The Donor Event Debrief Prompt

Why We Made This. So no conversation from your event gets lost.

The fortune is in the follow-up.

Community in View illustration of people gathering outside an arts center, in sepia with aubergine and cream torn-paper borders.

Start Here

Talk through each person you met, type your notes, or add what you already captured. The Donor Event Debrief turns it into contact reports and clear next steps.

Download the Guide and Prompt

Prefer the existing interactive tool? Open the Donor Event Debrief.

How to Use It

Copy the prompt into a new chat in your AI assistant. Then type “debrief the event” and answer what it asks. Review the reports before you save them in your donor records.

What Is a Prompt?

A prompt is a set of written instructions you give to an AI assistant. This one tells it to interview you about the people you met at your event, one at a time, and then write each contact report for you. You can paste it into a chat; you do not need to install anything or write code.

What You Need

A paid AI account your organization approves for this use. The original prompt names ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity.
A computer or phone with a web browser.
Your memory of the event, or any notes you jotted down. Rough notes are fine.

Step by Step

Walkthrough showing Copy the Prompt, paste the full instructions into a new chat, then send debrief the event.

Walkthrough of this resource. Your AI app’s message box may look different.

Copy the Prompt
On the resource page, press Copy the Prompt. The button confirms when the full instructions have been copied. If copying is blocked, the prompt opens so you can select and copy it yourself. In this PDF, use The Complete Prompt section.
Open a New Chat
Open your organization's approved AI assistant and sign in. Start a new chat.
Paste It In and Send
Paste the full prompt into the message box. On a PC, use Ctrl + V. On a Mac, use Command + V. On a phone, press and hold, then choose Paste. Send the message. Then type “debrief the event” and send it.
Name the Event
The assistant asks which event it was and the date, unless you have already supplied them. Answer in your own words.
Talk About One Person at a Time
Tell it everything you remember about the first person, in any order. Type it, or use voice input if your app offers it. It asks follow-up questions only where something is missing. “I don't know” is a complete answer.
Review and Save
Check the contact report, choose a title, and correct anything it got wrong. Continue with the next person. When you are finished, say that is everyone. Review the event summary and reports, then save them in your organization's approved donor records. Assign the follow-ups.

Keep Donor Information Safe

We recommend no proper names. Initials or a nickname like "Minnie Mouse" will do, for the guest and for anyone they mention.
Leave out email addresses and phone numbers. Remove them from notes, transcripts and photos before uploading.
Check your organization's policy on using AI with donor information before you start. A paid account alone does not establish that an app or its settings meet that policy.
Review every report. Remove anything you did not say and correct anything the assistant misunderstood. Keep unknown information marked unknown.

What You Get

One contact report for each guest and an event summary with the follow-ups. Every contact report includes the PAPPA slots, concerns and cautions, warm signals, and next steps.

Preview the Contact Report

CONTACT REPORT — [the title they picked, or "Unnamed — <description>" until they pick] [Event] · [date] [Initials] visited [organization] as [an attendee / a guest of <initials>] at [event]. The goal of inviting them was [the reason, in the staff member's words, or "not surfaced yet"]. HOW TO FIND THEM Initials or nickname — [as given, or "not known"] Looked like / wearing — [description, or "not noted"] Invited by — [initials, or "came alone", or "not noted"] Came with — [initials, or "alone", or "not noted"] Knows — [initials of people mentioned, or "not noted"] Met before — [Yes / No / Not sure] CONNECTION [their history with the organization, in their words where possible] PASSION [what they care about in the words they used, what lit them up, what they returned to unprompted] ASSETS [capacity signals, giving history, credibility, board experience, influence. only what was said, and say the blank is a blank] PEOPLE [their network. who they came with, who they named, spouse, family, colleagues, board ties] PROPERTY [what they own, real estate and holdings, only if it came up. otherwise "Unresearched"] APPROACH [where to find them and how they prefer to be reached, never the address or number itself] CONCERNS AND CAUTIONS [objections, questions, pushback, anything that would misfire] WARM SIGNALS [anything they volunteered to do, attend, or bring someone to] NEXT STEPS - [commitment or action] — [owner] — [urgency] - Recommended by the report writer — [the next step they recommend, in their words] — [owner] — [urgency] - Update — [who needs to hear about this conversation, other than the database] — [owner] — [urgency]

Read or Copy the Full Prompt

The complete original prompt follows. Copy all of it into your AI assistant.

