When the "AI prompt" shifts from a general phrase to a precise directive, everything changes: the quality of outputs, the speed of editing, and even the communication team's ability to adjust messages without losing their identity. In this article, we present to you a practical summary for writing better prompts that yield more accurate and usable results, based on an article published in Nonprofit Marketing Guide titled "Tips for Writing Better AI Prompts: A Guide for Nonprofit Communicators." This content is presented for informational purposes, with full literary rights retained by the author and the publishing entity, along with an Arabic translation to assist workers in the nonprofit sector in applying the idea directly.

Writing an excellent prompt or request is the key to obtaining the best results from generative AI. What is meant by "prompt and request" is the request you write when using generative AI.

There are several different types of AI prompts, including:

Creative: When you ask the AI to create or compose.

Informational: When you request details, facts, or other information.

Reasoning: When you ask the AI to draw thoughtful conclusions about a topic.

Listicle: When you request results in list format.

Instructional: When you ask for results in the form of a step-by-step guide.

Differing Viewpoints: When you ask the AI to adopt the opposing side in a discussion (noting that the AI does not actually have an "opinion").

Summary: When you request a summary of a larger amount of information.

Keyword: When you ask the AI to focus on specific words or phrases and incorporate them into the results.

If you've tried using generative AI like ChatGPT but aren't satisfied with the results you're getting, it might be time to improve the prompts/requests you write.

Writing Better AI Prompts

Use these tips to write better AI prompts that give you better results:

Provide as much context as possible

Be specific and detailed

Explain what you want to achieve

Specify the platform where the content will be published

Define the tone/style (and actually use it)

Specify the desired length

Request more than one result

When writing your prompts for AI, be as specific and detailed as possible. Provide as much context as possible, including: where the content will be published, what the desired length should be, and what tone/style you want. Be sure to use that tone and style even within the prompt itself; as AI pays attention to everything you input.

For example, instead of just saying: "I need a blog post about safety while hiking," your prompt should be closer to:

I need a 400 to 500-word article written in a friendly, informal tone about the dangers of hiking the Pacific Coast Trail in the summer. Make it in a "top 10" list format. Target audience: People in their thirties.

The second prompt will yield more detailed and relevant results, meaning you won’t have to put in much effort to edit the text later, and feel free to refine and enhance the prompt based on the results you receive. Don't forget to request more than one result, especially if you're using AI to suggest email subject lines or headlines.

And if you don’t like the content the AI returned, follow up with a prompt that clarifies what you liked and didn’t like about the results, and if you didn’t like the tone, give an example of a text written in that tone and ask it to try again.

Think of generative AI as a freelancer, and give it the same type of feedback you would give to a graphic designer. In the end, it's just a "dialogue" but remember:

Review everything twice! Harmful content, racial bias, copyright violations, and misinformation are all real issues, and if your organization doesn’t have an AI policy, start by developing one first! And yes, I confirm that Pass Holders have access to the AI policy webinar and its templates.

AI is here to stay whether you like it or not and can be a useful tool in your content creation process if used correctly.

But the value of AI should not be measured by what it writes for you, but by how you know to ask for it, and every line you add to the prompt is an investment in accuracy, time, and consistency of your organization's voice, so I advise you to start with a clear context, define the goal, platform, tone, length, and request more than one option, and then review and validate before relying on it.

This translation is provided for informational purposes and is non-exclusive, while retaining literary rights to the original source, and the responsibility for final use remains with your team to ensure professional safety, compliance, and content quality.