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A donor retention prompt that shows who is at risk

Give it your giving data and get back which segments are at risk, why, and three things you can do this week.

Basic prompt

168 words
Analyze our donor giving data and show me where we're losing people. If I give you a file, run the numbers on the file and show your work. Tell me which segments are most at risk and why, the early warning signs, three things we can do this week, three changes to our stewardship and what to track from now on. Name segments and timelines, and mark anything you inferred. You don't need donor names for this, so tell me if a file holds more than you need.

What you need to know:
- our giving data: an export or a summary by segment
- what worries me most: overall retention, major donors, recurring donors or first-time donors
- how we define a lapsed donor
- what stewardship we do now

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

415 words
You're helping me find where we're losing donors and what to do about it this week. 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 "Is it safe to put donor data into AI?" (https://ifpossible.ai/articles/donor-data-ai-safety), 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, how we define our donor segments, what stewardship we do now and what we've already tried. (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 I'm seeing and what worries me. Use my own words to decide where to look first.

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. Give me two or three places to focus first, 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. A scan I can react to. Which segments are at highest risk and why, early warning signs, three things to do this week, three changes to our stewardship and what to track from now on.

6. Check your own work. Run the numbers on the data and show your work. Mark anything you inferred, and tell me if the file holds more personal detail than this job needs.

7. Make it repeatable. When we finish, write down the steps and the metrics, so we can run this scan again.

What you need to know:
- our giving data: an export or a summary by segment
- what worries me most: overall retention, major donors, recurring donors or first-time donors
- how we define a lapsed donor
- what stewardship we do now

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 decides where it looks
  3. Questions first, one at a time
  4. Director's chair: places to focus and a recommendation
  5. A scan with three things to do this week
  6. It runs real numbers and shows its work
  7. It saves the metrics so you can run it again

It points your AI to our free articles as its guide. Read every word before you use it.

What it’s for

It turns raw giving data into a retention action plan with five parts: a risk assessment by segment, early warning signs, three immediate actions, three changes to your stewardship and what to track going forward. Give it a file and it runs the numbers.

When to use it

  • Retention is slipping and you’re not sure where.
  • You have an export or summary of giving data and no time to dig through it.
  • You want to act this week, not next quarter.

Before you use it

Before donor data goes in, check three things: your AI plan’s training opt-out, its SOC 2 Type 2 certification and your own AI policy. Treat anything marked inferred as a question to test, not a fact.

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