Project kickoff email: four templates for freelancers

The short answer

A project kickoff email goes out the day the client accepts the quote and pays the deposit. It confirms what was agreed, names the start date and the first milestone, lists what you need from the client and by when, and proposes a short kickoff call. Then you send an agenda before the call and a short update at the end of the first week.

Four emails. None of them longer than a screen.

Why bother with a kickoff email

The quote said what you will do. The kickoff email says how the next weeks will actually run. Most of the problems I have had on projects since 2014 started in the first week: the brand files arrived three weeks late, the person giving feedback turned out to be someone I had never spoken to, or the client thought "first drafts" meant something finished.

All three of those are a sentence in a kickoff email. Writing them down once, early, is cheaper than discovering them in week four.

The kickoff comes after the paperwork, not instead of it. The agreement should already be signed and the deposit invoice paid. If you are still at that stage, the client onboarding checklist covers what to have in place before you start, and the guide on the deposit invoice covers the first payment.

Template 1: the kickoff email

Send it the day the project is confirmed. Copy it, then cut anything that does not apply.

Subject: [Project name]: we are starting on [date]

Hi [name],

Thanks for confirming, and for the deposit, which arrived today.
Here is how the next few weeks will run.

What we agreed
- Scope: [one line, e.g. a logo, colour palette and a short
  brand guide], as in the quote [quote number] of [date].
- Revisions: [two] rounds of changes on the chosen direction.
- Delivery: final files by [date].

Timeline
- [date]: kickoff call (see below)
- [date]: first concepts
- [date]: your feedback on the concepts
- [date]: revised version
- [date]: final files and handover

What I need from you, by [date]
- [the list from template 3, or a link to it]

Who decides
I will send everything to you. If anyone else needs to approve the
work, can you tell me who, so their feedback comes in the same round
and not after it?

Kickoff call
Could we do 30 minutes on [two or three options]? I will send a
short agenda the day before.

Thanks,
[your name]

The "who decides" paragraph is the one I would never drop. Feedback from a manager who appears after the second revision round is the most common reason a fixed-price project runs over. More on that in tracking project budget against hours.

Template 2: the kickoff call agenda

Send it the day before the call. A call with an agenda takes 30 minutes. A call without one takes an hour and decides nothing.

Subject: Agenda for tomorrow's kickoff call, [project name]

Hi [name],

For tomorrow at [time, with time zone]. Link: [call link].

1. The goal (5 min). What does this project need to achieve, and
   how will you judge it in six months?
2. The audience (5 min). Who is it for, and who is it not for?
3. Examples (5 min). Two or three things you like, and one you
   don't, from any field.
4. Constraints (5 min). Existing brand rules, technical limits,
   legal or approval steps, fixed dates.
5. Feedback and approval (5 min). Who gives feedback, in what form,
   and how many days it usually takes.
6. Next steps (5 min). What happens before the first concepts.

If there is anything you want to add, reply and I will put it in.

Thanks,
[your name]

Take notes during the call, and send them the same day. Anything said on a call and not written down did not happen, as far as a dispute is concerned.

Template 3: what I need from you

This one can be a section in the kickoff email or its own message. I send it on its own when the list is long, because a separate email with a clear subject is easier for the client to forward to whoever has the files.

Subject: [Project name]: what I need from you by [date]

Hi [name],

To start on [date], I need the following. A shared folder or a
reply with attachments both work.

- [Brand files: logo in vector format (AI, EPS, SVG or PDF)]
- [Fonts, or the font names and licences]
- [Copy for the pages / product text / script]
- [Access: CMS login, staging site, shared drive]
- [Product photos, CAD files or reference images]
- [Name and email of anyone else who will give feedback]
- [Invoicing details: company name, address, VAT or tax number,
  purchase order number if your accounts team needs one]

If something is not ready yet, tell me when it will be, and I will
plan around it. The timeline moves by the same number of days as
anything that arrives late.

The last sentence is the point of the whole email. Say it calmly, once, at the start, and you can refer back to it later without it sounding like a complaint. Ask for invoicing details now, too. Finding out at the end that the client's finance team needs a purchase order number on every invoice adds weeks to your first payment; the guide on what to put on an invoice has the full list of details you will need.

Template 4: the first week update

Send it at the end of the first week, even if there is not much to show. Clients do not mind slow weeks; they mind not knowing.

Subject: [Project name]: week 1 update

Hi [name],

Where we are:
- Done: [research, moodboard, first sketches]
- Next week: [first concepts, on track for [date]]
- Waiting on: [the product photos, due [date]]

Hours or budget: on plan.
[or: We are about [x] hours over on research because of [reason].
I am absorbing it, no change to the price.]
[or: The extra [item] you asked for on [date] is outside the quote.
It is about [x] hours, so [amount]. Shall I add it?]

Nothing needed from you this week [or: one thing: ...].

Thanks,
[your name]

Pick one of the three budget lines. The second is for your own underestimate and the third is for a change in scope; keep them apart, because the client pays for one and not the other.

A few rules for all four

• One email, one purpose. A kickoff email that also asks about an old invoice gets half read.
• Real dates, not "next week". "Wednesday 14 October" leaves no room to disagree.
• Put the project name at the start of every subject line, so the thread is easy to find in three months.
• Reply on the same thread for the whole project, unless the client's team uses a project tool or chat they would rather work in.
• Keep it in your own voice. These are starting points, not scripts. If a sentence sounds like something you would never say on a call, change it.

If the project has not been confirmed yet and you are still at the quote stage, the quote generator makes the PDF with a valid-until date, and the statement of work guide covers what the scope section needs, so the kickoff email has something solid to point back to.

Questions