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Crowdfunding for nonprofits

Crowdfunding for nonprofits

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Crowdfunding, specifically for the non-profits is way to raise funds for the cause which the organisation supports. Crowdfunding for nonprofits gets in the required cash flow by the collection of funds from the public. Crowdfunding for nonprofits include a lot, they include fundraising events, connecting to people which can be in person or online through crowdfunding platforms and finally collecting cash inflow. Crowdfunding is a concept which was initially used by budding businessmen to fund their budding idea of business. However, with crowdfunding entering into various realms including crowdfunding for nonprofits, it has become a thriving market of opportunities. The article discusses the charm of crowdfunding for nonprofits online.

Things to know before starting crowdfunding for nonprofits

Crowdfunding platforms are websites for example MyEfunder and GoFundMe which provide opportunities to nonprofits for attracting charity stuff. They allow the nonprofits to get sponsors in a more profound manner. The internet allows the crowdfunding for nonprofit to reach the masses like never before. They can make their reach far and wide to diverse crowds and perform much better than the nonprofits who do not advertise on online platforms. Crowdfunding for nonprofits through online websites can also be extended to social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. The online system for crowdfunding for nonprofits not only allows the donors to pledge donation but also allow them to leave feedbacks and opinions.

Things to know about online crowdfunding

There are specifically designed crowdfunding platforms. Some are designed to crowdfund for start-ups, some for lending and borrowing, some for charity fundraising. So before making crowdfunding for nonprofits go live on an online platform, one should check whether the category applies to it or not. There are also fees these crowdfunding sites apply and before crowdfunding for nonprofit one should be aware of these and try to choose wisely from the lot. Also, point to be noted is that, there are more than one kind of charges which apply to a crowdfunding platform.

A few considerations before going with the crowdfunding sites for crowdfunding nonprofits

Before going along with any crowdfunding site in order to do crowdfunding for nonprofits it is important to know the laws that regulate the transactions which fall under it. The regulation laws differ from country to country and even state to state. Before starting, any crowdfunding for nonprofits it is of fore most importance to let it find out under which law your crowdfunding endeavour falls; the event place or the place where the platform is hosted. The communication technology has been on the hike and has brought revolution to crowdfunding too. Not much is clear as of now that under whose law the will any crowdfunding activity lie, so thing are currently taken care off at the place where the crowdfunding activity belongs or the place where the charitable organisation is registered to.

Conclusively, crowdfunding for nonprofits become handy when it is done through an online platform. However, before choosing one it has to be known to all sorts of things which come while crowdfunding for nonprofits through them.

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Crowdfunding Site: How to choose?

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Crowdfunding site is a well-known concept for fundraising enthusiasts which they often use while fundraising for their project. However, a person ready to get involved with any crowdfunding site must know about how to choose them. In order to get the most out a crowdfunding site for the crowdfunding campaign one must first know about the features to lookout for while selecting from the lot available in the market. Here we discuss those the characteristics to look out for and what to choose?

Characteristics to look for in a crowdfunding site

  1. The appearance:

No doubt, first impression comes from the outer look and the talking comes later. In order to choose from the appearance of the crowdfunding site one always does look that they are appealing and attractive in a way to give your message to the crowd. It also include how easy a crowdfunding site is to navigate and proceed. So getting acquainted with the crowd funding site include getting to know their terms and conditions and constraints.

  1. The money transactions:

Any online money transaction needs a payment processing portal. There are also various ways to do online payments. It may be via net banking, credit card, debit card or even e-checks. Any crowd funding site should be checked for whether it accepts all kinds of online payments.

  1. The commission:

Crowdfunding through crowdfunding site involves fees which has to be paid to the crowdfunding site. Different crowd funding site have different fees. Some go by monthly fees and some by annual fees. Other fees which apply and are to be checked are credit card processing fees.

  1. The outreach to the crowd:

A crowdfunding site has to have an offbeat capability of marketing your project to the public. Their ability to advertise your project all over media and social networking sites is also a criteria to look for. There are some sites which offer things like cloning the original pages by the supporters and let them advertise for the parent page and let the cash flow in.

