The project overview is where you’ll share your story and research idea with potential contributors. Use your video, project title, and description to quickly and clearly communicate the nature of your research, making sure that that your end goals are clearly defined and testable. This will give potential backers confidence that you will see the project through to completion.
Project Title:
Your title should be concise and catchy, designed to capture the curiosity of your audience and make them want to know more about your project.
Excerpt:
A short paragraph summarizing the nature of your work and why it matters for human longevity. Think of this like a short abstract.
Description:
Here is where you can describe your project in depth. Keep in mind that most of your audience will not have the same academic background as you do, so try and explain your research in as accessible manner as possible. You can start off with a simpler overview of your research, timeline, and budget, and then go into greater detail below.
Thumbnail:
An image that will be shown on top of your project when displayed throughout the site. Choose an image that is both exciting, and properly illustrates your research. Images that involve people or other living organisms typically have the best engagement response. If you can not create your own images, there are a variety of great online resources such as flickr.com and shutterstock.com from which to freely download or purchase images.
Funding Goal:
When choosing a funding goal amount it is important to consider the type of funding you are choosing (All-or-nothing or flexible), your project budget, our fee structure, and your expected level of reach. In total your funding goal should be the minimum amount needed to complete the project (materials, and equipment, researcher compensation, presentation costs, etc) and fulfill any contributor rewards you decide upon.
Funding Timeline:
The project funding timeline on Lifespan.io can last anywhere between 1 and 60 days. Typically, projects lasting 30 days or fewer have higher success rates, as they project a sense of confidence and help motivate contributors to act as soon as possible. Remember that this timeline is only for fundraising; the timeline for the completion of your research project is up to you and should be specified in your project details and video.
Video:
The project video is the best tool you have for generating interest in your project. The next section goes into detail on how you can make yours great.