How do I describe my project to potential lenders?
Updated
by Steward Team
Many of the borrowers we have worked with struggle to come up with the right words to use to describe their project to their customers or community. We often hear that borrowers are worried about making it sounds like a donation, rather than a loan.
Below are a couple of ideas for how to explain to your network that this is a loan, not a donation! The key item to remember is to lead with your story and share the opportunity to support your business and the broader regenerative agriculture movement.
How to craft your pitch for support:
Here is an outline and a few templates to make it easy to share this opportunity with your community:
- Headline or subject line (hook)⏤Short sentence to grab attention.
- Share business vision⏤Introductory paragraph on your business outlook and how you plan to use your loan to grow your business.
- Tie-in regenerative agriculture⏤1-2 sentences how your business's regenerative & sustainable practices will benefit the community, local economy, and environment.
- Pitch lending opportunity⏤Use Steward’s messaging to talk about loan participation.
- Call-to-action⏤Drive interested parties to your Project Page on Steward’s website (using a unique web link we will provide) for details on loan terms and interest rate.
A few talking points:
- How to talk about your Steward loan (a few examples):
“Support regenerative agriculture by joining our lending campaign on Steward.”
“Join in a special lending opportunity that supports regenerative agriculture and will help propel our farm/ranch/food business forward.”
“We are partnering with Steward, a private lender, to get a loan that will allow us to grow our business. You can join in too, by becoming a participating lender and supporting regenerative agriculture in our community.”
“Steward offers a unique opportunity to support our business by participating in our secured, interest-bearing loan.”
“This is not a donation—it’s a loan. All participating lenders will be repaid over time with X% interest and there are no fees."