  1. The traffic to the crowdfunding site:

Before getting up hooked up with a crowdfunding site it is important to check the amount of traffic they cater. Researching the crowdfunding site through its traction is a choice that every individual interested in crowdfunding should make.

Apart from these there a few more points which should be kept in mind for garnering more funds to the crowdfunding page

  1. The crowdfunding page:

It has to be a compelling one, a page which could direct the crowd to involve with the cause. It must contain pictures and videos to emotionally mobilise the crowd.

  1. Own network helps:

Mobilise the people who you know to get involved with your cause. It is always good to get helps from family and friends and once they are convinced about your project they could help you with all possible ways.

  1. Wear your cause:

Make your cause as public as possible, be it sharing on the Facebook page or pasting a flyer over the windscreen of your car.

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Crowdfunding Website: Things which should be known

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The presence of crowdfunding in the financing arena is since ages. There have been many changes in the process of crowdfunding through ages. However, with the advent of the concept of crowdfunding website, the idea of crowdfunding has seen much more revolution than anything else. Crowdfunding website brings all details and controls of the crowdfunding project right on your desktop. A few crowdfunding website which are shaping up today’s’ definition of crowdfunding are MyEfunder, Kickstarter and GoFundMe. A crowdfunding website could get involved in raising funds for a charity or raising funds for business or both. MyEFunder is one such crowdfunding site which does both, that too flawlessly. This article gives you a deeper insight in the world of crowdfunding sites.

Features of crowdfunding website

While there are more than a handful of crowdfunding website available in the arena, providing different facilities but basically they evolve from the same theory and have some basic features in common. The most inevitable feature Is that all crowdfunding website allow people to set a crowdfunding campaign page on their platform. This page acts as a portal for the incoming money from donors and investors to pour in. A crowdfunding site might have money processing software of its own or it might share the services from renowned money processors.

All crowdfunding site facilitate the supporters of a charity to set up a page and garner funds for the cause and some of them even allow the supporters of the main page to make their baby pages and draw in funds through them. The latter one makes the reach of your crowdfunding campaign more far and wide.

Before raising money from the crowdfunding website, one should be well aware of their motive. It is so because every crowdfunding site has its area of expertise and work and must be chosen accordingly. Basically the separation boundary lies between a profit cause and a non-profit cause. Coming to common type of fundraising like annual fundraisers which require events to garner funds are not the cup of a crowdfunding website’s cake. They have to be done through actual events; however a crowdfunding website could anytime be used as a medium to advertise these events far and wide.

Some myths related to crowdfunding website

Whatever these crowdfunding site are, they are certainly not magic at your hands. A lot of people think that campaigning online is would garner funds for their projects like never before.  With this concept they fail to put efforts in the making the other aspects of the project attractive. They even don’t bother to take follow-up hence keeping their project on back foot.

Other mistakes which people do is blindly believing what the crowdfunding website says. A proper research is very important before list your project on it. The research involves searching for their reviews and having a look at the kinds of projects listed on the crowdfunding website.

Overall a crowdfunding website is a profitable way to enhance the working of your crowdfunding project, but it works well only when other aspects of the project are taken care of.

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Some Crowdfunding advice to grasp for best

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A lot of entrepreneur who dream to be Warren Buffets, have found solace in the project financing method of crowdfunding. To enhance further in this art they need some crowdfunding advice. To start with, a project or initiator should know that advantages of crowdfunding are not only limited to raising funds but it also helps them keep a track of their product’s demand and pre-launch customers.

With a few crowdfunding advice an individual will surely be able to reap more rewards. The first job of crowdfunding advice lies in its basic it says that the return to investors could be either equity of the company or products and rewards or both. Leaning forward in this article we will see a few more crowdfunding advice pouring in, thereby making your day.

