Think of your campaign story as a personal, heartfelt letter to your readers. You want to share your journey with them: tell them who you are, why you launched this particular publication, what gap it aims to fill in the media landscape — what stories it tells that no one else is telling or telling well; which voices it amplifies that others misrepresent or ignore — and what filling this gap means to you personally as a member of this community you aim to serve.

Writing a strong, honest, heartfelt campaign story is key to a successful campaign. This is where you move your readers — where you connect with them and convince them your publication fills a need that matters to them, and is therefore worth supporting.

Each publisher’s campaign story will be unique — and uniquely written in their personal voice. But aim to include the following key elements in all campaign stories:

Personalized introduction from the publisher (or editor/reporter): Who you are, why doing this journalism matters to you personally, what it means to you as a member of the community you aim to serve. Storytelling intro, personal narrative from a real person who cares — make it engaging. In 1-2 paragraphs tell us the story, succinctly, of why you launched this project and what it means to you as an underserved community member. (See examples of strong campaign stories below)

Why your publication is necessary — ie. What gap does it fill in the local media landscape?

Such as: the existing local media outlet is not staffed by local journalists so it lacks context and continuity, if it covers this community at all.

Or: the mainstream media misrepresents New Jersey’s Black community, so we need our own platform to reclaim our narrative and tell our stories our way.

This sets the stage for your value proposition — show your readers how poorly served they currently are by existing media, and why they should care.

We’re here to tell our stories our way, on our own platform.
​OR: We’re here to cover our community through local eyes.

OR: [state your value proposition] This is your publication’s key value proposition — make sure it’s succinctly articulated and compelling! It’s the heart of your campaign story.

But we need your help. OR: That’s where you come in. We can’t do this without you…OR: That’s why we’re asking our readers to contribute. Together we can… Make the ask! Be clear and bold; don’t shy away from this critical part of your email! Show your readers this journalism can’t be sustainably done without them (and they want to help fill the gap you identified above).

With your help, we can expand our coverage to include xxx…

OR: With your help, we can hire more freelancers to better serve our community and tell more of our stories…

OR: With your help, we can launch this investigation to delve more deeply into xxx…

OR: With your help, we can amplify more voices and celebrate our community’s strength and resilience, while confronting the challenges we face.

Be specific so readers know what they’re contributing to and where the money will go — how it will be used to better serve their community. Inspire them to pitch in!

Because I believe the time has come for a platform dedicated to sharing our voices on our terms…

OR: Because everyone deserves good, independent, genuinely local journalism.

OR: We don’t want to put our stories behind a paywall, so we need your support to create accessible, in-depth, original work. Help us cover the communities we call home…

If just 40 of you reading this newsletter sign up right now to give us a hand, we’ll hit our goal. OR: If just 50 of you reading this newsletter sign up right now to give us a hand, we’ll be better able to serve our community in 2022.

BUTTON: [Sign me up]Can you help us serve you better?

Become a [pub name] member today, and your monthly contribution will help ensure [this homegrown, community-focused news is here to stay]. With appreciation,

[your name]

Cold Tea Collective — Founder Natasha Jung writes a personal. compelling story of the pivotal moment that changed her career and shaped her commitment to telling her community’s stories. It’s too long for a launch email but read it for the storytelling narrative.

Palm Springs Post — Perhaps the gold standard for personalized storytelling, though way too long for most publications. Read it for inspiration on how to tell an engaging story honestly, from your heart!

The Discourse — Reporter Jacqueline Ronson has a beautiful, authentic voice and tells her story with sincerity and passion. Again, a gold standard for personalized, relatable storytelling, if a bit long for many publications.

And here is an earlier campaign story from Jacqueline that covers a lot of the key elements we’ve discussed above: The Discourse (May 2019)

Tri-Cities Dispatch — Managing editor Jeremy Shepherd's personal story of his connection to his community and his commitment to good local journalism.

Ottawa Sports Pages — Publisher Dan Plouffe on why he devotes his community journalism to covering up-and-coming amateur athletes, and why he could use your support.