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Write a grant's statement of need with current, cited numbers
Practice: Keeping the AI to your sources. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
A foundation's application asks for a statement of need, 120 words max. Use exactly two statistics, both from the most recent sources in your notes, and name each source in the sentence. Skip emotional adjectives ('heartbreaking', 'desperate', 'devastating', 'tragic'), and end with the one sentence on what your program does about it. Write a prompt that gets that answer.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 120 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part: "4 sentences, each under 25 words."
- Using every number. The AI piles in all the stats, including the old 2018 and 2019 ones. Try: Say it: "Use exactly two stats, both from 2024 sources."
- Unsourced numbers. AI drops numbers in without saying where they came from, which reviewers distrust. Try: Add: "Name the source of each statistic in the same sentence."
- Pulling heartstrings. Asked for need, AI reaches for "heartbreaking" and "devastating", which reads as fluff. Try: Add: "No emotional adjectives. End with what our program does."
What a strong prompt includes
- Sets a word limit
- Limits the statistics
- Uses current sources
- Asks for sources
- Bans emotional language
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