Plan a grant report backward from the funder's new deadline

About this exercise

You're the development coordinator writing the year-end report for a foundation grant. You want exactly 5 numbered lines in date order, each as date - step - owner, under 60 words, plain text. The funder extended the deadline, so count every step back from the new date using the lead times in your notes. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Counting from the old deadline. Jan 9 is at the top, so the AI counts back from it. Try: Add: "The deadline is now Jan 23. Count every step back from that."
• Doing the math loosely. The AI rounds to 'early January' instead of exact dates. Try: Add: "Give the exact date for each step."
• Dropping owners. The AI lists steps without who does them. Try: Add: "Each line: date - step - owner."
• Letting the AI add extras. The AI adds the photos and renewal as steps. Try: Add: "Only the report steps. Plain text, 5 numbered lines."
• Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 60 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 8 words."

What a strong prompt includes

• Says how many lines
• Uses the new deadline
• Counts back
• Shows the line shape
• Sets a word limit

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