A good GrantLink prompt names the records, the period, the audience, the evidence, and the output. It also tells Chat what not to guess. Use these patterns after you review the QuickBooks sync, allocations, budget, and program narrative.

Important: A prompt doesn't give Chat extra access, and it doesn't make the output correct. Chat can use only your organization's records, the tools available to it, the QuickBooks data from the last sync, and the files you attach. Review every report before it goes to a funder.

Before you write a prompt

Decide what you need:

Goal	Ask Chat to	Expected result
Check or explain data	Analyze or summarize	An answer in Chat, with no report created
Download rows of data	Export the exact scope	A download card with Download .xlsx and Download .csv buttons
Fill a funder's form	Prepare the Excel or PDF template saved on the grant for its reporting cycle	A prepared copy with field evidence. You can download it after you select Mark reviewed.
Build a designed report	Create a grant, initiative, or funder report	A Draft report and a live preview
Save a reviewed report as a file	Create a PDF	A Download PDF button in the chat

Web reports and their PDF export need a Professional, Enterprise, or agency plan, and each new report uses one of the plan's monthly report credits. Preparing an Excel or PDF template doesn't need a specific plan. Viewers can't send messages in Chat.

What to include in a prompt

A complete request answers these questions:

Scope: Which one grant, initiative, or funder is the report for?
Included grants: For an initiative or funder report, do you want current grants, all linked grants, or a custom list?
Period: What are the exact start and end dates?
Basis: Do you want period activity, inception-to-date amounts, or both?
Audience: Is the output for a funder, the board, your accountant, or internal staff?
Evidence: Which GrantLink data and attached documents support the content?
Output: Do you want an answer in Chat, a web report, a PDF, a funder template, an Excel file, or a CSV file?

Add clear limits, for example:

"Use exact dates, not an assumed calendar quarter."
"Label period amounts and inception-to-date amounts separately."
"Don't invent outcomes, variance explanations, certifications, or missing form fields."
"List missing information for staff to review."
"Keep internal allocation problems out of the funder report and list them in Chat instead."

Create a grant financial report

Create a Draft progress report for [Grant Name] covering [start date] through [end date]. Show period and inception-to-date budget versus actual by budget line, fund receipts, remaining balance, and variances greater than [threshold]. Put allocated transaction detail in an appendix. Use the latest synced GrantLink data, state the sync date, and list uncategorized or unresolved items in Chat instead of hiding them. Don't invent variance explanations.

Expected result: One Draft report for the grant, with a live preview. Check that the report belongs to the right grant and that the period matches the award.

Create a narrative progress report

Create a progress report for the funder of [Grant Name] covering [start date] through [end date]. Use the attached [program update name] for activities, outcomes, challenges, and next steps. Use GrantLink only for financial facts it supports. If the source doesn't support a beneficiary count, outcome, or explanation, leave a clearly labeled item for program staff to complete instead of guessing. Keep the narrative under [word count] words.

Attach the approved source in the same request. Chat can't work out program results from spending.

Create an initiative report

Create a program report for [Initiative Name] covering [start date] through [end date]. Include [current grants / all linked grants / this list of grants]. Show combined period and inception-to-date spending, and then show budget versus actual and receipts for each grant. Don't combine budget categories that don't match without explaining how you combined them. Before you create the report, list in Chat any grants you left out.

Chat calls a report for an initiative a "program report". By default, Chat includes current grants, which are the linked grants with an Awarded, Active, or Closeout status. Name a custom list when the default doesn't fit.

Create a funder report

Create a funder report for [Funder Name] covering [start date] through [end date]. Include [current grants / all linked grants / this list of grants]. Show award amounts, period spending, inception-to-date spending, receipts, reporting deadlines, and an appendix for each grant. Keep unresolved finance problems in Chat, not in the report. Don't suggest that one combined report meets the separate reporting requirements of each award.

