Finance, budgeting and compliance
Outline an internal financial controls policy
Gives you a starting structure for protecting the organization's money.
Lower risk: public info only — Policies are general documents; share no account numbers or passwords.
Please note: This site is only a guide to help people understand. Consult your IT, security and/or privacy department for clarification.
Before you start, gather
Set [NUMBER OF STAFF] from your current staff list. Give [ANNUAL BUDGET RANGE] as a range from your board-approved budget, never exact account figures. Afterward, compare the draft with your auditor's advice.
Starter prompt
Outline an internal financial controls policy for [ORGANIZATION NAME], a nonprofit with about [NUMBER OF STAFF] staff and [ANNUAL BUDGET RANGE]. Cover separation of duties, approvals, cash handling, credit cards, reimbursements, bank access and review. Use plain language and mark places where we must fill in our own thresholds. Do not invent dollar thresholds or legal requirements; write FILL IN instead of guessing.
Paste the prompt into your AI tool first, then replace the placeholders with your own details. Don't use real names of clients or donors.
Open an AI tool
You are leaving this guide. Copy the prompt first, then open a tool. The link goes to the website of the company named on each link, in a new tab. That company's terms and privacy policy apply there. Paste the prompt in, then replace the placeholders with your own details. Don't enter real names or confidential details.
- Open Claude (Anthropic) (opens Anthropic's website in a new tab)
Anthropic documents pre-filled links only for the Claude Desktop app, not for the website, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open ChatGPT (OpenAI) (opens OpenAI's website in a new tab)
OpenAI does not document a link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Gemini (Google) (opens Google's website in a new tab)
Google does not document a link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Grok (SpaceXAI) (opens SpaceXAI's website in a new tab)
SpaceXAI (the company behind Grok) does not document a link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Amazon Bedrock (hosts Llama; needs an AWS account) (opens Amazon Web Services' website in a new tab)
Llama has no chat website of its own, and Meta's own assistant (Meta AI) now runs on a different Meta model. One host is Amazon Bedrock: sign in to AWS, open a playground, and paste the prompt.
- Open Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft) (opens Microsoft's website in a new tab)
Microsoft documents no link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in. The Copilot page shows a Sign in button, and you may need to sign in.
- Open Perplexity (Perplexity AI) (opens Perplexity AI's website in a new tab)
Perplexity documents no link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Mistral Le Chat (Mistral AI) (opens Mistral AI's website in a new tab)
Mistral renamed Le Chat to Vibe, at the same web address. Mistral documents no link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Givebutter (Givebutter): no website to open from here. Givebutter Magic works inside a Givebutter account; there is no public chat page.
- Grantable (Grantable): no website to open from here. Grantable's AI works inside a Grantable account; there is no public chat page.
Check the result
Have your treasurer, auditor or accountant review it, since controls must fit your size and legal obligations.
What it might get wrong
Dollar approval limits that appear without your input. A control such as dual signatures stated as law. Controls that assume more staff than a small team has.