Study Guide: Alex for Nonprofit Leaders
Your reference for using Alex in mission-driven organizations. Ready-to-run prompts for fundraising, programs, communications, and impact reporting.
What This Guide Is Not
This is not a habit formation guide (see Self-Study Guide for that). This is a nonprofit leadership toolkit — the specific ways Alex can help you do more with less, and communicate your mission with greater power.
Core Principle for Nonprofit Leaders
Nonprofit work is about maximizing impact per dollar while staying true to mission. Alex’s highest value is in the work that takes time but not specialized expertise: drafting grants, writing donor communications, building board materials. The time you save is time returned to the mission.
The key pattern: ground everything in impact. Numbers served, lives changed, outcomes achieved. Alex can help you tell these stories, but the evidence must be real.
The Seven Use Cases
1. Grant Writing
When to use: Responding to RFPs, writing grant applications, building the funding case.
Prompt pattern:
Help me write a grant application:
Funder: [who you're applying to]
Grant focus: [what they fund]
Our program: [what we're proposing]
Population served: [who benefits]
Outcomes: [expected results with data]
Budget: [amount requested, what it funds]
Write a narrative that:
1. Aligns our work to their priorities
2. Describes the problem with compelling evidence
3. Explains our approach and why it works
4. Makes the outcomes concrete and measurable
5. Demonstrates our organizational credibility
Follow-up prompts:
Make the need statement more compelling.
Our evaluation data is thin. How do I address that honestly?
What questions will the program officer ask in a site visit?
2. Donor Communication
When to use: Fundraising appeals, donor stewardship, major gift cultivation.
Prompt pattern:
Help me write donor communication:
Type: [appeal letter / thank you / impact report / cultivation]
Audience: [new donors / major donors / lapsed donors]
Our story: [what's happening right now in the work]
Ask: [amount, project, or deadline]
Tone: [urgent / warm / celebratory / grateful]
Create communication that:
1. Opens with a human story, not statistics
2. Connects the donor's gift to real impact
3. Makes the ask at the right moment
4. Is honest about challenges
5. Makes the donor feel like a partner, not an ATM
Follow-up prompts:
A major donor is lapsing. Write a personal reconnection note.
Write an end-of-year appeal for [specific campaign].
Create the impact report section on [program].
3. Program Design and Evaluation
When to use: Designing interventions, building logic models, evaluating outcomes.
Prompt pattern:
Help me design/evaluate this program:
Phase: [design / mid-implementation / post-program]
Population: [who you're serving]
Problem: [root cause you're addressing]
Intervention: [what you're doing]
Resources: [staff, budget, timeline]
Help me:
1. Build a logic model (inputs → activities → outputs → outcomes)
2. Identify the key assumptions we're making
3. Design appropriate evaluation metrics
4. Find unintended consequences to watch for
5. Assess if we're addressing root cause or symptom
Follow-up prompts:
Our outcomes data is weak. What can we still say credibly?
A funder wants cost-per-outcome. How do I calculate and present it?
Help me design a simple feedback system to hear from participants.
4. Board Relations and Governance
When to use: Board materials, governance issues, board development.
Prompt pattern:
Help me with board relations:
Topic: [what you're presenting or addressing]
Board composition: [sophistication level, engagement]
Decision needed: [if any]
Context: [any tensions or history to be aware of]
Create:
1. Board report with clear metrics and narrative
2. Decision memo with recommendation
3. Talking points for sensitive discussions
4. Questions to generate productive board conversation
Follow-up prompts:
A board member is micromanaging operations. How do I address it?
We need to recruit new board members. Write the cultivation script.
The board is complacent. How do I re-energize them?
5. Advocacy and Policy
When to use: Policy briefs, legislative testimony, public comment, coalition building.
Prompt pattern:
Help me make this policy case:
Issue: [what you're advocating for/against]
Audience: [legislators / regulators / media / public]
Evidence: [data and stories that support your position]
Counterarguments: [what opponents say]
Ask: [what you want them to do]
Create:
1. Policy brief with evidence-based argument
2. Talking points for meetings
3. Responses to likely objections
4. Personal stories that humanize the issue
5. A call to action
Follow-up prompts:
Translate this into language a state legislator can use.
Write public comment for the regulatory proceeding on [issue].
How do I find common ground with stakeholders who oppose us?
6. Communications and Storytelling
When to use: Annual reports, website copy, social media, media relations.
Prompt pattern:
Help me communicate our mission:
Audience: [who needs to understand our work]
Medium: [annual report / website / press release / social]
Stories we have: [real beneficiary stories, anonymized as needed]
Key message: [what we want them to understand]
Create content that:
1. Leads with human impact, not organizational achievements
2. Is honest about both progress and challenges
3. Inspires action or support
4. Is accessible to non-expert audiences
5. Respects the dignity of the people we serve
Follow-up prompts:
Write the "About Us" section for our website.
Turn this case study into a two-minute story for a presentation.
We had a setback. How do I communicate it honestly without losing donor confidence?
7. Strategic Planning
When to use: Multi-year planning, mission clarity, organizational direction.
Prompt pattern:
Help me with strategic planning:
Phase: [environmental scan / goal setting / implementation]
Organization size: [staff, budget]
Current strategy: [where you're focused]
What's changing: [in need, funding landscape, or community]
Tensions: [any internal disagreements about direction]
Help me:
1. Structure the planning process
2. Identify the strategic questions we must answer
3. Facilitate the hard conversations
4. Build a plan that staff and board will own
5. Define what success looks like in 3 years
Follow-up prompts:
We're trying to do too much. Help me find the strategic focus.
The old strategy isn't working. How do I lead a pivot?
Write the strategic plan executive summary.
Practice Progression
Week 1: Draft a grant narrative section using the prompts.
Week 2: Write a donor communication using the framework.
Week 3: Build a logic model for a current program.
Week 4: Prepare board materials for the next meeting.
What Great Looks Like
After consistent use, you should notice:
- Stronger grant applications with less time spent
- More compelling donor communications
- Clearer program design and evaluation
- More confident board and funder presentations
The goal isn’t for Alex to lead your organization — it’s for Alex to give you time back for the work that only you can do.
Note on Mission Alignment
Always keep beneficiary dignity central:
- Anonymize client stories appropriately
- Avoid “poverty porn” in storytelling
- Center the voices and agency of communities served
- Use AI to scale your capacity, not replace authentic relationships
Your mission is what makes this work matter.