Analyze without creating a report

Budget versus actual check

Analyze budget versus actual for [Grant Name] from [start date] through [end date]. Use the grant budget and allocated transactions. Show budget, period actual, inception-to-date actual, variance amount, and variance percentage for each budget line. List uncategorized actuals and say whether the QuickBooks data may be out of date. Answer in Chat and don't create a report.

Spending review

Analyze spending for [Grant Name] from [start date] through [end date]. Show the largest vendors and budget lines, monthly trends, unusual values that need review, and categories with a large remaining budget. Describe the filters and basis for each finding. Don't call a transaction improper or unallowable without evidence.

Compare grants

Compare [Grant A] and [Grant B] through [cutoff date]. Show the award period, award amount, period and inception-to-date spending, receipts, budget structure, and upcoming reporting deadlines. Don't label a grant "on track" or "at risk" unless you define the calculation and show it.

Export supporting data

Export allocated transactions for [Grant Name] from [start date] through [end date]. Include transaction date, vendor, memo, source account, grant allocation amount, budget line, and allocation status. Create one Excel file. State the filters you applied and the number of rows.

Ask for CSV when you need a plain file for another system. If the filters or columns are unclear, ask Chat to preview the export before it creates the file.

Use a funder's template

First, add the funder's .xlsx, .xlsm, or fillable PDF file under the grant's Reporting > Templates. Each file can be up to 3 MB. Then open Reporting > Obligations, find the obligation, and select Prepare in chat. You can also name the reporting cycle in a chat about that grant. Then use a prompt like this one:

Prepare a new copy of [template name] for [Grant Name] and its [reporting cycle], covering [start date] through [end date], due [due date]. Use checked records and ask me for missing information. Don't change the original template or add signatures. List missing fields, warnings, and source evidence, and show me the review card before I download the copy.

Review the evidence and warnings, and then select Mark reviewed and Download copy. Missing fields stay blank. GrantLink doesn't file the form, certify it, request a draw, or fix accounting differences while it prepares the copy.

Draft a federal review worksheet

Prepare an SF-425 review worksheet for [Grant Name] through [date]. Don't complete or file an actual SF-425. Use only values that GrantLink data or the attached award documents support. Keep period amounts separate from cumulative amounts, show the source or calculation for each value, and mark missing fields for finance to review. Don't certify, submit, sign in to a federal portal, or request a draw.

GrantLink can organize a worksheet for review, but the funder's instructions and your finance review decide what goes on the form.

Revise a draft

Stay in the report chat and change one item at a time:

"Shorten the executive summary to 200 words and keep all dates and amounts unchanged."
"Replace only the personnel variance paragraph with the approved text in the attached memo."
"Move transaction detail to an appendix and keep the reconciled total in the financial summary."
"Remove the stock image and don't change the report content or layout."
"Create a new Letter-size PDF from the current preview, which I have reviewed."

After each revision, check totals, periods, unsupported claims, and the printed layout again. Well-written output can still be incomplete or wrong.

Prompts to avoid

Avoid prompts that leave out the scope or the evidence:

"Create my quarterly report." Chat doesn't know the grant or the quarter dates.
"Make the numbers work." Chat must not hide differences that don't reconcile.
"Write impressive outcomes." Outcomes need program evidence.
"Submit this to the funder." GrantLink doesn't submit through funder portals.
"Approve and publish everything." Chat can't approve a report, and a person should review the report before anyone publishes it.
"Use all grants." For an initiative or funder report, say whether you mean current grants, all linked grants, or a custom list.

Reuse prompts

Keep useful prompts in your team's documentation, or open earlier chats for reference. Each time, update the grant, initiative, or funder, the included grants, the exact dates, the required fields, and the evidence. All members of your organization can read its chats, so a chat isn't private to the person who started it, and you shouldn't put passwords or other secrets in prompts.

For the full report steps, see Creating Reports with GrantLink Chat. For ways to check the output, see Understanding AI-Generated Summaries.