Nonprofit Gemini Prompt Library

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.

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...“Suggest ways to gather qualitative data like employer testimonials to illustrate our impact. Our nonprofit provides job placement and vocational training for local residents facing barriers to employment.”

Be clear and concise

Use precise instructions and avoid using ambiguous language.

• Instead of..."Donor email outreach." 
• Try this..."Draft a short, non-intrusive email template to re-engage donors who haven't given to a nonprofit in the past year"

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 blog post" 
• Try this..."Help me draft a blog post. The target audience is young adults and the main goal is to encourage donations by announcing a new coding bootcamp to upskill beginners. Use a tone that is compassionate and urgent and include a call-to-action."

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 interview questions for nonprofit volunteers."
• Try this...“Draft 5 engaging interview questions to use in the volunteer spotlight feature for our social justice nonprofit’s website.”

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..."I'm planning a fundraiser for 200 people supporting my nonprofit that focuses on creating and maintaining access to clean and safe drinking water. Suggest some ideas for the event.”
  • “Draft an email template for the first idea to send to event attendees encouraging donations.”
  • “Now create a 4-week promotional timeline for this idea with a mix of online and offline outreach tactics.”

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

• “That feels too sentimental, can you tone it down a little in the blog post?”

Drive the conversation with data

If you have specific data available, include it in your prompts 

• "Revise the social posts promoting our mentorship program to mention that 90% of participants graduate high school"

Fact-check: Always verify information – especially statistics or suggested legal language – before using Gemini's output by conducting your own research outside of Gemini.

 

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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 Gemini. 

For most examples, you can revise the prompts with details related to your nonprofit to provide context for Gemini. For example, in the first grant writing prompt, you could replace the nonprofit’s mission with your own nonprofit’s mission. You can also type follow-up prompts in Gemini when you want to revise or refine the output. You will find some examples of follow-up prompts in the prompt library.

Fundraising

Grant Writing

• “Synthesize the key points in this grant description to focus on the funder's specific interests and priorities.” Now copy/paste the language from the grant description into the chat, include the link to the website, or upload the relevant file.
• “Our nonprofit is applying for a grant from [funder]. Extract the top 3 focus areas of importance to this funder using only the information from their website: [include URL]”

Donor Engagement

• “List different ways to thank nonprofit donors, including personalized letters and creative social media shout-outs”.
• “Outline strategies for increasing donor retention rates for a nonprofit”. 
• “Write 3 compelling subject lines for an email requesting donations to help our nonprofit protect marine wildlife.” --- “Thanks, that’s great. Now write an email requesting a donation from a person who has contributed to this cause in the past.”
• “Outline a story arc for a fundraising campaign for a nonprofit that works to improve the lives of people affected by autism. Have the story arc build urgency and motivate giving.”
• “Generate concepts for a monthly giving campaign to increase recurring donations to help people and their caregivers deal with the impact of Alzhemier’s disease.”

• “Act as an experienced Fundraising Director. Draft a short email template to re-engage donors in Q4 who haven't given in the past year. The goal is to highlight our workforce development wins without being intrusive..”
• “Outline a social media campaign to promote a matching gift challenge grant for a youth leadership nonprofit. Emphasize how donations will be doubled.”

Fundraising Ideas & Events

• “Share creative, low-cost grassroots fundraising ideas for our small nonprofit that helps seniors in our community.”
• “Our nonprofit is hosting a 5K fundraiser for lymphoma research. Generate ideas for a social media promotion targeting fitness enthusiasts in Louisville, KY.”
• “Act as a Project Manager. Suggest three distinct themes for a local job fair targeting 50 local employers."
  1. “I like the 'Community Impact' theme. Now, draft an invitation email for local renewable small business leaders to attend as exhibitors.”
  2.  “Now, create a 4-week promotional timeline to recruit job seekers for this specific fair, including social media and email tactics."

Program Management

Program Management

• “Identify 3-4 key metrics to track the success of a nonprofit youth education program. For each metric, suggest the best data collection tool (e.g., pre/post-survey, attendance log, interview template) and explain the relevance of each.”
• “Act as a Strategic Partnerships Director. List factors our disaster relief nonprofit should consider when evaluating a potential partnership with another organization or business. Format the output as a bulleted checklist categorized by risk and benefit. We need to ensure rapid response alignment and shared values during crisis situations.”
• “Suggest anonymous and non-anonymous ways to gather feedback from the people our animal rescue nonprofit programs serve.”
• “Provide tips for effective time management for our small nonprofit team with many competing priorities.”

Program and Impact Reporting

• "List the essential sections of an annual report for a nonprofit that focuses on the protection of our local wildlife in [city/state/country]. Format the output as a table with columns for Section Title, Key Metric to Include, and Target Audience."
• "Act as a Program Director. Draft the outline and two main paragraphs for a 'weekly update on local job placement / hiring trends report. Use a professional, analytical tone and incorporate the following three data points [Paste data points]."

Volunteer Management

• “Act as a Volunteer Coordinator. Suggest some locations where our nonprofit could effectively advertise volunteer opportunities. Present the ideas as a categorized list (e.g., online platforms, community centers, universities). We provide arts programs and services in [state] and need localized, high-impact suggestions."
• “Explain what a comprehensive volunteer onboarding process for a nonprofit that works with youth should include.”
• “List low-cost ideas for expressing appreciation to animal shelter volunteers and keeping them motivated.”
• “Suggest some strategies for nonprofits to find and utilize volunteers with specialized skills (graphic design, legal, etc.).”
• “Act as a Volunteer Coordinator. Design a survey to help match volunteers' skills and interests with our program needs. Provide the output as a list of 10 multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Our nonprofit advances helpful practices for work and life, so the questions should gauge their professional backgrounds, practical skills, and availability."

Marketing

Marketing

• "Act as a Nonprofit Communications Director. Generate 5 attention-grabbing hooks. We are running a social media campaign advocating for public education, and the tone needs to be urgent yet inspiring."
• “Act as a Professional Commercial Photographer. Create a vector illustration of an upward facing arrow. The style should be photorealistic with soft lighting and a 16:9 aspect ratio. This is for a newsletter raising awareness about a fund for upskilling bootcamps to increase entry-level job placements, so the mood should be hopeful." —“Change the color grading to include more blue tones in the images.:
• “Suggest a good balance of content types (updates, impact stories, calls to action, etc.) for our nonprofit’s monthly donor newsletter supporting funding for musicians.”
• “Suggest visually compelling ways to represent our early literacy nonprofit in social media posts or campaign videos.”
• "Act as a Volunteer Engagement Specialist. Draft 5 engaging interview questions. These will be used in the volunteer spotlight feature for our nonprofit’s website, so the questions should encourage storytelling and reflection."
  • OR: With Gems, you can create specific and repeatable instructions for Gemini to follow. You can turn this prompt into a custom "Gem" pre-loaded with the instruction: "Your goal is to draft volunteer interview questions that align with the provided volunteer opportunity." See instructions for how to create Gem here.

Learn more about the features available to nonprofits via Google Workspace for Nonprofits, and nonprofit-specific discounts for Google Workspace Business and Enterprise editions.