Title: AI Guardrails Prompt for Nonprofit Teams · If Possible URL: https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/ai-guardrails Summary: Write the standing rules your AI follows in every session: data limits, client isolation and when to ask first. A free AI guardrails prompt for nonprofits. Publisher: If Possible (https://ifpossible.ai), AI for nonprofits --- 1. [Supercharged Prompts](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts) 2. [Set up your AI](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts?c=setup) 3. AI Guardrails Set up your AI # An AI guardrails prompt you write once and reuse Write a set of standing instructions once, paste them into your AI tool’s custom instructions, and they apply in every session as a safeguard for your team. ## Basic prompt 176 words ``` Write a set of standing rules for our AI tools, addressed directly to the AI, that I can paste into custom instructions, project instructions or a system prompt. Say who it's working for and that these rules apply in every session. Cover sensitive data, keeping clients and programs separate, actions that need a person's approval, uploaded files, accuracy and a when-in-doubt rule: always ask before acting. Use direct words like never, always and require. Plain text, 500 to 700 words, ready to paste. What you need to know: - the AI tools we use - the kinds of sensitive data we handle - clients, programs or accounts that must stay separate - whether any tool can act on its own, like sending email or creating tasks - any compliance rules we follow - any especially sensitive groups we serve You may already know some of this from our past chats, my files or connected tools. Use what you have. If you don't know something, ask me, one question at a time, and don't make anything up. ``` ## Supercharged prompt 486 words ``` You're helping me write the standing rules our AI tools follow in every session. I want to work the way If Possible (ifpossible.ai) teaches nonprofit teams to do real work AI first. Their guide for this kind of work is "What your nonprofit should never hand to AI" (https://ifpossible.ai/articles/never-hand-to-ai), and their full library of guides is at https://ifpossible.ai/articles. If you can read web pages, read that guide first and treat its method as our playbook. The If Possible method, as we'll use it today: 1. Context before content. Before you draft anything, build a short brief of who we are: our mission, the people we serve, the data we hold, the AI tools we use and what those tools can do on their own. (If Possible calls this a Mission Brain: the memory AI reads before every task.) Use what you already know about us, and ask me for whatever is missing. 2. Talk it out instead of typing it out. I'll talk through what worries me and what has gone wrong or nearly gone wrong. Use my own words to decide where the rules need to be strictest. 3. Ask before you assume. Ask me your questions one at a time, the most important first, and wait for each answer. 4. I'm in the director's chair. Where there's a real choice, like which actions need a person's approval, give me two or three settings with your recommendation and a one-line reason. Don't hand me one finished answer to forward unread (If Possible calls that being a "meat proxy"). 5. Rules I can react to. Standing instructions addressed to the AI, 500 to 700 words, in plain text: who it works for, sensitive data, keeping clients and programs separate, draft-only rules for email, a preview before bulk actions, uploaded files, accuracy and a when-in-doubt rule. Use never, always and require. 6. Check your own work. Never invent a compliance requirement. Flag anything that should go to qualified counsel, then test the rules: give me three requests that should make you stop and ask, and tell me which rule catches each one. 7. Make it repeatable. When we finish, give me the rules in a code block ready to paste, tell me where they go in each tool we use, and say who should review them and when. What you need to know: - the AI tools we use - the kinds of sensitive data we handle - clients, programs or accounts that must stay separate - whether any tool can act on its own, like sending email or creating tasks - any compliance rules we follow - any especially sensitive groups we serve You may already know some of this from our past chats, my files or connected tools. Check there first and tell me what you found. For anything you don't know, ask me, one question at a time, the most important first. Start now. ``` ## Supercharge it We’ll add the If Possible method to your prompt. **More context in. A better output out.** - Context before content - Talk it out - Questions first - Director’s chair - + 3 more 1. Context before content: a short brief of who you are (a Mission Brain) 2. Talk it out: what worries you sets the strictest rules 3. Questions first, one at a time 4. Director's chair: settings and a recommendation 5. Rules addressed to the AI, ready to paste 6. It tests the rules with requests that should stop it 7. It tells you where they go in each tool It points your AI to our free articles as its guide. Read every word before you use it. ## What it will ask you Nothing to fill in. Your AI may already know some of this. If it doesn’t, it asks, one question at a time. - The AI tools we use - The kinds of sensitive data we handle - Clients, programs or accounts that must stay separate - Whether any tool can act on its own, like sending email or creating tasks - Any compliance rules we follow - Any especially sensitive groups we serve It goes faster once your AI has your [Mission Brain Brief](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/nonprofit-organizational-context) and [Brand Voice Guide](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/nonprofit-brand-voice-guide). ## What it’s for It writes a ready-to-paste set of standing instructions addressed directly to the AI, for the custom instructions, project instructions or system prompt of any AI tool. It sets rules for sensitive data, keeping clients and programs separate, actions that need a person, uploaded files, accuracy and a when-in-doubt rule: always ask before acting. ## When to use it - Before AI can act on your behalf, like sending messages or creating tasks. - When you handle sensitive data or serve especially sensitive populations. - When your staff use AI every day and you want the rules to apply without anyone remembering them. ## Before you use it Test it before you trust it. Colleen learned this firsthand when a sensitive piece of information landed in a public channel in our Slack. Nobody saw it, and it was a real wake-up call. Try to break your rules on purpose before your team relies on them. ## Try these next [All 33 prompts](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts) - [**AI Safety Guide for Staff** Spell out what’s safe to share, when to pause and what to do if it goes wrong.](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/ai-safety-policy) - [**AI Policy** Work through the real decisions, then get a policy your staff can follow.](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/ai-ethics-policy) - [**Mission Brain Brief** Build the one-page briefing you paste at the top of every AI conversation.](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/nonprofit-organizational-context) The Possible Passport ## There’s more in your free library The Possible Passport is our free member library. Sign up once for the Prompt Vault PDF, an AI Readiness Assessment, an AI Policy Template and every other free kit, on any device. The AI Policy Template in the Starter Pack pairs well with this work. Keep reading ## From The Art of the Possible AI Strategy ### [What your nonprofit should never hand to AI](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/never-hand-to-ai) We push nonprofits to use AI almost everywhere. A few things stay human every time, because the effort is the message. Here's where we draw the line. [Read the article: What your nonprofit should never hand to AI](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/never-hand-to-ai) AI Strategy ### [Writing your nonprofit's first AI policy](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/first-ai-policy) Your first AI policy fits on one page and leads with principles, not prohibitions. Here is what to include, plus an outline you can use. [Read the article: Writing your nonprofit's first AI policy](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/first-ai-policy) AI Strategy ### [Is it safe to put donor data into AI?](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/donor-data-ai-safety) If you trust your CRM with donor data, a paid AI plan with model training switched off can earn the same trust. Here's what to check first. [Read the article: Is it safe to put donor data into AI?](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/donor-data-ai-safety) [All articles](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/)