Turn Prompts into AI Assistants: CustomGPTs for Fundraisers

Ever wish you could clone yourself on Monday morning?

In this mini-episode, I’ll show you how to turn your favorite prompts into something far more powerful: CustomGPTs—personalized AI assistants trained on your best fundraising language and strategy.

You’ll learn how to build three fundraisers’ essentials:
• An Email Writer that drafts thank-you notes, follow-ups, and appeals
• A Board Report Builder that turns CRM data into clear, mission-driven insights
• A Prospect Profile Generator that compiles ethical, actionable donor briefs

And here’s the key: we’ll also walk through how to keep them fresh with a simple weekly reset. In just two focused hours a week, your AI tools stay sharp and strategic—so you spend less time retyping and more time fundraising.

Whether you’re brand new to ChatGPT or already experimenting with prompts, this episode gives you the clarity and confidence to start using AI as a real partner in your work.

🎓 Ready to build your first CustomGPT?
Join my new digital course: The Fundraiser’s AI Starter Suite
🖱 Enroll now at letstalkfundraising.com/startersuite

Inside, you'll get:
• Bite-sized lessons (5–20 min each)
• Step-by-step builds of your first CustomGPTs
• Tools to protect donor data and write better prompts
• Lifetime access and all future updates

📌 Visit letstalkfundraising.com/startersuite to get started.

💡 Want to take the next small step?

→ Free Download: 12 Fundraising Prompts You'll Actually Use

→ Course: The Fundraiser's AI Starter Suite

Episode Transcript

Keith Greer, CFRE (00:00):
Hey there, my friend, I've got a mini episode
for you this week.
That's all about startingMondays with momentum instead of
deja vu.
We're taking the prompts we'veexplored over the past three
episodes and transforming theminto powerful custom GPTs.
And if you're new to customGPTs, don't worry.
I've got something special toshare at the end of the episode.
So let's dive in.

(00:22):
Do you ever start your Mondayswith that uneasy sense of deja
vu, wondering where did mymomentum from last week go?
Your inbox is overflowing, yourboard updates feel stale and
prospect research tabs multiplyagain.
Now imagine pressing play on aclearly defined system three
tailored AI assistants, updatedand ready to tackle emails,

(00:46):
board reports and donor profilesinstantly.
So let's talk fundraising.
Let's start by clarifyingsomething vital about
fundraising success Consistencymultiplies your results, and
consistency doesn't just meanrepeating tasks mindlessly.
It means creating systems thatreliably support your best

(01:08):
strategic work.
But let's get practical.
Fundraisers face the samechallenges every week crafting
impactful emails, deliveringclear and timely board updates
and producing insightful donorprofiles.
You already know AI shortcutscan dramatically streamline
these tasks.
But let's be honest withoutregular updates, even powerful

(01:30):
AI tools quickly become outdatedand unhelpful.
You've probably heard ofChatGPT.
Maybe you've even experimentedwith prompts to speed up your
workflow.
But here's the catch Genericprompts still require repeated
manual adjustments, eating upyour valuable time.
To truly unlock yourproductivity, you need tailored

(01:52):
AI assistants, tools custombuilt around your unique style,
donors and workflows.
These tailored AI assistantsare called custom GPTs and
they're game game changing forfundraisers.
Imagine having an AI trainedspecifically on your best emails
, your clearest board packetsummaries and your most
successful prospect researchmethods.

(02:14):
Every interaction becomesfaster, more accurate and
genuinely helpful.
But here's the key Custom GPTsneed regular refreshes to stay
effective.
But here's the key Custom GPTsneed regular refreshes to stay
effective, like sharpening yourfundraising toolkit every week.
Without consistent updates,your custom GPT can drift,
language becomes generic,references become outdated and

(02:35):
insights become stale.
Regular refreshes keep yourtools sharp, your donor
conversations fresh and yourtime freed up for strategic
engagement instead of therepetitive tasks.
So let's face the truthFundraisers who regularly update
and consistently use customGPTs dramatically outperform

(02:56):
those who don't.
Not because they work harder,but because their workflows are
reliably efficient.
Their donor conversations staydeeper, their board reports
remain sharper and theirprospect research is
consistently insightful.
Take a moment right now andreflect honestly.
How much time last week did youlose searching for previous

(03:17):
emails, rewriting board reportsor updating stale prospect
details.
That lost time isn't trivial.
It compounds weekly into hoursthat could have been spent
deepening donor relationships orrefining your strategies.
A weekly two-hour reset toupdate your custom GPTs isn't
administrative busy work.

(03:38):
It's strategic leverage.
It guarantees your AI stayscurrent, your fundraising
efforts stay focused and yourconversations remain
donor-centric rather thanadministration-heavy.
So today let's redefine yourweekly routine clearly and
practically, not around genericproductivity advice, but around

(03:59):
a strategic investment inbuilding and updating your own
custom GPTs.
Let's clarify exactly what acustom GPT is and how you'll use
it strategically each week.
A custom GPT is simply yourpersonal AI assistant,
specifically trained on yourbest content to replicate your
voice, clarity and insight.

(04:19):
It's like creating an AIversion of your most effective
workflows.
And here's the practicaloverview of how you set up and
maintain custom GPTs for threecritical areas.
With the email draft custom GPTwe talked about earlier this
month, the first thing you wantto do is create a custom GPT
trained on your most successfulemail responses.

