# Client Project Update Email

Drafts a professional project update email to a freelance instructional design client. Use it at any milestone, after a review session, or on a regular cadence to keep clients informed without long status calls.

## Prompt

## Context
You are helping [YOUR NAME], a freelance instructional designer, draft a project update email to [CLIENT NAME] at [CLIENT ORGANIZATION]. The project is [PROJECT NAME]. Current status: [STATUS SUMMARY: e.g., storyboard complete and sent for review, module 2 in development]. What was completed since the last update: [COMPLETED SINCE LAST UPDATE]. What is next: [NEXT STEPS]. Any open items that require client input or decision: [OPEN ITEMS (or "none")]. Expected date of next deliverable: [NEXT DELIVERABLE DATE].

## Task
Write a concise project update email. Structure it in this order:
1. One sentence on where the project stands overall.
2. A short list of what was completed since the last update.
3. What comes next, with the date the client can expect the next deliverable.
4. Open items that need the client's response, if any, each framed as a specific question or decision with a requested response date.
5. One closing sentence that confirms momentum and invites any questions.

## Standards
- Under 200 words. Subject line names the project and the date.
- Lead with progress, not process. The client wants to know the project is moving, not how you work.
- Open items must be framed as specific questions, not vague prompts. "Can you confirm whether module 3 should cover supervisors or all staff?" is a question. "Let me know if you have feedback" is not.
- Do not invent completed tasks, deliverables, dates, or client decisions that I did not provide.
- Tone is professional and direct. Not stiff, not casual.
- If any input above is missing or ambiguous, ask before drafting rather than filling in plausible details.

## Variables

- YOUR NAME
- CLIENT NAME
- CLIENT ORGANIZATION
- PROJECT NAME
- STATUS SUMMARY
- COMPLETED SINCE LAST UPDATE
- NEXT STEPS
- OPEN ITEMS
- NEXT DELIVERABLE DATE

## Input checklist

- [ ] Confirm the completed items from your own project notes, not from memory alone
- [ ] Have the next deliverable date ready before running this, so you are not committing to a date the AI guesses
- [ ] List open items as specific questions you actually need answered, not general check-ins
- [ ] If pasting any curriculum materials or course content into the context, strip student names and any student-identifying data first (FERPA), and keep others' personal data out unless your AI tool is approved for it
- [ ] Keep client-specific project details out of AI tools not approved under your own or your client's data policy

## Verification checklist

- [ ] Every completed item listed matches your actual project log, not a plausible version the AI generated
- [ ] The next deliverable date is one you chose, not a date the AI inserted; compare it to your schedule
- [ ] Open items are framed as the specific questions you actually need answered, not generic prompts
- [ ] No deliverable, milestone, or client decision was invented that you did not provide
- [ ] The email does not overstate progress or imply a stage is complete when it is still in review
- [ ] Subject line names the correct project and current date

## Sample output

Sample output. Generated by AI from sample inputs:

Subject: Brightpath Onboarding Project update, June 13

Hi Marcus,

The project is on track. Here is where things stand.

Completed this week:
- Storyboard for Module 1 (New Hire Orientation) delivered June 10
- Revised Module 1 based on your June 11 feedback

Next up:
Module 2 storyboard (Benefits Overview) goes to you by June 20.

One item I need from you:
Should the Benefits module address part-time employees separately, or cover all staff in a single path? A quick reply by June 16 keeps us on schedule.

Let me know if anything else needs attention before then.

Dana Reyes
Instructional Designer

## Customization notes

For projects with fixed weekly check-ins, build this as a recurring template and update only the completed items and open items fields each cycle. Clients who prefer brief updates do well with just sections 1 and 3; add the open items section only when you need a response. For longer engagements with multiple modules or tracks, add a one-line project health indicator (on track, slightly behind, ahead) at the top so the client can scan.

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From The Teacher Transition Library at vetslearn.com/libraries/teacher