When someone lands on your project page, you need to make a connection quickly and get them excited about your plans. 

Make the most of the opportunity to connect with new supporters with a well-written story that is engaging, structured and concise. You don’t want to end up with a massively long project page, but you also need to ensure you’re providing enough detail to capture your audience’s attention. It’s a balancing act! Alongside the written text, pictures can also help to add colour and personality to your story.

While this task doesn’t require a professional writer, this could be a good opportunity to get a little help from a friend if you’re not confident in this area. 

Key points

Before getting stuck into writing the story for your project page, it’s a good idea to spend a little planning and making notes about what you want to include. To get started, have a go at jotting down a short but specific answer for each of these key questions:

1. What exactly are you trying to do?
2. How are you going to do it? 
3. Why does your project matter? 
4. What impact are you hoping to have?
5. What makes your project unique?
6. What are your motivations for doing this project?
7. When did you start working on your project?
8. What milestones have you achieved already? 
9. What have you learned along the way?
10. What will the money raised be spent on?

Bonus question, if relevant: What are the rewards on offer? 

These key points make up the foundation of your story, so make sure that you cover each of them on your project page. You could even tick each one off as you go. Next we’ll look at how to structure your story. 

Structure

Just like an article in a newspaper, the story on your project page should aim to hook the reader from the very first line. This kind of “inverted pyramid” structure has been around for centuries in journalism. You’ll probably be very familiar with the way a newspaper uses a shocking headline to make a splash, then summarises the key facts of the story before going into detail further down the page. 

It’s pretty common these days for us to just read the first few paragraphs before making our next click, so you’ll now find that most stories online follow this structure. To make sure potential supporters read the most important parts of your story, we’re going to use this structure too. It should look something like this: 

• Start with an attention-grabbing headline to engage the reader
• Outline the key points of your project
• Dive into the detail and tell the full story
• Add some testimonials to back you up and add credibility
• Finish with FAQs that people might have about your project, organisation or crowdfund

Top tips

Organising your story into short sections will make your project page much easier to read. Use headings to break it up and direct your supporters to where they can find the information they’re looking for. You can also use bullet points for lists, along with the bold tool to highlight key points. 

When it comes to connecting with people on your page, visuals play a big part too. Add lots of photos, as well as any other images that help to make your project shine. These might include reward images, infographics, maps, design sketches and team photos

Your Crowdfunder project page should be a jargon-free zone. Stick to using simple language that everyone can understand. Try to avoid using the same words again and again. If you’re really stuck , try an online thesaurus for suggestions of similar options. 

Be specific when describing your project and your journey to make it happen. Let’s looks at these two examples;

“The local football club has been rubbish for many years”

“Pemburton Football Club hasn’t won a game since 2001”

While they both tell the same story, most people would find the second version much more interesting because of the additional details. It’s not a longer sentence, just a more specific one. 

Finally, don’t be afraid to be brutal when reviewing and editing your story. Cut out all the “fluff” to ensure your project page remains short and sweet. It’s often a good idea to ask a couple of friends to proofread it and give feedback too.

Looking for more guidance on your crowdfunding project? Head over to the Knowledge Hub.