Reference Materials

Your Reference Materials is where you store the documents that help the AI understand your organization. When you ask the AI to write a grant or research funders, it searches your Reference Materials for relevant context.

What to Upload

Start with recent, successful grant applications. This is the single most impactful thing you can do. A thorough grant application typically includes everything the AI needs:

  • Program descriptions and theory of change
  • Organizational history and mission
  • Impact statistics and outcome data
  • Stories and testimonials
  • Board composition and staff expertise
  • Budget narratives
  • Community context and needs assessments

One comprehensive proposal can give the AI more useful context than a dozen separate documents.

Aim for 100+ pages of content. Two or three recent, successful applications will usually get you there. The more you upload, the better your results.

If you don't have recent applications, or want to add more context:

  • Annual reports with program deep-dives
  • Program evaluation reports
  • 990 forms and audited financials
  • Strategic plans
  • Staff and board bios

How to Upload

  1. Navigate to Reference Materials in the sidebar
  2. Drag and drop files, or click to browse
  3. Files are processed and indexed automatically

Supported formats: PDF and Word documents.

How the AI Uses Your Reference Materials

When you ask a question or request a draft, the AI searches your Reference Materials for relevant content, pulls specific passages, and uses them to generate accurate, organization-specific responses. You'll see the "Search Reference Materials" action appear in chat when it's doing this.

Using Integrations Instead

If your documents live in Google Drive or SharePoint, you can connect those services through Integrations instead of uploading manually. The AI will search your connected services alongside your Reference Materials.

This can be an easier way to get started — connect your Drive folder and the AI has immediate access to everything in it.

Tips

  • Start with your best applications — Quality matters more than quantity, but both help
  • Cover all your programs — Make sure each major program area has detailed documentation
  • Keep it current — Replace outdated materials as new ones become available
  • More is better — The AI handles large volumes well and finds what's relevant