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Writing Prompts for AI

AI tools rely on prompts to understand what you want them to do. A prompt is just the instruction or question you type in to guide the AI.

 

Be Clear and Specific AI works best when it has clear and precise instructions. Vague prompts can lead to generic or irrelevant outputs. The more detail you include, the better the AI can tailor its response to meet your needs.

Specify the type of output you want (e.g. a blog, a list, a headline or an email) and include relevant details like tone (formal, casual, friendly), target audience (donors, beneficiaries, volunteers), and purpose (inform, persuade, inspire). You can also tell it the type of role that you would like it to be acting as, for example a trustee or senior communications manager.

For example:
  • Too vague: “Write a blog post.”
  • Better: “Write a 300-word blog post about the benefits of volunteering for mental health. Focus on how volunteering helps both the individual and the community.”
Provide Context AI doesn’t “know” your goals unless you share them. Adding context to your prompt helps the AI understand the bigger picture and produce a more useful response.

For example:
  • Who is the audience? (e.g. potential donors, families in need, volunteers)
  • What is the purpose? (e.g. raise funds, raise awareness, encourage action)
  • What tone or style should the output have? (e.g. professional, empathetic, uplifting)
Example:
  • Without context: “Write an email asking for donations.”
  • With context: “Write an email to our existing donors asking for support to fund school supplies for underprivileged children. Make it warm, heartfelt, and emphasise the tangible impact of their donation.”
Experiment and Refine AI doesn’t always get it right on the first try. If the response isn’t what you expected, try rephrasing or adding more detail. Experimenting with different wording can help you unlock the best results.
  • If the AI’s tone feels off, adjust your prompt to specify the tone: “Make the tone friendly and conversational.”
  • If the output is too long or too short, adjust by saying: “Summarise this in 100 words” or “Expand this to 500 words” or even “make this shorter”.
  • You can experiment with tone, content, length, complexity and lots of other things.
AI can also refine its own outputs. If you get a response that’s close to what you need, you can ask it to adjust:
  • “Make this more concise.”
  • “Rewrite this to appeal to a younger audience.”
  • “Add three examples to this.”
Use Examples and Templates If you have a specific format or example in mind, include it in your prompt. AI can follow patterns you provide. For instance:
  • Template-based prompt: “Write a thank-you email to donors. Include: (1) A warm opening, (2) A summary of how their donations helped, (3) A call to action to encourage future donations.”
  • Example-based prompt: “Write a social media post like this: ‘Thanks to your support, we’ve reached 1,000 meals delivered this month! Let’s keep the momentum going. Donate today to help even more families.’ Now write a similar post about providing winter coats to children.”
  • Asset-based prompt: Upload a document or copy and paste a social media post you like and ask the AI to create a new post, tailored to your charity but using the same template and tone.

 

Ready to try out some prompts?

Neighbourly has developed an AI prompt library where you can browse prompts that would be useful for your a specific theme or role, and try them out in Microsoft Copilot

Visit prompt library