It’s 4:47 PM on Friday. Your boss just texted that the committee vote has been moved up to Monday, and she needs an action alert sent out to your 41,000 volunteers … tonight. What if that email could be 80% written in under 5 minutes?
This is what AI can do for you. According to Quorum’s 2025 State Government Affairs Survey, a majority (53.8 percent) of government affairs professionals now use AI in their work. But 46% still aren’t using it, with 27% reporting they’re “cautious and unsure” about it.
Using AI is no more difficult than conducting a Google search. And by writing a comprehensive prompt that gives AI what it needs, you can churn out great results in minutes. Think of it like having a brilliant junior writer, only much, much faster.
Here are the six elements your AI prompt needs to generate advocacy emails your volunteers will open, read and act on.
1. ROLE: Cast AI in the Perfect Part
Think of AI like an actor. You need to assign it the role you want it to play. The more detailed persona you provide, the better job it will do writing from that perspective. Don’t just say “write an email.” Tell AI who it should be when writing that message.
Example:
“As the grassroots director of the We Love Science Society, you are a nonprofit email marketing expert with 25 years of experience writing advocacy emails to tens of thousands of volunteers. Your highly compelling content regularly results in record levels of advocacy engagement, helping convince state and federal lawmakers to support monumental legislation that funds science fairs.”
2. TASK: Be Specific About What You Want
Think of AI like a teenager. You need to tell it very specifically what you want it to do. If you ask a teenager to “take out the trash,” they might do it next week. If you want it taken out right away, you need to say, “please take the trash cans to the curb tonight.” The same principle applies to AI prompts.
Example:
“Write an email to our 41,000 science-loving volunteers directing them to send a message to their members of Congress asking lawmakers to increase funding for science fairs in the federal budget. Don’t use legislative jargon like ‘appropriations bill’ since our volunteers won’t know what that means. The email should include a link to our action center which will allow volunteers to complete the action. All they need to do is enter their contact information and our system will automatically send the pre-written message to their lawmakers. I also want to ask volunteers to personalize the message by adding a note explaining why they love science or how a science fair changed their life. The goal is to generate at least 6,000 actions within 48 hours.”
3. AUDIENCE: Define Your Volunteers
Think like a witness to a crime and go beyond whether the person was tall or short to provide a detailed sketch of your audience. The more AI understands who you’re writing to, the better it can tailor the message and tone.
Example:
“Most of our volunteers are between the ages of 30 and 65, so try to avoid cultural references that might be unknown to specific generations. They are high school science teachers, college science professors, medical researchers, clinical scientists, lab technicians, and people who just get excited by science, even if it’s not part of their career. While the audience is diverse, they are typically well-educated, so write the email at a 12th-grade level. They typically take action within 48 hours of receiving our emails, prefer concrete examples over abstract concepts, and respond well to personal stories about how science benefits real people.”
4. TONE: Be Deliberate About Emotions
Think like a therapist and be very deliberate about the tone of your message, including what emotions you want to elicit through your writing. Should volunteers feel urgency? Hopeful? Angry? Empowered? Tell AI exactly the emotional journey you want to create.
Example:
“While this funding is a serious issue, it’s not life or death. It’s about creating opportunities for kids and adults to participate in science projects that spark lifelong curiosity. The email should convey the important role this funding plays in improving science education and leading more boys and girls into science careers. It should show enthusiasm and opportunity, and make volunteers feel like their actions really matter in gaining the funding and helping spark kids’ interest in science. Avoid being preachy or overly academic. Don’t use fear-based messaging. Focus instead on the positive impact their actions will have. Your writing style is conversational yet urgent.”
5. FORMAT: Provide Detailed Specifications
Think like an architect and provide detailed specifications for your email. Don’t just tell AI to build a house. Let it know the features and characteristics you want in your new home. For email, that includes length, structure, paragraph guidelines, etc. The more specific you are, the more usable the first AI draft will be.
Example:
“The email should be no longer than 300 words. Each paragraph should be a maximum of two sentences. The first paragraph should be very short, exciting and grab the attention of the volunteer so they want to keep reading. Be sure the action request is in the top half of the email because our volunteers don’t typically read long emails. Include one clear call-to-action. The email should be signed by me and include a P.S. that repeats the action request with another link to the action.”
6. BACKGROUND: Give Just Enough Context
Think like a prosecutor, providing the necessary evidence and context to win the case without confusing the jury. You want to give AI the essential information it needs without overwhelming it with unnecessary details. Include key facts, organizational background and information about the specific issue.
Example:
“The We Love Science Society is a 41,000-member nonprofit founded in 1993 that advocates for science education funding. Our volunteers include both science professionals and enthusiastic amateurs who believe that creating an early love of science leads to more kids pursuing science careers. This campaign focuses on federal funding for science fairs and educational programs that have been proven to increase the number of high school students who pursue a college education, raise the self-esteem of kids who aren’t good at sports, and expand the pipeline of future scientists, advancing our country’s scientific capabilities. Last year, federal funding benefited more than 800,000 students, providing them with hands-on science experiences. Recent budget proposals have threatened to cut this funding by 15%, which would impact over 2,000 schools nationwide.”
BONUS: Take Questions
Ask AI if it has any questions about your request. This simple act often helps AI clarify details that will improve the final output.
Example:
“Do you have any questions? Before you start writing, ask me any questions that would help you create stronger content.”
You’re Not Done Yet
Using these six steps will allow AI to generate a great initial draft of your email. But it won’t be perfect. This is where you, the human, need to step in. Provide feedback on the draft to AI and ask it to refine specific phrases and formatting, and to write a second, third or even fourth draft. It will learn from your feedback, making AI even more knowledgeable and effective the next time you use it. You’ll eventually reach the point where it’s time for you to provide some final polish to finish it off.
Don’t Start From Scratch: Save, Refine and Reuse Your Prompt
You don’t need to write an entirely new prompt every time you want AI to create content for you. Making ongoing enhancements to your original prompt will allow AI to generate content that gets closer to a final draft. Create a master prompt template that includes your standard role, audience and format descriptions. For each new assignment, you’ll only need to focus on customizing the task, tone and background sections.
It’s time to break through the fear and embrace AI in your grassroots work. These six steps will help you create AI prompts that generate advocacy emails your volunteers will open, read and act on. Your productivity will skyrocket, your content quality will improve, and yes, you’ll get to enjoy that Friday night out.
Brian Rubenstein, founder of Rubenstein Impact Group, helps nonprofit organizations build powerful grassroots programs by increasing volunteer engagement in advocacy campaigns and developing sustainable volunteer leadership programs. You can follow him on LinkedIn at in/brianrubenstein and contact him at [email protected].