Using prompts from the prompt library
A prompt is a question you ask or instructions you provide to Gemini, your AI assistant from Google, to generate a desired output. This prompt library is a collection of example prompts related to common work streams at nonprofits. Remember to keep responsible AI practices in mind when using AI tools.
Prompting best practices (The PTFC Framework)
A strong prompt follows a simple framework and contains four essential components:
- Persona: The expertise you want Gemini to draw from.
- Task: What specific action or outcome you are looking for.
- Context: Any background information, goals, or constraints Gemini needs to guide the output.
- Format: How you want the results to appear (structure, length, tone).
Here are some basic best practices when writing prompts to get help from Gemini
Use natural language
Chat with Gemini just like you would a friend or colleague.
- Instead of..."Qualitative data suggestions for nonprofits"
- Try this..."Act as an impact evaluation manager. Suggest four qualitative data collection strategies like employer and graduate testimonials for our workforce development nonprofit that provides job placement and vocational training to local residents facing barriers to employment. Present the response as a bulleted checklist with actionable steps for each method."
Be clear and concise
Use precise instructions and avoid using ambiguous language.
- Instead of..."Donor email outreach."
- Try this..."Act as an experienced fundraising director. Draft a short email template to re-engage past donors who haven't contributed in over a year by highlighting our recent workforce development and job placement wins without sounding intrusive. Keep the tone warm and informative, under 150 words, and end with a soft call-to-action."
Provide context
Share context so your request is better understood and you generate a more useful response. Give Gemini background details about your nonprofit's mission, audience, and any relevant constraints.
- Instead of..."Write a volunteer recruitment email"
- Try this..."Act as a volunteer coordinator. Draft a recruitment email for [Audience, e.g., local university students] to achieve our goal of [Specific Goal, e.g., recruiting five mentors for our youth program]. Use an enthusiastic and professional tone under 200 words, ending with a clear call-to-action link."
Use specific and relevant keywords
Gemini can understand the meaning of individual words and phrases. Using specific and relevant keywords in your prompt will help the AI generate a more accurate and informative response.
- Instead of..."Draft research on labor trends"
- Try this..."Act as a seasoned workforce development strategist. Identify the top three emerging skill gaps in the local agriculture sector and cite sources to prepare our team for a board of directors 2026 strategy meeting. Present the findings in a structured table with clear headings for 'Skill,' 'Employer Demand,' and 'Training Resource,' using a professional, analytical tone."
Break down complex tasks into separate prompts
If you want Gemini to perform several related tasks, break them apart into separate prompts. This helps Gemini understand the task and provide useful responses.
- Instead of..."Generate some ideas for a nonprofit fundraiser and how to promote it."
- Try this..."Act as a project manager. Suggest three distinct themes for a local job fair targeting 50 local employers and community job seekers. Provide the output as a bulleted list with a short title and 2-sentence rationale for each."
- âDraft an email template for the first idea to send to event attendees encouraging donations.â
- âNow create a 4-week promotional timeline for this idea with a mix of online and offline outreach tactics.â
Have a conversation
Don't feel limited to a single prompt. If Gemini's response is helpful, continue with follow-up prompts to refine it to match your nonprofit's voice and goals. Iterate and experiment with different wordings to find the best results.
If you have specific data available, include it in your prompts.
- "Act as a social media manager for a youth workforce initiative. Revise these three social media posts promoting our career mentorship program. Incorporate our key impact statistic: '90% of program participants successfully secure full-time employment or apprenticeships within six months.' Keep each post under 280 characters and optimized for LinkedIn with relevant hashtags."
- "Revise the social posts promoting our mentorship program to mention that 90% of participants graduate high school."
Prompt examples
The following prompt examples are organized into categories related to common nonprofit operations and tasks. You can use these prompt examples to guide your own prompt writing in the Gemini app.
For most examples, you can revise the prompts with details related to your nonprofit to provide context. For example, in the first grant writing prompt, you could replace the nonprofitâs mission with your own nonprofitâs mission. You can also type follow-up prompts in the Gemini app when you want to revise or refine the output. You will find some examples of follow-up prompts in the prompt library.
Fundraising
âAct as a senior grants strategist. Identify relevant grant opportunities and active funding bodies that align with our nonprofit's mission to [Insert Mission/Cause] in [City/State], prioritizing foundations similar to [Past Funder Name]. Format the output as a comparative table with columns for Foundation Name, Typical Award Size, Eligibility Criteria, and Website URL.â
Now copy/paste the language from the grant description into the chat, include the link to the website, or upload the relevant file.
Fundraising Ideas & Events
"Act as a community outreach coordinator for a workforce nonprofit. Our small local nonprofit provides job readiness training and digital literacy skills. Brainstorm five creative, low-cost fundraising event concepts to support our resume-building workshops. Format each idea with a short description, estimated budget required (under $500), required volunteer count, and projected ROI."Program Management
"Act as a program director. Identify 3-4 key quantitative and qualitative metrics to track program success for a 12-week youth education and workforce training initiative. Format the response as a table with columns for: Metric Name, Primary Data Collection Tool (e.g., pre/post-survey, attendance log), Collection Frequency, and Strategic Relevance."
"Act as a communications director. Outline the essential structural sections of an annual report for a nonprofit focused on the protection of local wildlife in [City/State/Country]. Format the output as a 3-column table with headings: Section Title, Key Metric to Include, and Target Audience Focus."
Tip: Upload a past annual report for Gemini to reference and extract key details about your nonprofit.
"Act as a volunteer engagement specialist with 10 years of experience. Draft a personalized thank-you letter to celebrate active volunteers who contributed over 20 hours of service this month supporting our community food drives. Format the output as a warm, inspiring 3-paragraph email with a clear subject line and an invitation to an upcoming volunteer appreciation lunch."
Marketing
Learn more about the features available to nonprofits via Google Workspace for Nonprofits, and nonprofit-specific discounts for Google Workspace Business and Enterprise editions.