List of a few crowdfunding advice for that extra edge

  1. Spinning the background: One of the most basic advice which every crowdfunding aspirant should follow is the art of linking the crowdfunding campaign to a story. Prospective investors find this crowdfunding advice driving as they are inquisitive of knowing the reason which shaped your dream.
  2. A video presentation works: A story told with a video gives an everlasting impression. This crowdfunding advice could add extra charm to your story. A video containing real life clips and photos of your struggle for realising your dream project works as a catalyst. The crowdfunding advice to be followed here is that you should dedicate a significant amount of time for your crowdfunding video. It must contain the footage of you and related people working hard for the project.
  3. The product presentation: Your end product is the main attraction to be put on display. The crowdfunding advice to be followed here is that the product photos presented over crowdfunding platforms should be clicked with a professional touch which could struck the right chord in the mind of the spectators.
  4. Define your targets: Having a goal set right at the starting of the crowdfunding for your project is yet another good crowdfunding advice to follow. It keeps the adrenaline pumping for the love of attaining the aimed number. Keeping the goal in terms of crisp numbers does even better.
  5. An official website: Digitisation has taken over the world and the next crowdfunding advice is having a website of your start-up which should never be an option, it must be a compulsion. A website should contain all the viable contacts that the company has. The closer sneak peek you give to people about your project, the more confident they get about investing.
  6. The press release: An official PR could be the last piece of the crowdfunding advice but definitely not the least. It is important to spread the word of the inception of your project far and wide. There are many ways of media communication to the masses and you should try to reach through the most of them.

The above are the few crowdfunding advice which along with getting your project displayed on an online crowdfunding platform like MyEfunder is the requisite of modern times.

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Crowdfunding Basics: Getting started the right way

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Understanding the term

Crowdfunding literally means collection of funds from the crowd, which could be anything from $1 to $100 or even higher. The reasons for crowdfunding could be many but crowdfunding basics which have to be understood have similar pattern. Before starting for the fundraising, efforts should be invested to get acquainted well with the crowdfunding basics.

Crowdfunding basics say that there are returns and rewards associated with the term for the supporter. These could be in the form of a product, a souvenir, a service or for big project their shares. From crowd funding basics one also comes to know that why crowdfunding is a more convenient and smooth way to fundraise rather than angel investor and venture capitalist. The latter ones have stringent criteria and require sufficient high profile connections.

Who can do it?

Crowdfunding could be done by anyone who requires funds. It can be an individual with a fresh business idea, a charity organisation, a child requiring funds of school uniform, an artist, a musician etc. Hence, crowdfunding basics should have wide reach so as to benefit more and more people.

Where to do it?

At a very small scale and for a small requirement it can be done offline on the local level, but huge gainers require spreading their ideas far and wide. Assistance in every case could be provided by online crowdfunding platforms, which showcase the cause or project to garner funds for them. These platforms also guide about crowdfunding basics from time to time or whenever required by the involved person. A few crowdfunding websites whose crowdfunding basics guide could enhance the funds collection are MyEfunder and Indiegogo. Another kind of crowdfunding website is that which use the crowdfunding basics and the process for lending and financing. However, sites like MyEfunder are multifaceted and do all kinds of stuff related to crowdfunding.

Results of Churning through crowdfunding basics and implementing them

  1. If done with dedication and strategy:

The aftermath of implementing crowdfunding basics in such situation could be heart-warming and pleasant. The crowdfunding basics teach that a business carved out of the financial help from crowdfunding not only gains popularity but is also able to have customers, right from the pre launch. There are individuals spread across geographical locations who find their success in the success of the project funded.

  1. If proper plan of crowdfunding basics are not followed:

The crowdfunding campaign at times fails to garner support if the plot is weak and not well driven. If happens most of the times when people fail to realise and implement basics. There can also be chances of late realisation of fund goals, i.e. when you are done with the collection you get know that the sum is simply not enough.

Crowdfunding basics can be easily learnt from crowdfunding funding platforms. They guide their customers to every bit of implementing crowdfunding from ideas to behaviours. However, business advice and sense which are taught by angel investors and VC’s are much profitable and at this point they gain an edge over crowdfunding.

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Crowdfunding Startups: Analyse before you leap

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Investing in Start-ups has seen many riveting changes in the recent years. From only elite group investing in them to crowdfunding startups things have taken quite paced track. Initially crowdfunding startups had a very little limelight to share but now it is seen as a major form of financial backup for startups. Now, the financial regulators have even framed laws and acts exclusively for crowdfunding startups. However, a lot of options for capital call are still present today. These include angel investors, venture capitals, bank loan, but either they need connections or have stringent procedures. Hence more and more entrepreneurs are slating their way to crowdfunding startups.

