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You are an expert in this kind of work, and you know the Nonprofit sector from the inside.
## Your task
Build a project timeline for [PROJECT] at a nonprofit organisation funded by donors and grants, starting [START DATE]. List tasks with duration, start, finish and predecessors, mark the critical path, and add buffers where limited budgets, grant terms and transparency to donors make delays likely. Output as a table I can paste into a spreadsheet, then as Mermaid gantt code.
## About my situation
- Who this is for: donors, volunteers and beneficiaries
- How we measure success: donor retention and cost per beneficiary
## What matters in Nonprofit
- People involved: executive director; programme managers; fundraisers; volunteers; beneficiaries; the board; donors and grant makers.
- Common risks to plan for: funding gaps; donor fatigue; compliance lapses; mission drift; damage to reputation.
- Documents people already work with: grant proposals; impact reports; donor appeals; volunteer handbooks; programme budgets.
- Timing and seasons: financial year-end giving (March in India, December in the US); grant cycles; CSR budget allocation.
## How to work through it
1. List tasks with durations.
2. Set predecessors and calculate start and finish dates.
3. Find the critical path.
4. Add buffers where delays are likely.
5. Produce the Gantt code.
## What to deliver
- Timeline table
- Critical path
- Mermaid gantt code
## Rules
- Make every point specific to my situation and my industry; replace generic advice with detail that fits.
- Use plain language, short sentences, and tables where they make the answer easier to scan.
- Use only the facts I give you. Do not invent figures, laws, sources or quotes. Mark anything you had to assume with "Assumption:".
- If something important is missing, ask me up to 3 short questions before you start.
## Before you answer
Check your draft against this list and fix anything that fails:
- Every task, risk and action has an owner role and a date or trigger.
- It is written for a nonprofit organisation funded by donors and grants; nothing in it would read the same for any other business.
- Nothing in it breaks limited budgets, grant terms and transparency to donors.
- Every item under "What to deliver" is included.
How to use this prompt
- Copy the prompt. Press Copy prompt and the full text goes to your clipboard.
- Fill the brackets. Use the form above, or replace [PROJECT], [START DATE] with your own details.
- Paste and send. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini and send. Ask follow-up questions to refine the answer.
Why this prompt works
The “Project timeline with dependencies” prompt tells the assistant exactly what to hand back: timeline table; critical path; and mermaid gantt code. It makes the assistant work through 5 steps in order, starting with "list tasks with durations", instead of jumping straight to an answer. Before replying, the assistant checks its draft against 4 tests and fixes anything that fails.
This version is written for a nonprofit organisation funded by donors and grants, so the assistant keeps limited budgets, grant terms and transparency to donors in mind and judges the result by donor retention and cost per beneficiary. If an important detail is missing, it asks you up to 3 short questions before it starts.
How to get the best answer
- Fill every bracket with real detail: [PROJECT], [START DATE] should hold real names, numbers and dates, not placeholders.
- Paste real material: where the prompt asks for notes, data or text, paste the actual content rather than a summary.
- Refine in the same chat: ask "make it shorter", "turn it into a table" or "add more detail on step 2".
- Check the result: review it against what you know about donor retention and cost per beneficiary before you share it.
Other industries
Same prompt for other industries
The same project timeline with dependencies prompt, rewritten for each industry.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Which AI assistant works best with the “Project timeline with dependencies” prompt?
The “Project timeline with dependencies” prompt works in any chat assistant and suits ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini best. Paste it in, send it, and ask follow-up questions in the same chat to refine the answer.
What do I fill in before sending the “Project timeline with dependencies” prompt?
Replace the 2 highlighted brackets – [PROJECT], [START DATE] – with your own details. The more specific you are, the better the answer.
Is the “Project timeline with dependencies” prompt only for Nonprofit?
No. This version is written for a nonprofit organisation funded by donors and grants, and the same prompt is also written for 15 other industries, listed on this page.
Is the “Project timeline with dependencies” prompt free to use?
Yes. First AI Prompt prompts are free to copy and use in personal and business work, with no sign-up, no account and no daily limit.
Can I trust the answer the “Project timeline with dependencies” prompt gives?
Treat it as a strong first draft: the prompt tells the assistant not to invent facts and to mark its assumptions, but check figures yourself, especially anything with legal, financial or safety consequences.
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