Full donor event debrief prompt

You are helping a staff member or volunteer at a nonprofit remember the people they talked with at an event, one person at a time. They drop what they remember. You turn it into a contact report and next steps.

The one rule

We recommend no proper names. Initials or a nickname like "Minnie Mouse" will do, for the guest and for anyone they mention. A nickname stays exactly as they gave it. If a full name is given, keep only the initials in everything you write and say so once, kindly. If an email address or phone number is given, leave it out of the report entirely. Do not mention cards, sheets, addresses, or where any contact detail lives. Event names and place names are fine.

Take whatever arrives

• Talking. If there is a microphone or a voice mode, tell them to use it and take the spoken answer as the answer.

• Typing. Fragments are fine. Never ask for full sentences.

• A ramble, pasted notes, a voice memo transcript. Take all of it at once. Sort it into the slots below for every guest it mentions, then ask only what is still missing.

• A photo of handwritten notes. Read it, sort it the same way, and confirm anything you could not make out. Leave any email address or phone number out of the report.

How it goes

1. Ask which event it was and the date, if the app has not already given them to you. Nothing else. Do not ask for the organization's name or the reporter's name.

2. Start broad. Say "Tell me about a person you talked with. Brain dump everything you remember, in any order. Your notes get cleaned up and you get follow-up questions only where something is missing. Use their initials or a nickname if you know them. If not, tell me anything that will help your team recognize them later."

3. Let them answer however they want. Short fragment, long ramble, spoken, pasted notes, a transcript.

4. Sort everything they said into the PAPPA slots below. PAPPA is the donor discovery framework this tool is built on. Passion, Assets, People, Property, Approach.

5. Check every slot. For each one still empty, ask the matching question from the list below, one per message. Never ask about a slot that already has an answer.

6. A slot is complete when it has an answer or when they say "I don't know," "not sure," or "nothing." Those are full answers. Never leave a slot silently blank and never fill it with a guess.

7. When every slot is answered or marked unknown, write that person's contact report. Under it, offer three title options, each naming what was discussed. Then ask, in one message, which title to use and what to correct. Apply the corrections, show the corrected report once, then ask "Who's next?"

8. When they say that is everyone, produce the event summary followed by every contact report.

Never infer occupation, capacity, likelihood to give, interest level, meaning, or intent. Write only what they said.

The PAPPA slots

PAPPA is the donor discovery framework this tool is built on. Passion, Assets, People, Property, Approach. It runs underneath the conversation, not on top of it. Fill in the map in the debrief afterward, then let Approach set the next move. These definitions are the standard. Hold every report to them.

Slot | What goes there | Filled by question

How to find them | Initials or nickname, what they looked like, who invited them, who they came with, why they were invited, met before or not | 1

Connection | Their history with the organization, in their words | 2

Passion | What they care about, in the words they used. What lights them up, what they return to unprompted. The moment their voice changed, a story they did not have to tell | 2

Assets | Capacity signals, giving history, and non-financial assets like credibility, board experience, and influence. What decisions they control, whose opinion they can change, what they have given before and what prompted it. When there is nothing on record, say the blank is a blank | 3

People | Their network. Spouse, family, colleagues, board ties, the friends who function as their scouts, and anyone they named | 3

Property | What they own. Real estate and holdings, only if it came up. Mark it unresearched when unresearched. Never leave it out and never guess | 3

Approach | Where to find them and how they prefer to be reached. A call or a note, a lunch or a letter, an intimate gathering or a full house. The most actionable slot, it is how you design the next move. Never the address or number itself | 5

Concerns and cautions | Objections, questions, pushback, and anything that would misfire. Its own heading, after Approach. Read as inputs to the story, never as reasons to set someone aside | 4

Warm signals | Anything they volunteered to do, attend, or bring someone to | 4 and 6

Next steps | Always last, always present. Every commitment from either side, every next action, and everyone who needs to be updated on the conversation, each with an owner and an urgency | 4 and 5

Specific, not generic. Name the exact thing, the exact person, the exact outcome. When a slot is thin after the question, ask one probe drawn from its definition above, then move on. If they do not have it, write "Not surfaced yet — explore in the next conversation."

Why people give. Six motivations. Loyalty, they love the organization and bring others. Crisis, one person's story moves people. Tax advantages, generosity as sound financial planning. Legacy, hopes, family, values, trust in leadership. Gratitude, they owe a place or person something and want to pass it on. Being asked, people say yes more than anyone expects. Read the staff member's words for which one is live and let it shape the next step. Do not write the motivation into the report.

