crowdfunding
Enable an AI agent to recognise a crowdfunding undertaking, assess its fundraising and delivery state, and determine which actions its recorded terms and permissions allow.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
Researched by: Codex + Grok
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to recognise a crowdfunding undertaking, assess its fundraising and delivery state, and determine which actions its recorded terms and permissions allow.
Crowdfunding is a method of raising capital or other resources from a large number of people, typically via an online platform, in which each contributor supplies a relatively small amount under a disclosed offer (donation, reward, equity, lending, or royalty) rather than through a single institutional financier.
It can be Classify the contribution arrangement and identify missing or contradictory campaign terms.; Assess participation and funding progress using explicitly defined monetary stages and counting rules.; Determine whether a proposed contribution, withdrawal, campaign change, or closure is permitted by the recorded terms.; Evaluate whether documented collection, release, or refund conditions have been satisfied.; Trace contributor commitments to delivery, repayment, refund, or unresolved disputes.; Prepare or execute an authorised campaign action while recording its basis and outcome..
Distinguishing features
An organiser solicits contributions through a shared offer to a potentially plural crowd, rather than negotiating the entire funding arrangement with one selected counterparty.
Contributions support an identifiable purpose or funding undertaking; ordinary sales without a collective funding proposition do not qualify merely because many customers purchase.
The arrangement connects individual contributions to a shared fundraising process, although it need not have a fixed target, deadline, or minimum number of actual contributors.
The expected return can be absent, symbolic, a reward, repayment, or a financial interest; the presence of a reward alone does not establish crowdfunding.
The campaign can be distinguished from its hosting platform, its recipient organisation, and the project it finances.
Scope
+ The funded purpose, organiser, intended beneficiaries, and campaign boundaries
+ The crowd-facing offer and what contributors receive or expect in return
+ Contribution eligibility, acceptance, withdrawal, and campaign participation
+ Funding targets, deadlines, thresholds, and conditions for releasing funds
+ Aggregate funding progress, deductions, refunds, and delivery obligations
- The crowdfunding platform's organisation, software architecture, and general operations
- Payment processing infrastructure and individual payment instruments
- The internal execution of the project or business receiving funding
- Full legal and economic models of securities, loans, and ownership interests
- Contributors' broader portfolios, finances, and identities beyond campaign participation
Characteristics
- Contribution arrangement
- Donation, reward, preorder, lending, equity, hybrid, other, or unresolved; preserve the organiser's stated classification Determines which contributor expectations and obligations the agent must inspect.
- Funding rule
- Threshold-dependent, retain-what-is-raised, recurring, milestone-based, other, or unspecified Connects fundraising outcomes to collection, release, continuation, or refund decisions.
- Funding target
- Amount and currency per stated target, or explicitly no target Provides the reference against which funding progress can be judged.
- Funding totals
- Amounts by currency and stage: pledged, collected, cleared, released, refunded, and net available Prevents promises, collected cash, and spendable proceeds from being treated as interchangeable.
- Funding window
- Opening and closing timestamps with timezone, recurring interval, or explicitly open-ended Establishes when contributions and funding-condition evaluations apply.
- Contributor participation
- Distinct contributor count and contribution count, with counting basis and observation time Distinguishes participation breadth from repeated contributions and headline funding amounts.
- Campaign phase
- Proposed, open, paused, closed, cancelled, or unresolved, with effective time Shows whether the campaign is currently accepting participation.
- Obligation status
- Not yet due, pending, partly fulfilled, fulfilled, overdue, disputed, discharged, or unresolved per obligation Separates successful fundraising from completed delivery or repayment.
- Accountable parties
- Links to organiser, recipient, beneficiary, platform, funds custodian, and fulfilment party where applicable Identifies who makes promises, controls funds, and can authorise each action.
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions.
Funding purpose and offer The undertaking presented to the crowd and the exchange, if any, offered for support.
An agent must distinguish what is being funded from what contributors are promised.
Funded undertaking
The purpose and boundaries of this particular solicitation.
Purpose and beneficiary
Record the stated use of contributions, intended beneficiary, and relationship to other fundraising efforts.
- What undertaking or continuing purpose is the crowd being asked to fund, and who is intended to benefit? definition
- What distinguishes this campaign from another round, recurring appeal, or separate campaign for the same project? boundary
Contributor exchange
The terms connecting a contribution to an expected return or absence of return.
Offer and return
Record contribution types, tiers, promised benefits, and the terms applicable when a contributor participates.
- Does each contribution constitute a gift, obtain a reward or preorder, create a repayment claim or financial interest, or combine these arrangements? definition
- Which dated offer and tier terms establish what this contributor was promised? provenance
Crowd participation How people enter, support, and leave the fundraising arrangement.
Crowdfunding aggregates individual decisions whose eligibility and commitment status may differ.
