Comms Foundations Index

What it is

The Comms Foundations Index is the contents page for your communications function. It lists the foundational documents that should underpin everything you produce: your positioning, your message house, your audience profiles, your brand voice, your AI use principles, and anything else your team treats as a standing reference.

Most teams have at least some of these documents. The problem is rarely that they do not exist; it is that they live in different drives, different formats and different states of repair, so people start from scratch instead of from the agreed position. The Index fixes that. It says, in one place: here is what we have agreed, here is where it lives, here is who keeps it current, and here is when we last checked it.

It is also the document that gives this whole layer a future. As Comms With AI develops, an index like this becomes the thing your tools can read: the set of foundations that a planning tool draws on so its output reflects your real positions, not a generic guess. Building the index now, even as a simple document, is the first step toward foundations that actively inform your work rather than sitting in a folder.

When to use it

Use this template when:

• Your foundation documents are scattered and people keep reinventing positions that already exist
• You are starting a new project and want it grounded in agreed foundations from the first day
• You are bringing in a new team member, freelancer or agency who needs your established positions fast
• You want a single, current reference that both people and AI tools can rely on

Don’t use this template when:

• You have not yet created the underlying foundations (start with the Comms Foundations Playbook toolkit; the Index records what you build)

Inputs needed

• A quick audit of what foundation documents exist and where they are stored
• A named owner for each one, so it is clear who keeps it current
• Honest last-reviewed dates, and honest gaps where a document is missing or stale

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The template

Comms Foundations Index

Organisation: [Name] Maintained by: [Name and role] Last updated: [Date] Review cadence: [e.g. reviewed quarterly]

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Core foundations

The documents most communications work should reference. Fill in the location, owner and status for each. Mark anything you do not yet have as “Missing” so the gap is visible.

Foundation	What it covers	Document / link	Owner	Last reviewed	Status
Positioning statement	Who we are, what we do, why we are different	[Link]	[Owner]	[Date]	Current / Stale / Missing
Message house	Core message, supporting pillars, proof points	[Link]	[Owner]	[Date]	Current / Stale / Missing
Key messages grid	Messages adapted by audience and channel	[Link]	[Owner]	[Date]	Current / Stale / Missing
Audience profiles	Who we communicate with and what they care about	[Link]	[Owner]	[Date]	Current / Stale / Missing
Brand voice and tone	How we sound, and how we do not	[Link]	[Owner]	[Date]	Current / Stale / Missing
AI use principles	Our foundational stance on AI in comms	[Link]	[Owner]	[Date]	Current / Stale / Missing
Proof points bank	Evidence that backs our claims	[Link]	[Owner]	[Date]	Current / Stale / Missing

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Supporting foundations (optional)

Add any others your team treats as standing references.

Foundation	What it covers	Document / link	Owner	Last reviewed	Status
Boilerplate and approved descriptions	Standard org descriptions, sign-offs	[Link]	[Owner]	[Date]	Current / Stale / Missing
Spokespeople and quote bank	Approved voices and quotable lines	[Link]	[Owner]	[Date]	Current / Stale / Missing
Visual identity references	Logo, colour, image guidance	[Link]	[Owner]	[Date]	Current / Stale / Missing
[Add your own]

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Gaps and priorities

List the foundations that are missing or stale, and the order you will address them.

Gap	Why it matters	Priority (H/M/L)	Owner	Target date

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How to use this index

[A short note for your team: that new project folders should start by linking the relevant foundations from this index; that AI prompts should be grounded in these documents rather than improvised positions; and that anyone spotting a stale foundation should flag it to the owner.]

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AI prompt

Base prompt

I'm building a Comms Foundations Index for my communications team: a single list of our canonical foundation documents with owners and review status.

Here is what I know we have, and where it lives:
[LIST what exists, e.g. "Positioning doc in SharePoint; message house in a 2024 deck; no documented brand voice; informal AI use, no principles written down"]

Please:
1. Organise this into a clear index of core and supporting foundations
2. Flag which standard comms foundations appear to be missing or out of date
3. Suggest a sensible priority order for closing the gaps, with a one-line reason for each
4. Recommend an owner type (role, not name) for each foundation

Be practical and concise. I want a usable index and a short to-do list, not a lecture.

Prompt variations

Variation 1: Grounding a new project

Here is our Comms Foundations Index:

[PASTE INDEX]

I'm starting a new project: [DESCRIBE PROJECT]. Which of our foundations are most relevant, and what should I check is current before I begin? List the specific documents I should pull into the project folder.

Tips for better AI output:

• Be honest about what is missing; the value is in surfacing gaps, not hiding them
• Use role-based owners (e.g. “Head of Comms”) so the index survives staff changes
• Revisit the index on a set cadence; an index that is itself out of date defeats the point

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Human review checklist

• Everything has an owner: no foundation is listed without someone responsible for keeping it current
• Locations actually resolve: every link or location works and points to the live version
• Status is honest: stale and missing foundations are marked as such, not glossed over
• Gaps are prioritised: the missing foundations have an order and an owner, not just a flag
• Single source of truth: where duplicates exist, the index points to the one canonical version
• Review date set: the index has its own review cadence
• Usable by a newcomer: someone new could find your agreed positions from this alone

Example output

Comms Foundations Index, Lumen Trust (illustrative, core foundations only)

Foundation	Document	Owner	Last reviewed	Status
Positioning statement	/Comms/Foundations/positioning-2026	Head of Comms	May 2026	Current
Message house	/Comms/Foundations/message-house-2026	Head of Comms	May 2026	Current
Audience profiles	/Comms/Foundations/audiences	Senior Comms Officer	Jan 2025	Stale
Brand voice and tone	—	—	—	Missing
AI use principles	/Comms/Foundations/ai-principles	Head of Comms	Jun 2026	Current

Top gap: brand voice and tone is undocumented, which makes voice consistency (and AI voice-checking) impossible. Priority: High, owned by Head of Comms, target end Q3.

Note: illustrative. Your index will reflect your own documents and gaps.

Related templates

• AI Use Principles - One of the core foundations this index should record
• Message House - Build the messaging foundation, then index it here
• Positioning Statement Generator - Define positioning before indexing it
• Comms Audience Profile - Build the audience foundation this index points to

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Want your foundations built, indexed and kept current? Deploy Comms With AI sets them up and Manage Comms With AI keeps the index live.