(04:41):
Imagine having an AI assistantthat crafts replies exactly as
you would.
How do you do this?
What you need to know is thatyou want to upload samples of
your best performing emails,whether they're donor follow-ups
, acknowledgement updates, andthen each Monday, you want to do
a weekly refresh.
When you get in on Mondaymorning, feed the custom GPT

(05:03):
fresh examples from emails thatperformed well last week and
make sure to add these to yourknowledge files.
Regular updating ensures youremails remain personal, relevant
and highly effective.
You also want to update yourboard packet custom GPT.
Next, build your custom GPTtailored to your board reports,
trained to translate raw CRMdata into clear, impactful,

(05:27):
mission-driven insightsinstantly.
And you can start by uploadinga few examples of previous
high-performing board summaries,the ones that led your board to
take positive and decisiveaction.
Then we'll move forward bydoing our weekly refresh.
Update this custom GPT eachweek by feeding in your newest
CRM data and any new successfulsummaries.

(05:48):
This ensures each board reportstays consistently fresh,
strategic and aligned with yourmission.
We also want to make sure thatwe're updating our prospect
profile custom GPT and we wantto create a custom GPT
specifically for prospectresearch.
It quickly compiles concise,ethically sourced insights about

(06:09):
potential donors and then wetrain it with directions that
gave us successful past prospectprofiles that clearly
identified philanthropicalignment, career milestones and
giving interests.
And when it comes to the weeklyrefresh.
Each Monday, update yourprospect custom GPT by inputting
new directions or refinementsthat you had to implement in

(06:32):
last week's prospect research.
In practice, each Monday, youdedicate two protected hours to
refreshing your custom GPTs,ensuring every AI-driven output
stays sharp, actionable anddonor-centric.
This regular rhythm isn'tcomplicated or theoretical.
It's straightforward, strategicand proven to save hours every

(06:54):
week.
But let's talk honestly about ahidden fear that you might have
.
This structured custom GPTapproach feels rigid and
restrictive.
Maybe you're thinking I needflexibility and I deeply
understand that concern.
Fundraisers, we thrive onflexibility, adapting quickly to
donor needs and organizationalshifts.
Yet constant reactivity isn'ttrue flexibility.

(07:18):
It's chaos in disguise.
Reactivity keeps you stuck inrepetitive tasks, losing
strategic focus.
True flexibility requiresconsistent structures that free
your mental energy for strategicresponses, not repetitive
administration.
Think about your custom GPTsnot as rigid obligations, but as

(07:40):
a runway, clearly marked andconsistently maintained.
A structured runway doesn'tlimit a plane.
It lets it safely take off landand respond quickly when
conditions change.
Your custom GPTs create thatreliable runway, empowering you
with the flexibility to pivotstrategically without being
derailed by routine tasks.

(08:00):
The structured reset empowersyour creativity.
It doesn't restrict it.
When your foundationalprocesses are reliably managed,
you have the mental bandwidthfor deeper strategic thinking
and more impactful donorconversations.
Embracing regular custom GPTupdates isn't just about
workflow efficiency.
It shifts your entireprofessional experience from

(08:22):
chaotic reactivity to clearstrategic confidence.
This week, let yourself embracethis new clarity.
Invest two protected hours intobuilding and refreshing your
custom GPTs, knowing you'rereclaiming hours weekly,
sharpening your strategic focusand profoundly deepening your
donor relationships.

(08:43):
So today we've taken thepowerful prompts from our recent
episodes and supercharged themby turning each into practical,
reusable custom GPTs.
Now imagine having tailored AIassistance at your fingertips,
transforming your email outreach, your board reporting and your
prospect research from tedioustasks into strategic superpowers

(09:06):
.
Today we've transformed yourscattered AI prompts into three
powerful custom GPTs your emailwriter, your board report
builder and your prospectprofile generator.
Imagine starting every Mondayclearly organized and ready to
engage.
Donors report confidently toyour board and research
prospects in minutes, not hours.

(09:28):
And if you're thinking, keith,I love this, but how do I
actually build these tools?
Step by step, I've got yourback.
I'm excited to introduce myfirst ever digital course, the
Fundraiser's AI Starter Suite,designed specifically for busy
nonprofit professionals who wantpractical, hands-on AI skills

(09:48):
without all of the technicaloverwhelm.
This isn't your typical techtutorial In concise, practical
lessons, each just 5 to 20minutes, you'll master exactly
what you need to do.
Get set up quickly, whereyou'll select the right chat GPT
plan, confidently flip thosecritical privacy toggles and
protect donor data.

(10:09):
From day one, you'll learn howto write prompts that work.
You'll discover the anatomy ofgreat prompts.
Master iterative promptingtechniques like yes, and, and
critique this and use variablesto effortlessly personalize your
outreach.
Right away, you'll craftpolished donor emails faster
than ever.

(10:29):
And then master ChatGPT's besttools.
Explore ChatGPT's built-in webbrowsing, image and voice
features, immediately enhancingyour fundraising communications
with credible, timely statisticsand compelling visuals.
And then we'll build yourcustom GPTs.
Watch me build these three livecustom GPTs step by step your

(10:52):
email writer, your board reportbuilder and your prospect
profile generator.
You'll finish the course withat least one powerful custom GPT
ready for action.
And the best part, you getlifetime on-demand access so you
can revisit lessons anytime.
You need a refresher Plus.
As ChatGPT evolves, the coursewill update alongside it,

(11:15):
ensuring you always have thelatest tools and techniques.
And enrollment is open now.
Just visitletstalkfundraisingcom.
Forward slash starter suite orclick the link in today's show
notes to sign up and getimmediate access.
This course is your shortcut toturning AI confusion into
fundraising clarity.

(11:36):
Ready to supercharge yourproductivity and focus more on
the donor relationships thattruly matter, let's dive in.
I can't wait to see what you'llbuild.
Talk again real soon.