Prompts
Ask a donor for more time with no extra money
Produces a short extension request built only from the facts you supply, with no apology paragraph and no promise you did not make.
What may go into it: Only after identifying details are removed
The prompt
Answer in [ANSWER LANGUAGE], even if the material below is in another language. Write a short message asking a donor to extend a grant with no additional funds. Use only the facts below. Rules: 1. No apology paragraph. State the position once and do not repeat it. 2. Never promise anything that is not in the facts below. Do not add an activity, an output, a date or a figure. 3. Where the message needs a figure, a date or a reference I have not given you, write [I MUST FILL THIS IN] and carry on. 4. Give the reason in one factual sentence. No blame and no dramatic language. 5. Under 250 words. Short sentences. One request, stated plainly. Give me, in this order: A. The message, with a subject line, and inside it, in this order: what is complete, what is not complete and why in one sentence, the new end date, what will be delivered by that date, and what changes in the workplan. B. A list of every [I MUST FILL THIS IN] you wrote, so I can complete it. C. What to check in the grant agreement before I send this, as a short list: the notice period, who has to sign, and whether the donor requires a formal amendment request instead of a message. The facts: What is complete: [LIST WHAT IS FINISHED] What is not complete: [LIST WHAT IS NOT FINISHED] The reason, in one sentence: [WRITE THE REASON] Current end date: [DATE AS WRITTEN IN THE AGREEMENT] New end date requested: [NEW DATE] What will be delivered by the new end date: [LIST WHAT WILL BE DELIVERED] What changes in the workplan: [LIST WHAT CHANGES]
Opens a new chat in that tool with this prompt already typed in. Fill in every box first, and read the line at the top about what may go into it.
15 minutes · Gives you a message to send · Works on a phone · How much to paste at once: Keep each fact to one or two lines, because this prompt needs no long paste. If the message stops before the new end date, or section B is missing, ask for the rest before you edit anything.
Read the answer against the checks below before you use it in anything that leaves your organisation.
What to fill in
- Write the language the donor reads into [ANSWER LANGUAGE], for example Arabic or English.
- Fill [LIST WHAT IS FINISHED] and [LIST WHAT IS NOT FINISHED] with activities and outputs, and no participant names.
- Fill [WRITE THE REASON] with one factual sentence you are willing to have quoted back to you.
- Copy [DATE AS WRITTEN IN THE AGREEMENT] and [NEW DATE] from the agreement itself, not from memory.
- Fill [LIST WHAT WILL BE DELIVERED] and [LIST WHAT CHANGES] from your own workplan.
Before you trust the answer
- Read the message against your own facts. Delete any deliverable, date or figure you did not write yourself.
- Complete every [I MUST FILL THIS IN] before sending. Never send a message with a bracket left in it.
- Check the notice period in the agreement first. A request sent too late is refused on the date, whatever the wording.
When it goes wrong
It will add a deliverable you never promised, most often a final report or an extra workshop, phrased as though you had offered it.
Tools this is written for
Written 2026-09-01Nobody has run this prompt in this language yet, so read the answer twice.
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
Where to go next
- The task this belongs toGrants and admin
- Staying safeClassify the material first
Written forGrants and operationsDirector or leadership