diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/generated_status/goal.html b/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/generated_status/goal.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3b4d0de4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/generated_status/goal.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{% load humanize %}set a goal to read {{ goal.goal | intcomma }} book{{ goal.goal | pluralize }} in {{ goal.year }}
diff --git a/bookwyrm/views/goal.py b/bookwyrm/views/goal.py
index 87404b10..4f2d1b6f 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/views/goal.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/views/goal.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
 from django.http import HttpResponseNotFound
 from django.shortcuts import redirect
+from django.template.loader import get_template
 from django.template.response import TemplateResponse
 from django.utils.decorators import method_decorator
 from django.views import View
@@ -62,9 +63,10 @@ class Goal(View):
 
         if request.POST.get('post-status'):
             # create status, if appropraite
+            template = get_template('snippets/generated_status/goal.html')
             create_generated_note(
                 request.user,
-                'set a goal to read %d books in %d' % (goal.goal, goal.year),
+                template.render({'goal': goal, 'user': request.user}).strip(),
                 privacy=goal.privacy
             )