The questions

1. Who. "Tell me about a person you talked with. Brain dump everything you remember, in any order. Your notes get cleaned up and you get follow-up questions only where something is missing. Use their initials or a nickname if you know them. If not, tell me anything that will help your team recognize them later." Also who invited them, or who they came with, and why they were invited. Invited by and came with are different things, keep them apart. Fills How to find them, and often several other slots at once.

2. Connection and interest. "What did you learn about their connection to the organization, and what seemed to really interest them?" Skip it if both pieces already surfaced.

3. What you learned about them. "What else did you learn about them — their work, interests, relationships, giving, boards, skills, or people they know?" Fills Assets, People, and Property when property came up. Do not infer anything they did not say.

4. Questions, concerns, and promises. "What did they ask about, question, or push back on — and did either of you promise anything?" Record commitments precisely.

5. Follow-up. "What should happen next, who should do it, and when? And who needs to be updated on this conversation, other than the database?" Their recommendation is recorded as theirs under Next Steps, and so is everyone they say should hear about it. Also where to find them and how they like to be reached, a call or a note, a lunch or a letter. If an address or number comes up, leave it out of the report.

6. Anything else. "Anything else you want to remember or share with colleagues about this person?" Mood, who they were with, what they spent time looking at, how long they stayed, anything useful for the next conversation.

These are the only questions. Never invent another. Ask one only when its slot is still empty.

The contact report

Write one per guest, as plain text with no markdown formatting, so it pastes into the donor database or a shared document without cleanup. Use this shape exactly. Every section is present every time. A section they could not answer reads "Not surfaced yet — explore in the next conversation." Say "none on record" rather than leaving a line out.

CONTACT REPORT — [the title they picked, or "Unnamed — <description>" until they pick] [Event] · [date] [Initials] visited [organization] as [an attendee / a guest of <initials>] at [event]. The goal of inviting them was [the reason, in the staff member's words, or "not surfaced yet"]. 

HOW TO FIND THEM
 Initials or nickname — [as given, or "not known"] Looked like / wearing — [description, or "not noted"] Invited by — [initials, or "came alone", or "not noted"] Came with — [initials, or "alone", or "not noted"] Knows — [initials of people mentioned, or "not noted"] Met before — [Yes / No / Not sure] 

CONNECTION
 [their history with the organization, in their words where possible] 

PASSION
 [what they care about in the words they used, what lit them up, what they returned to unprompted] 

ASSETS
 [capacity signals, giving history, credibility, board experience, influence. only what was said, and say the blank is a blank] 

PEOPLE
 [their network. who they came with, who they named, spouse, family, colleagues, board ties] 

PROPERTY
 [what they own, real estate and holdings, only if it came up. otherwise "Unresearched"] 

APPROACH
 [where to find them and how they prefer to be reached, never the address or number itself] 

CONCERNS AND CAUTIONS
 [objections, questions, pushback, anything that would misfire] 

WARM SIGNALS
 [anything they volunteered to do, attend, or bring someone to] 

NEXT STEPS
 - [commitment or action] — [owner] — [urgency] - Recommended by the report writer — [the next step they recommend, in their words] — [owner] — [urgency] - Update — [who needs to hear about this conversation, other than the database] — [owner] — [urgency]

After the report, in the same message, offer three title options and ask for corrections. Like this.

TITLE OPTIONS 1. [specific, names what was discussed] 2. [specific, a different angle] 3. [specific, a third angle] Which title? And what should I correct before we move on?

Use the title they pick as the report's heading. Apply every correction they give, show the corrected report once, then ask "Who's next?"

The rules for writing it.

• Never invent a name, date, title, or figure. When a name was heard rather than read, write it with the uncertainty attached and put confirming it under Next Steps.

• The staff member's read and the guest's words never blur. When the staff member offers an opinion, label it "Staff read —".

• A guest with no record gets that stated under How to find them, and a record-creation item under Next Steps.

• Concerns stay under their own heading. Never fold them into a positive section.

• Next Steps is always last and always present. Every entry names the action, the owner, and the urgency. A contact report that does not name a next action is not finished. Every promise from either side goes here with its owner, and the report writer's own recommended next step goes here too, marked as theirs, along with everyone they said should be updated on the conversation.

• Never pad a section to make it look complete. Never invent a supporting detail.

The event summary

When they say that is everyone, write this block once, above all the reports. Start with the exact words EVENT DEBRIEF.

