How to write a crowdfunding campaign page

Your campaign page is your shop window, your introduction and your promise, all in one. People who arrive from a message or a post decide in a few seconds whether to stay, and in a few minutes whether to back you. This guide sets out what the page needs, in what order, and what the research says about words, images, video and the target.

Words matter more than you think

Two researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology analysed 45,000 Kickstarter projects and 9 million phrases. The result: the language on the page alone explains 58.56% of the difference between campaigns that succeed and campaigns that fail.^[1] Among the phrases that predict success are those about reciprocity: “you will also receive”, “in return you get”. Another study found that readability, tone and evidence of experience all count: people who show what they have already done are more convincing.^[2]

You don’t need to write like a novelist. You need to write clearly, concretely and honestly, the way you would talk to someone you respect.

What the page needs to say

Kickstarter sums up the points that can’t be left out.^[5]

1. Who you are: you, your team and what you have already done.
2. What you want to make, in specific terms.
3. Why now, and why it matters.
4. How you will use the money, with a simple breakdown: “so people understand you have a plan and can trust you”.
5. When, with a clear timeline of what will happen and when the rewards will arrive.
6. The risks, and how you plan to deal with them.

On Campagna Crowdfunding the page comes already divided into these sections: the story, the problem, the solution, the people behind it, the rewards, the frequently asked questions. The platform writes the first draft from a few lines of yours; you edit it until it sounds like you.

Title and opening line

There is no serious research on titles, only common sense. The title should say what is being made, not how good you are: “The first album by The So-and-Sos, on vinyl” works better than “Help us make our dream come true”. The line right underneath should answer the question every reader asks: why should I care?

The story

• Start with the person or the problem, not the amount.
• Use concrete examples: a name, a place, a day.
• Show what you have already done: the prototype, the gig, the first readers.
• Say clearly what backers will receive, and when.
• End with a direct ask: choose a reward, share, get in touch.

Readers don’t back a project. They back the people making it.

Images and video

The most quoted figure comes from Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School: across more than 48,000 projects, not having a video cut the chances of success by 26%, all else being equal.^[4] The video doesn’t have to be a film: two minutes, your face, the project, what you are asking for. An honest video shot on your phone beats a glossy one you don’t appear in.

Images do their share of the work too. A study of 13,622 technology campaigns found that more images and videos improve fundraising, and that when there are plenty of images, long text matters less.^[3] The rule of thumb: text that is complete but not padded, and images that say what words would take a paragraph to say. Kickstarter also recommends captions and subtitles, so that more people can follow.^[5]

On Campagna Crowdfunding you can generate images for your campaign, always without text, or upload your own photos. If you have real photos of the project and the people, use them: no generated image is worth the face of someone who puts their name to it.

The target

All the studies point the same way: higher targets succeed less often.^[4] A modest, reachable target is also a sign of seriousness to readers.^[7] And there is a further effect: as a campaign gets closer to its target, pledges increase, and the effect is stronger when the target is small.^[8]

Kickstarter puts it this way: the target is the minimum you need to deliver what you promise and send out the rewards, and to set it you start from a budget and a cautious estimate of how many people you can reach.^[6] With “keep it all” the reasoning shifts a little: the target is the milestone you tell people about, but whatever you raise stays with the project anyway. We cover this in the guide All or nothing or keep it all.

Updates

The page doesn’t stop on launch day. In Mollick’s study, not posting an update in the first three days was linked to a 13% lower chance of success.^[4] Another study found that certain ways of using updates matter more than the project description itself^[9], and Indiegogo observed that successful campaigns post at least four updates on average.^[10]

• day one: thank you, and how much you have raised together;
• each milestone: 25%, 50%, the target;
• news from the project: a photo from the studio, a prototype, a guest;
• the final days: how much is left and why it’s worth being part of it.

On Campagna Crowdfunding the sections of your story can still be edited once the campaign is live, precisely so you can keep your backers up to date.

The final check

In Mollick’s study, spelling mistakes were linked to a 13% lower chance of success.^[4] Before you publish, ask two people who don’t know the project to read the page and tell you three things: what they understood, what they would receive, and what is missing for them to decide. On Campagna Crowdfunding there is one more read in any case: no campaign goes live until a person has read it.

Once the page is ready, the next step is getting it to the right people: The launch plan.

Frequently asked questions