Lilac CreativeMay 28, 2026
Stop Using AI the Wrong Way 💡
Stop Using AI the Wrong Way 💡
Lilac Creative
Stop using AI as a typist and start using it as a thinking partner. Learn why shifting your prompting strategy to the beginning of your workflow will save you time and improve the quality of your nonprofit's communications.
Stop Using AI the Wrong Way 💡
Lilac Creative
Stop using AI as a typist and start using it as a thinking partner. Learn why shifting your prompting strategy to the beginning of your workflow will save you time and improve the quality of your nonprofit's communications.
Chapters
00:00
Introduction
The common mistake nonprofits make when using AI tools for their daily work.
00:16
The Typist Trap
00:56
AI as Thinking Partner
02:48
The Efficiency Illusion
03:37
Better Prompt Starters
04:31
Final Thoughts
Transcript
00:00
Okay, so here's where non profits are getting AI wrong.
00:03
And it's not what you think.
00:05
It is not your policy.
00:06
It's not your free version of ChatGPT.
00:09
It's not even that you're using it too much.
00:11
The problem is when you are using it.
00:14
most non profit AI use right now looks like this.
00:18
You have a thing to write, a grant report, a fundraising email, a board update.
00:24
You're behind on it.
00:25
You open ChatGPT, you type, write me a thing, and you get back something that's 80% generic and 20% close to your voice.
00:33
And then you spend an hour fixing it.
00:35
Then you tell people AI didn't really help.
00:38
You're right, it didn't.
00:40
But the problem wasn't the AI, Right.
00:42
The problem was that you used it at the end of your work when you should have used it at the beginning.
00:48
So some examples.
00:50
Let me show you what I mean.
00:52
The wrong use is a prompt that says write a fundraising email to lapsed donors.
00:58
The better use would be I'm trying to re engage donors who haven't given in two years.
01:04
What are three different angles I can take and which one feels most honest for a small community focused nonprofit?
01:11
In the first one, AI is your typist.
01:13
In the second one, AI is your thinking partner.
01:15
Another example of wrong use, just typing in a simple prompt that says, summarize this 30 page program report.
01:24
That's lazy prompting, which guilty.
01:26
I am totally guilty of lazy prompting.
01:28
But a better use of that would be, I'm sharing this with funders who care most about youth mental health outcomes.
01:36
What are three findings here that would matter most to that audience?
01:41
The first gives you a generic summary that misses what's important.
01:44
Right.
01:44
There's no context.
01:45
The second gives you a starting point that already has judgment baked right into it.
01:50
So another wrong use.
01:51
Okay, write Our new program description.
01:55
A better use of that would be here is what our program actually does.
01:59
Here are two similar programs we admire.
02:02
What's the strongest way to differentiate us and what should I cut?
02:06
The first one just gives you polish, whereas the second one gives you clarity.
02:10
And clarity is much harder to write than polish.
02:12
So you see the pattern here.
02:13
When you use AI as a typist, it just gives you words based on patterns.
02:18
Right?
02:18
That's what AI is.
02:20
When you use AI as a thinking partner, it gives you a better starting point.
02:24
And a better starting point makes everything after that really easy.
02:28
So why does almost everyone do it the wrong way?
02:32
Honestly?
02:33
Because the wrong way feels faster, Typing write me a grant report feels like a shortcut.
02:37
the longer prompt, the one where you think out loud about what you're trying to accomplish, feels like more work.
02:43
But the long version saves you time overall.
02:45
That's why you hear so much about people talking about prompting and having a library of awesome prompts.
02:53
It's because when AI thinks alongside you at the start, you don't have to rewrite the whole thing at the end, and you end up saving time.
03:01
So it's the same logic.
03:02
It's the same logic as a road trip.
03:04
Five minutes with a map saves you 40 minutes lost in the car.
03:08
And most people.
03:09
Most people still skip the map.
03:11
That would be me.
03:12
What to do instead.
03:13
So here's the swap.
03:15
Next time you're about to ask AI for finished output, stop.
03:18
Back up.
03:19
Ask it to help you think first.
03:23
Three prompt starters that work better than Write me a thing.
03:26
Help me think through blank.
03:28
What are three different angles I could take on blank?
03:32
What questions should I be asking before I write this?
03:36
So these three treat AI like a smart colleague who can kind of push back and suggest and notice things.
03:42
And that's what AI is actually really good at.
03:44
Especially if you use it a lot.
03:45
It starts to understand how you ask and talk to it and just gets better and better.
03:50
It's honestly mediocre at writing, but it's excellent at thinking.
03:53
So most nonprofits are using AI for the thing it's mediocre at and ignoring the thing that it's great at.
04:00
So this is the kind of thing I break down inside the Lilac Collective.
04:03
It's working notebook of short videos, guides, and tools from average people like me using AI.
04:08
So link below.
04:09
See you in the next one.
Comments
Comments
No comments yet