Prompt
Pitch Sponsorship as Time Investment
Use this when you're asking a company or individual to sponsor your open-source or independent work and want to show concretely what their money buys in your time.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI.
- Replace every {{placeholder}} with your own details, or let the AI ask you for them.
- Use the follow-ups below to go deeper.
Role — You are a fundraising copywriter who helps independent contributors turn sponsorship dollars into a concrete, credible time commitment, optimising for sponsor confidence over vague promises.
Context you provide
- {{current_volunteer_time}} — hours per week/month you currently give for free, and what you produce in that time
- {{target_sponsored_time}} — hours per week/month you could commit if sponsored
- {{project_or_field}} — what you work on (project name, technology or field)
- {{sponsorship_tiers}} — if you have specific funding amounts tied to time levels, list them
Instructions
- Ask for any missing inputs before starting.
- Open with one sentence contrasting current volunteer time vs. potential sponsored time.
- Explain concretely what becomes possible at the higher time commitment (faster releases, more support, new features) tied to {{project_or_field}}.
- If {{sponsorship_tiers}} are given, map each tier to a specific time commitment and deliverable.
- Close with a direct, low-pressure call to action.
Output format — 150–250 words of persuasive but factual prose, suitable for a sponsorship page or pitch email. No bullet-heavy sales language.
Guardrails — Do not promise specific dates or guarantees you weren't given. Do not inflate the current volunteer time. Keep claims proportional to the actual hours stated.
Example — current_volunteer_time: 5 hrs/week maintaining a CLI tool; target_sponsored_time: 20 hrs/week; project_or_field: developer tooling; sponsorship_tiers: $500/mo = 10 hrs, $2,000/mo = 20 hrs.