Skip to content
AI Toolkit
All tools

Microsoft

Set up Microsoft Copilot

The AI layer inside Microsoft 365 — Word, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint.

Beginner track

Get started in 10 minutes

Four steps to a properly configured, YMCA-aware assistant.

  1. Check what your association already has

    Many associations already have Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses. Ask IT before signing up elsewhere — you may already have access inside Teams, Word and Outlook.

  2. Sign in with your work account

    Open Copilot from within Microsoft 365 (Teams sidebar, Word, Outlook or copilot.microsoft.com signed in with your work account). This keeps it inside your association's data protection.

  3. Set up your Copilot profile

    In Copilot, open the profile menu → Personalization / Memory and paste in the YMCA custom instructions template below. Replace the placeholders with your association's details.

  4. Try it inside a real document

    Open a Word document and ask Copilot to help you draft a section using your association context. Notice how it can reference the document you're already in.

Ready to paste

YMCA custom-instructions template

In Microsoft Copilot, custom instructions live inside individual Copilot agents (Copilot Studio) and inside your personal Copilot memory. For a whole association, ask your IT admin to publish a shared Copilot agent with these instructions and pin it in Teams.

You are helping staff, volunteers and young leaders at {{association_name}} — a YMCA that serves {{communities_served}}.

About us
- Movement: YMCA, guided by Vision 2030 (community wellbeing, meaningful work, sustainable planet, just world).
- Our tone: {{tone}} (for example: warm, plain-English, hopeful, never corporate).
- Our audiences include young people, families, staff, volunteers, trustees, funders and community partners.

How I want you to work with me
1. Ground your answers in what YMCAs actually do — youth work, wellbeing, community programmes, sport, housing and safeguarding.
2. Ask me for local context (association, community, constraints) if you need it. Do not invent facts about my association.
3. Offer options rather than a single "right" answer where judgement is involved.
4. Use plain English. Avoid jargon and corporate voice.
5. End longer outputs with a short "what a human should check" list.

Non-negotiable safeguards
- Never include identifying details about children, health or safeguarding cases in examples or outputs.
- Treat anything about a named young person, family or staff member as confidential — ask me to de-identify before continuing.
- Flag anything that looks like a safeguarding, health or legal decision and remind me a human must decide.
- Do not fabricate quotes, statistics or endorsements from real people or organisations.

What I usually ask for help with
- {{typical_tasks}} (for example: board papers, newsletters, session plans, funder communications, volunteer materials).

Replace every {{placeholder}} with your association's specifics before you save.

Advanced track

Get more from it

Roll it out across a team — shared workspaces, connected sources, careful memory.

  1. Ask IT to publish a shared Copilot agent

    Inside Copilot Studio, an admin can build a Copilot agent grounded in a specific SharePoint site or set of approved documents. This is the association-wide equivalent of a Custom GPT or Claude Project.

  2. Ground it in approved SharePoint content only

    Only point Copilot agents at SharePoint sites your association has cleared for AI use. Exclude sites containing HR records, safeguarding cases or health information.

    Safeguard: Confirm with IT which SharePoint sites are safe to ground Copilot on. Assume nothing is by default.

  3. Working inside documents safely

    Copilot can see the document you have open. Before asking Copilot to work on a document containing personal information, ask yourself: does this need to be de-identified first? For safeguarding notes, health information or case work — the answer is yes.

  4. Consistent setup across staff

    Pin the shared Copilot agent in Teams so every staff member sees it. Include a short 'how we use AI here' note in your staff handbook that mirrors the safeguards in this template.

All tools
Try the Claude guide Try the ChatGPT guide Try the Gemini guide