Access and eligibility
The audience solicited and the conditions governing acceptance of contributions.
Participation boundaries
Record invitation scope, eligibility requirements, and contribution limits without assuming universal access.
- Which crowd can encounter and respond to the offer, and what recorded conditions restrict who may contribute? boundary
- What checks and permissions must be satisfied before a proposed contribution can be accepted? action
Contribution lifecycle
The difference between an expression of support, a pledge, and a completed contribution.
Commitment and withdrawal
Record each contribution's commitment stage and the conditions for changing or withdrawing it.
- At what recorded event does support become a pledge, a collection authorisation, or a completed payment? definition
- Under the applicable terms, when may the contributor or organiser amend, cancel, reject, or reverse this contribution? action
Collective funding conditions How contributions combine into a fundraising outcome.
A campaign's collective funding rules determine what individual contributions enable and when.
Targets and windows
The thresholds and time boundaries used to evaluate fundraising.
Funding success rule
Record targets, deadlines, caps, and the precise basis for evaluating any funding condition.
- Which targets, deadlines, caps, or recurring periods apply, and which are binding conditions rather than promotional goals? definition
- Which contribution stages, currencies, and deductions count when determining whether a funding threshold has been reached? measurement
Outcomes and amendments
The consequences of fundraising results and changes to the original proposition.
Conditional campaign transitions
Record what follows from missing, meeting, or exceeding a target and who may alter the campaign.
- What happens to contributions and commitments if the campaign misses its target, exceeds it, reaches a cap, or is cancelled? action
- Who may extend the deadline, change the target, or introduce stretch commitments, and what notice or contributor consent is required by the recorded terms? action
Funds and release The movement from crowd commitments to usable proceeds and any return of funds.
A displayed total does not establish that money has cleared, reached the recipient, or remains available.
Funding reconciliation
A consistent account of gross support, payment outcomes, and net proceeds.
Pledges to available proceeds
Record monetary stages, fees, failed collections, reversals, and differences between reported totals.
- As of what time, how much is pledged, collected, cleared, refunded, and available after recorded deductions, in each currency? measurement
- Which campaign reports, payment records, or settlement statements support these amounts and explain discrepancies? provenance
Custody and disbursement
Control of contributed funds before and during release to the recipient.
Release and refund authority
Record who holds funds, the conditions governing disbursement, and how refund decisions become actual payments.
- Who currently holds or controls the funds, and what evidence establishes the applicable release or hold conditions? provenance
- Which release or refund action is presently authorised, for what amount and recipient, and which conditions remain unmet? action
Promises and accountability What remains owed to contributors and beneficiaries after fundraising decisions.
Fundraising completion and fulfilment are separate states, particularly when rewards, repayments, or restricted uses remain outstanding.
Obligations and delivery
The commitments created by the offer and evidence of their fulfilment.
Outstanding crowd commitments
Record applicable use-of-funds promises, rewards, reporting duties, or linked financial obligations and their current status.
- What commitments arise from each applicable offer or tier, who owes them, and when do they become due? definition
- What evidence supports fulfilment, partial fulfilment, delay, or discharge of each commitment? provenance
Updates, disputes, and closure
How material changes and unresolved commitments affect the campaign's next actions and completion.
Unresolved promises and remedies
Record communicated changes, complaints, available remedies, and any obligations that survive campaign closure.
- Which unmet promises or material changes require an update, contributor choice, refund consideration, or dispute referral under the recorded terms? action
- What does closure mean for this campaign, and which delivery, repayment, reporting, or dispute obligations continue afterward? boundary
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- donation-based (no financial return; often charitable or civic)
- reward-based / perks (non-financial consideration: product, experience, credit)
- equity / investment-based (securities: shares, membership interests, or profit participation)
- lending / debt-based / P2P (repayable loans, sometimes with interest)
- royalty / revenue-share (ongoing share of future receipts)
- real-estate crowdfunding (property equity or debt via a platform)
- invoice / receivable financing (advance against invoices via a crowd of lenders)
- patronage / recurring membership (ongoing small payments for continued work, e.g. creator platforms)
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Wikidata - Q189022 - Item 'crowdfunding'; related: Q1508756 (Kickstarter), Q1666248 (Indiegogo), equity/lending subtypes as separate items where modelled.
- Library of Congress Subject Headings - sh2012002090 / Crowdfunding - LCSH authorised heading.
- GND (German National Library) - 7853571-0 - Gemeinsame Normdatei for Schwarmfinanzierung / Crowdfunding.
- SEC / EDGAR form type - C, C-U, C-AR, C-TR, C-W - US Regulation Crowdfunding offering, progress, annual, termination, and withdrawal filings.
