I Let AI Draft a Business Plan - Was it Brilliant or a Disaster?

Spoiler alert: AI didn’t crash and burn. In fact, it delivered something pretty darn useful. Here’s how it all went down, step by step.

Step 1: Craft a Killer Prompt

Before diving into AI-powered research, you need a solid prompt. ChatGPT 4.0 can help with that.

I started with this:

I need to create a business plan for a small nonprofit. Can you help me craft a prompt that I can use with a deep research model to gather best practices, find examples, and structure the plan so it's easy to understand and implement?

Here’s the AI-enhanced, turbocharged version:

I need to create a business plan for a small nonprofit that is clear, practical, and easy to implement. Please provide:

1. Best Practices & Guidelines:

• Key elements of an effective nonprofit business plan

• Differences between nonprofit and for-profit plans

• Best practices for making the plan actionable and adaptable

2. Examples & Templates:

• Structured examples of nonprofit business plans

• Free and reputable template sources

• A case study of a successful nonprofit with a strong business plan

3. Content & Structure Recommendations:

• Essential sections of a nonprofit business plan

• Financial projections for a nonprofit

• Balancing mission-driven goals with financial sustainability

• Effective ways to present impact metrics and evaluation methods

4. Implementation & Usability:

• Ensuring the plan is accessible for board members, funders, and staff

• Tools or software to assist with business plan creation and tracking

• Frequency of plan reviews and updates

Please summarize key findings and provide links to relevant resources.

Step 2: Deploy the Supercharged Prompt

I fed this prompt into multiple Deep Research AI models:

• ChatGPT Deep Research

• Gemini Advanced Deep Research

• Grok 3 DeepSearch

(Pro tip: If you're on ChatGPT Plus, you only get 10 deep research queries per month—use them wisely!)

Step 3: Review & Mash It All Together

Once AI spits out results, don’t just take them at face value. I reviewed, fact-checked, and cherry-picked the best insights. Then, I compiled everything into one document and fed it into another AI model for consolidation.

My trick? I added a markdown hashtag (#) at the beginning of each model’s output so the AI could clearly differentiate sources.

Prompt to merge everything:

This document contains research results from three AI models on creating a nonprofit business plan. Each version starts with a # to distinguish sources. Please combine the recommendations, remove duplicates, and create a new, cohesive version incorporating the best insights. At the end, outline a step-by-step process for crafting the business plan.

Step 4: Customize Like a Boss

Now that I had a polished, AI-assisted business plan template, I tailored it to the organization I was creating it for. A CustomGPT trained on key org data (mission, goals, strategic plan, financials) made this process smoother.

Prompt to CustomGPT:

Can you create a business plan based on the best practices in this document? Make it as specific as possible to [ORG NAME] using known data. If any section lacks information, label it 'Need to gather info.'

Step 5: Put Humans Back in the Loop

AI got me 90% there, but real-world expertise was essential. I handed it over to the organization's team to review and refine the draft, adding missing details and ensuring accuracy.

The Verdict?

Using AI to draft a business plan wasn’t a disaster—it was a game-changer. It saved hours of work, provided solid frameworks, and gave me a head start. Just remember: AI is your co-pilot, not the captain.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. Next time, I might even let AI pick up my coffee order while I work. 🚀

These are the nonprofits I’m supporting this month.

ACLU – Well, it probably doesn’t need to be said, but the ACLU is helping to protect our freedoms and save our democracy. They are offering “Know Your Rights” trainings, trying to keep DOGE out of our data, fighting to free people unlawfully detained for speaking up (what happened to free speech?!), and more.

Find out how you can help. They list some urgent actions on their homepage that you can take part in.

Heather Cox Richardson - Letters from an American – Technically, Heather isn’t a nonprofit, but she is tirelessly keeping track of the destruction of our democracy and documenting it for future generations. She is a historian and often puts current events in historical context, which I find very helpful. She has a daily newsletter and she has a podcast in which she reads the newsletter.

You can help fund her work by subscribing to her newsletter on Substack.

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YOUR CALL TO ACTION: If you are one who likes sharing (hello extroverts), CLICK HERE and tell me about the causes close to your heart (or what you thought of this blog post).

PS. Want to explore some AI Agents? Click This Referral Link.