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Uploading Documents

How to teach Sidekick about your organization—so your deliverables sound like you, not a template.

Sidekick Build already knows a lot: community data, trends, economic indicators for nearly any geography. But it doesn't know you. It doesn't know your strategic priorities. It doesn't know how you talk about your community. It doesn't know the work you've already done. That's where your uploaded documents come in.

Supported file formats: PDFs, Word documents, Excel files, CSVs, and PowerPoints. 

Three Types of Documents Worth Uploading

1. Direction Documents

What are we trying to achieve?

These tell Sidekick what you're trying to accomplish:

  • Strategic plans
  • Grant guidelines or RFPs
  • Program descriptions

When you upload a grant RFP, Sidekick can align your narrative to the funder's priorities. When you upload your strategic plan, it can connect data points to outcomes you've already committed to.

Example prompt addition:

Use the attached strategic plan to frame the community needs section around our three priority areas.

2. Voice Documents

How do we talk about our work?

These teach Sidekick how you sound:

  • Previous reports you're proud of
  • Annual reports
  • Stakeholder communications
  • Style guides (if you have them)

Sidekick generates smart, tailored writing even without voice documents. But when you upload your own materials, it can match your distinct tone, word choices, and personality.

Example prompt addition:

Use the attached annual report as a style reference. Match its tone and level of detail in the executive summary.

3. Data and Research

What do we already know?

These make your deliverable uniquely yours:

  • Community assessments you've conducted
  • Survey results
  • Internal research
  • Program data
  • Local reports not in public datasets

If you've already done the heavy lifting of gathering community input or analyzing local trends, don't make Sidekick start from scratch. Upload it.

Example prompt addition:

The attached survey results show what residents identified as top priorities. Incorporate those findings into the community needs section.

What not to Attach

At this time, Sidekick reads text—not images or embedded tables. If your document is mostly charts, infographics, or scanned pages, Sidekick won't be able to use it. At least not yet. Quick rule of thumb: If you can highlight and copy the text, Sidekick can probably read it. If it's an image, it can't.

Also skip:

  • Outdated documents with information you don't want repeated
  • Documents where only a small section is relevant (pull that excerpt instead)

Tell Sidekick How to Use Your Documents

Once you upload a document, Sidekick automatically looks for relevant information to incorporate. But you'll get better results when you tell Sidekick how to use what you've shared.

A couple more examples:

  • Reference the tone and structure of the attached annual report when writing the executive summary.
  • Use the data from the attached program report to support the impact narrative.

The more direction you give, the more intentional the output.

Quick Recap

  • Upload documents that show your direction, your voice, or your own data and research
  • Skip anything that's mostly images, outdated, or too long to be useful
  • Tell Sidekick exactly how to use what you've shared