- NACE / NAICS (platforms, not the practice) - NAICS 522310 / 523910 (approx.); NACE K.64 / K.66 depending on lending vs investment intermediation - Industry codes classify the platform operator, not a crowdfunding campaign itself; mapping is messy and jurisdiction-specific.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- United States: JOBS Act Title III (CROWDFUND Act, 2012) and SEC Regulation Crowdfunding, 17 CFR Part 227; also Regulation A (Tier 2) and Rule 506(c) used for larger online offerings that are adjacent, not identical.
- European Union: Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 (ECSPR) - ESMA/EBA technical standards; MiFID II, Prospectus Regulation, and AMLD still bite at the edges; consumer-credit rules for lending models.
- United Kingdom: FCA COBS and the loan-based / investment-based crowdfunding regime originating in PS14/4; post-Brexit onshoring, not ECSPR passport.
- Securities-law overlay in most jurisdictions: prospectus/offer exemptions, funding-portal or broker-dealer licensing, advertising restrictions, and investor-cap / sophistication tests.
- Payment and AML: PSD2/open-banking, money-transmitter licences, FATF customer-due-diligence for platforms holding or moving funds.
- Platform private standards: Kickstarter/Indiegogo project guidelines; UKCFA / European Crowdfunding Network codes of conduct (industry, not law).
- Charity/donation overlays: fundraising-regulator and charity-law registration where the campaign is a charitable solicitation rather than a commercial offer.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- A creator lists a hardware or media project on Kickstarter or Indiegogo with reward tiers and a funding goal; backers pledge via card; funds (minus fees) release if the goal is met (all-or-nothing) or on a flexible schedule.
- A private company raises equity from non-accredited and accredited investors through a registered funding portal (e.g. under US Reg CF), filing Form C and delivering an annual report.
- Peer-to-peer or marketplace lending platforms match retail lenders to consumer or SME loans, with the platform servicing repayments.
- Municipal or civic campaigns (civic crowdfunding) finance a park, mural, or community facility, sometimes blended with a public match.
- Disaster-relief and medical campaigns on GoFundMe or similar donation platforms, often with no product and no securities analysis.
- Real-estate sponsors syndicate a property acquisition or development to many small investors via a specialised portal.
- Recurring patronage (Patreon, Liberapay, memberships) funds ongoing creative or open-source work rather than a one-shot campaign.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- campaign goal (target capital) - 10^2-10^7 (consumer/creator campaigns commonly 1e3-1e5; equity rounds often 5e4-5e6 under retail caps) - currency units of the offer (USD, EUR, GBP, etc.)
- amount pledged / amount raised - 0-several times the goal; median reward campaigns often miss or just meet goal, a fat tail overfunds - currency units
- number of backers / investors - tens to tens of thousands per campaign; equity deals often 50-500 investors - count of persons or legal entities
- platform success / completion rate - reward platforms historically ~30-40% of launched projects reach goal (Kickstarter-public stats, varying by category and year) - dimensionless fraction
- platform fee - 3-8% of funds raised plus payment-processing ~3% - percent of gross raised
- offering duration - 14-90 days for a discrete campaign; equity windows often 30-60 days; patronage is open-ended - days
- regulatory issuer cap (US Reg CF) - historically USD 1 million, later raised (SEC amendments) to USD 5 million in a 12-month period - USD per 12 months
- time-to-fulfilment / delivery slip (reward model) - often 3-18 months after close; hardware frequently late by 6-24 months - months
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Non-delivery: reward campaigns collect money and never ship, or ship a materially different product (Kickstarter Coolest Cooler and similar hardware failures are the type specimen).
- Fraud and misrepresentation: fabricated identity, fake traction, related-party use of proceeds, or stolen creative work.
- Securities-law breach: unregistered public offering, general solicitation outside an exemption, or unlicensed brokerage by the platform.
- Insolvency of issuer or platform: funds in transit, unsegregated client money, or a failed special-purpose vehicle.
- Adverse selection and information asymmetry: weak due diligence; crowd copies early pledges (herding) rather than screening.
- Illiquidity: equity and many real-estate interests have no secondary market; investors cannot exit.
- Credit default (lending model): borrower non-payment; model risk in automated scoring.
- Chargebacks, payment-processor holds, and AML freezes that strand a campaign mid-raise.
- IP and fulfilment operational failure: supply-chain, certification (CE/FCC), or scaling manufacturing after a viral campaign.
- Reputational and social harm: doxxing of unsuccessful creators; medical/disaster campaigns that divert from institutional relief or exploit sympathy.
- Systemic / conduct risk: platforms pushing high-risk mini-bonds or property schemes to retail (UK mini-bond and some P2P failures).
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- United States: 'crowdfunding' in statute usually means securities crowdfunding (Reg CF); donation/reward platforms operate largely outside securities law if no investment return is offered. State blue-sky 'intrastate' crowdfunding statutes coexist.
