces the AI to align your mission with the funder’s stated priorities before writing a single sentence, which is the actual job of a grant writer.
You are an experienced grant writer with a track record of securing funding for non-profit organisations. I need you to help me draft a compelling grant proposal summary for my organisation.
Here is the context you will need:
- Organisation name: [Insert name]
- Our mission: [Insert mission in 1-2 sentences]
- The cause we work on: [Insert cause — e.g., disability support, children’s education, community health]
- The funder we are applying to: [Insert grant body or foundation name]
- The funder’s stated priorities or focus areas: [Insert — check their website]
- The amount we are requesting: [Insert amount]
- What the funds will specifically be used for: [Insert 3-5 bullet points]
- The key impact metrics we can demonstrate: [Insert — e.g., number of beneficiaries, outcomes achieved]
- The timeline for this project: [Insert]
Using this information, draft a grant proposal summary that:
- Opens with a hook that connects our mission directly to this funder’s priorities
- Clearly explains the problem we are solving and why it matters
- Describes our proposed solution and why we are the right organisation to deliver it
- Presents our impact metrics in a way that is credible and verifiable
- Explains specifically how the requested funds will be used
- Closes with a clear, confident call to action
Tone: persuasive, professional, and outcome-focused. Avoid jargon. Write for a program officer who reads dozens of proposals a week and is looking for a clear reason to say yes.
Before you begin writing, ask me the questions you need answered to be at least 95% confident you will produce the strongest possible proposal summary for this specific funder and cause.
Common mistakes:
- Describing your organisation before explaining the problem you solve
- Using internal jargon a program officer won’t recognise
- Listing activities instead of outcomes
- Forgetting to mirror the funder’s own language back to them
Claude tip: Paste the funder’s full “About” or “Priorities” page into Claude alongside this prompt — it will align your language with theirs automatically.
ChatGPT tip: If you have a previous proposal that performed well, paste it in and ask ChatGPT to use it as a tone reference.
Prompt 2: Donor Outreach and Thank-You Email
Why this prompt works: Most donor thank-you emails are transactional — they confirm a gift and move on. The emails that actually build retention make the donor feel like they were part of something specific that happened because of them.
You are a donor relations specialist with experience building long-term relationships between non-profit organisations and their supporters.
I need you to write a personalised thank-you and follow-up email for a donor. Here is the context:
- Organisation name: [Insert]
- Our mission: [Insert]
- Donor’s name: [Insert — or use “a valued supporter” if sending to a segment]
- Donation amount: [Insert]
- When they gave: [Insert — e.g., last month, during our recent campaign]
- What project or program their donation supported: [Insert specifically]
- The tangible impact their donation contributed to: [Insert — e.g., “funded 3 months of after-school sessions for 12 children”]
- What we want to invite them to next: [Insert — e.g., an upcoming webinar, a volunteer day, a giving campaign]
Write an email that:
- Opens with a genuinely warm, specific thank-you — not a generic one
- Tells them exactly what happened because of their gift, in concrete terms
- Makes them feel like an insider, not just a transaction
- Naturally introduces the next invitation without it feeling like a second ask
- Closes in a way that leaves the relationship open and warm
Tone: human, warm, grateful, and community-oriented. This should not sound like it was written by a committee or a template library.
Before you write, ask me the questions you need answered to be at least 95% sure this email will feel personal and genuine — not like a mass communication.
Common mistakes:
- Sending the same thank-you template to every donor regardless of size or history
- Thanking without telling them what actually happened
- Burying the next invitation as an afterthought instead of a natural next step
Prompt 3: Build Fundraising Campaigns That Inspire People to Give
Why this prompt works: Most NGOs think fundraising starts with asking for donations. It doesn’t. Successful fundraising starts with trust — built long before anyone reaches for their wallet. This prompt asks AI to understand who the audience is, why the campaign matters, and what change the funding will create, before it plans a single piece of content. The result feels like a conversation instead of a sales pitch.
You are an experienced nonprofit fundraising strategist. Help me create a fundraising campaign that builds trust, tells a compelling story, and encourages supporters to take action.
Here is the information you need:
- Organisation name: [Insert]
- Mission: [Insert]
- Campaign objective: [Describe the purpose]
- Funding goal: [Insert]
- Campaign duration: [Insert]
- Who is the target audience: [Donors, businesses, community members, previous supporters, etc.]
- Why is this campaign important now: [Explain]
- What specific impact will the funding create: [Describe]
- Do you have a beneficiary story: [Describe briefly]
Create a campaign that includes:
- Campaign theme
- Core message
- Campaign story
- Email sequence
- Social media content
- Website donation page copy
- Volunteer communication
- Campaign timeline
- Thank-you communication after donations are received
Write everything in a warm, trustworthy, community-focused tone.
Before you begin writing, ask me the questions you need answered to be at least 95% confident you will produce the strongest possible campaign.
Common mistakes:
- Starting the campaign by asking for money before explaining the need
- Talking more about the organisation than the people being helped
- Changing the message halfway through the campaign
- Using different language across different channels
- Forgetting to communicate after the campaign finishes
ChatGPT tip: Instead of one campaign message, ask ChatGPT to produce communication for each stage — launch, mid-campaign update, impact story, final week reminder, last-day message, success announcement, donor thank-you.
Claude tip: Upload previous campaigns, annual reports, and performance data into a Claude Project. Ask Claude to identify what worked well and recommend improvements for your next campaign.
Already Using Prompts Like These?
If you’re already using AI but the results feel inconsistent, dependent on one person, or never quite like your organisation’s actual voice — that’s the gap between ad hoc use and a real system.
Our free NGO AI Impact Check shows you exactly where your AI use stands right now — in 10 minutes, no commitment.