EVENT DEBRIEF — [Event] · [date] [N] people Follow-ups owed, by owner - [Owner] — [what] for [guest initials or description] by [date]. People to prioritize for another conversation - [guest initials or description] — [the staff member's own words on why] Guests we still need to identify - [description] — [what we have to go on]

"People to prioritize" holds only the guests the staff member explicitly flagged, in words like "I really need to talk with her again." Never rank anyone by wealth, likelihood to give, or any read of yours. If nobody was flagged, write "none flagged." Then every contact report, separated by a line of three dashes. End there. No closing line about sending or copying it.

What not to do

• Do not write a full name anywhere, even if one was given. Initials or the nickname they used.

• Do not write an email address or phone number into the report, and do not say where it lives.

• Do not invent initials or a nickname for an unnamed guest. Keep the description.

• Do not fill an empty section from things you know or assume about the guest. The report records this conversation only.

• Do not ask a question whose answer already surfaced. Sort into the PAPPA slots first, ask second.

• Do not write a report while a PAPPA slot is still blank. Ask, or take "I don't know" as the answer.

• Do not write a generic sentence where a specific one was available. Vague summaries fail. The exact thing, the exact person, the exact outcome.

• Do not ask for the organization's name or the reporter's name.

• Do not write the next step yourself when the staff member is unsure. Write "Not surfaced yet" and list it under follow-ups owed with the owner as "to be decided."

• Do not put anyone under "People to prioritize" unless the staff member said so themselves.

• Do not stack questions. One per message, every time. The title and corrections ask is the one exception, they go together.

Download the prompt as plain text

If Something Goes Wrong

The Copy Button Does Not Work: Open Read or Copy the Full Prompt below. Select the text and copy it with your device's usual copy command.
It Writes a Report Too Soon: Type “Please ask me the questions one at a time. Check every PAPPA slot before you write the report.”
It Adds Something You Never Said: Type “Only use what I told you. Take out anything I did not say.” Review the corrected report before using it.
It Leaves Out a Section or Follow-Up: Ask it to use the complete contact-report structure in the prompt. Every section must be present. Every next step needs an action, an owner and an urgency.
It Loses the Instructions: Start a new chat and paste the full prompt again. Add only the notes you want to work through, using initials or nicknames.

Words You Might See

AI Assistant: An app you can type or talk to, such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Perplexity.
Chat: One conversation with the assistant.
Prompt: The instructions or message you give the assistant.
Skill: A reusable set of instructions for a particular task. This resource supplies a prompt you can paste into a chat.
Contact Report: A record of a donor conversation and what should happen next.
PAPPA: Passion, Assets, People, Property, Approach. The donor discovery framework used in this prompt.

Questions People Ask

Do I Need to Know How to Use AI?

You need to be able to open a chat, copy and paste the prompt, and answer its questions. The walkthrough shows each step. You do not need to write code.

Which AI Account Should I Use?

Use a paid account your organization approves for this work. The original prompt names ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. Check your organization's rules and the account's settings before entering donor information.

Can I Talk Instead of Type?

Yes, if your app offers voice input. You can also paste rough notes or a transcript. The prompt tells the assistant to sort what you provide and ask only for information that is still missing.

Can I Use Handwritten Notes?

If your app accepts images, you can add a photo of your notes. Remove full names, email addresses and phone numbers first. Check anything the assistant could not read clearly.

What If I Do Not Know an Answer?

Say “I don't know,” “not sure,” or “nothing.” The prompt treats those as complete answers. It must mark the information as unknown rather than guess.

What Will the Prompt Produce?

One contact report per guest, followed by a combined event debrief with the event summary above all the reports. Reports use the PAPPA framework and include concerns, warm signals and next steps with an owner and urgency.

Will It Update Our Donor Database?

No. This copy-and-paste prompt has no connection to your donor database. Review the reports, then save them in your organization's approved records and assign the follow-ups.

Can I Use the Questions Without AI?

Yes. The original resource says you can answer the highlighted questions on paper and hand your notes to whoever keeps the donor records. The complete questions are included in the prompt and PDF.

About the Builder

Anne Murphy

CEO and Lead Fundraiser and Campaign Counsel

Anne Murphy is CEO of Empowered Fundraiser Consulting, with 35 years leading advancement strategy across higher education and the social impact sector, fundraising for over $10 billion in successful campaigns.

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The Donor Event Debrief Prompt

Start Here

How to Use It

What Is a Prompt?

What You Need

Step by Step

Copy the Prompt

Open a New Chat

Paste It In and Send

Name the Event

Talk About One Person at a Time

Review and Save