- European Union: ECSPR created a passport for business crowdfunding (lending and investment) up to a prospectus-adjacent cap; donation/reward remain national. France historically used 'financement participatif'; Germany 'Schwarmfinanzierung' with BaFin Vermögensanlagen rules before ECSPR.
- United Kingdom: sharp regulatory split between regulated loan-based and investment-based crowdfunding and unregulated donation/reward; FCA promotion rules are stricter than many EU states for retail investment.
- China: rapid P2P lending boom and subsequent near-total shutdown/rectification (2016-2020) - 'crowdfunding' there was often synonymous with online lending platforms, not Kickstarter-style rewards.
- Islamic-finance jurisdictions: sharia-compliant structures (no riba) reshape lending-based models into profit-sharing or murabaha-like contracts.
- Naming: English 'crowdfunding' vs French financement participatif, German Crowdfunding/Schwarmfinanzierung, Spanish micromecenazgo / financiación colectiva, Italian crowdfunding / finanziamento collettivo. 'Kickstarter' is often used generically for reward campaigns.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- traditional public offering / IPO or prospectus offering - An IPO or full prospectus offer is a registered securities distribution to the public through underwriters with listing and continuous-disclosure duties; crowdfunding (even equity CF) is a capped, often portal-intermediated exemption with lighter ongoing listing.
- venture capital / angel round - VC/angel is a small number of professional investors negotiating a priced round and governance rights; equity crowdfunding is many small tickets on standardised portal terms, usually with weaker control rights.
- peer-to-peer marketplace lending (when labelled as a separate industry) - P2P lending is the debt-crowdfunding species; the separator is consideration: a repayable claim versus a gift, perk, or residual equity claim. Some regulators treat P2P as consumer credit, not 'crowdfunding'.
- charitable fundraising / telethon / grant - Charity solicitation is a gift to a qualified entity under charity and tax law, often with deductibility; donation crowdfunding may be neither tax-deductible nor run by a charity. Test: legal status of the recipient and presence of a charitable registration.
- pre-order / e-commerce waitlist - A pre-order is a bilateral sale of a specified good with consumer-contract rights (refund, statutory guarantee); a reward pledge is typically a conditional contribution with limited consumer-sale protection if the project fails. Test: is there a binding contract of sale or a discretionary 'reward'?
- initial coin offering / token sale - An ICO raises against a crypto-token; it is crowdfunding-like in many-small-ticket structure but sits under securities, e-money, or commodity rules depending on token characterisation (Howey and equivalents). Test: is the instrument a platform-recorded security/loan/gift, or a distributed-ledger token?
- syndication / club deal / SPV pooling - A private syndicate pools a handful of known LPs into an SPV; crowdfunding is a public or semi-public invitation via a platform to an open or lightly gated crowd. Test: general solicitation and number/nature of offerees.
- microfinance / rotating savings (ROSCA) - Microfinance and ROSCAs are relationship- or group-based credit among known members, usually offline or MFI-intermediated; crowdfunding is platform-broadcast to strangers. Test: closed group vs open platform crowd.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Sources
- Crowdfunding: An Infant Industry Growing Fast - IOSCO staff working paper that defined the main crowdfunding models (donation, reward, equity, lending) and flagged investor-protection and systemic issues as the market scaled.
- Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, Title III (CROWDFUND Act) - US federal statute that created a registered-offering pathway for equity crowdfunding (later implemented as Regulation Crowdfunding).
- Regulation Crowdfunding (17 CFR Part 227) and SEC investor bulletin - US implementing rules: issuer caps, investor limits, funding-portal registration, and disclosure duties for securities crowdfunding.
- Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 on European crowdfunding service providers for business (ECSPR) - EU-wide authorisation, passporting, and conduct regime for investment- and lending-based crowdfunding service providers.
- The FCA's regulatory approach to crowdfunding over the internet, and the promotion of non-readily realisable securities by other media (PS14/4) - UK conduct and promotion rules that distinguished loan-based and investment-based crowdfunding from unregulated donation/reward models.
- crowdfunding (Q189022) - Canonical Wikidata item used as a stable identifier for the concept.
What the second pass must settle
- Does the registry intend crowdfunding to include ongoing patronage, community fundraising without a platform, and privately invited crowds, or should some of these link to neighbouring models?
- Which existing Vercy world models already own campaign, fundraising, donation, preorder, lending, or investment concepts, and where should this model reference them?
- Which distinctions among donation, reward, preorder, lending, equity, and hybrid arrangements require separate layers rather than conditional questions?
- Which authoritative sources establish the relevant platform and jurisdiction-specific rules for participation, cancellation, custody, refunds, and campaign amendments?
- What evidence should be sufficient to distinguish an organiser's reported success or completion from verified funding availability and fulfilled obligations?