Who can invest?

The past ways of investing in start-ups, gave rise to a term ‘accredited investor.’ It happened to be a person who had an annual income above certain specified limit. Now the scenario has cleared the barriers of annual income and given opportunity of all class of people to invest in crowdfunding startups, no matter what they earn. However, in the interest of general public rules have been framed to cap the maximum investment by a normal investor. This saves the investor from getting doomed if the start-up fails to stand up.

Entrepreneurs looking forward to crowdfunding start-ups

For small business owners, gathering funds from the crowd could lead to more than one million bucks collection annually. However, point to consider here is the disclosure of these finances, which is an important but tedious job involved in the process of crowdfunding startups. For the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission has relieved budding businesses which collect less than 100 thousand dollars annually of the audit process.

The proceedings for crowdfunding start-ups

So, till now it is clear that crowdfunding startups could give your business the extra edge, but what is the window to garner money from the crowd. One cannot go advertising door to door for potential investors. Easy way to kick start crowdfunding startups are brokerage firms which often do the process online and are known as crowdfunding startups platforms. These platforms abide by the latest government rules and laws and do the ledger making for their clients. Well known crowdfunding startups platform include Kickstarter, MyEfunder and Indiegogo.

The 3R’s for investors while crowdfunding start-ups

The investors often tread between 3R’ which are Rewards, Risk and Returns while investing in a start-up. The chances of start-up being a success could not be ever estimated with surety; also the associated awards could be equity in some cases which connects you directly with the success of the start-up. Hence, from the success of many venture capitalist and angel investors one lesson could be certainly learnt that investment should not be confined to a single start-up.  Risks involved in early stage businesses are more; hence their concept should be well researched.

The aura of crowdfunding startups has spread far and wide such that even VC’s and Angel Investors are keeping a track of project ideas which gain more of public attention.

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Crowdfunding Campaign: Get the most out of it

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Launch of a crowdfunding campaign is not a big deal today, but the challenging part is reaching the aimed targets. Finances of almost every field ranging from charity to start-ups, personal to real estates could be well managed by crowdfunding provided the crowdfunding campaign launched for the reason is potential enough. It is true that with social media at your service you can spread your crowdfunding campaign to corners of the world but then that is not enough. Interestingly, a few practices along with the crowdfunding campaign could eventually take it nearer to its target collection.

Points to add charm to a crowdfunding campaign

  1. Plan is the base:

Crowdfunding is no dream catcher until backed by a strong plan. You are the pilot of your campaign and you have to genuinely comply with that responsibility. A skeleton plan is the basis of a successful crowdfunding campaign, advertising for grants on the social networking media come later. Advertising assists the base plan to enhance the collection of funds for the crowdfunding campaign.

  1. Closed cycle campaigns are best:

A crowdfunding campaign should have the space for the accepting feedbacks. But merely accepting them is not enough, the process should be cyclic. Whenever someone gives feedback about something it is done with a notion of attachment and hope for rectification of faults if any. Thorough investigation and response to these feedbacks not only improve your campaign but also gives a worthy sense of importance to its supporters.

  1. Include the old methods too:

‘Old is Gold’ is the famous proverb which comes to rescue under a lot of situations. Although this is the era of digitisation, but taking your crowdfunding campaign to offline window should not be a thing to forget. Offline crowdfunding campaign involves actual living beings and their presence adds extra charm and warmth to the campaign. People love to hear their ideas and find them much reliable as compared to online ones. This bond of trust is important for a successful campaign.

  1. Regular Updates:

A fact is that, no one wants to contribute their money without knowing its use. The crowd funding campaign does not merely end up after the collection spree; it is an ongoing process till the project reaches its pinnacle. The supporter has not only vested his money to the project but also his faith hence he wants and has the full right to get a follow-up on the progress of the project. This is very important for a successful crowdfunding campaign and should not be missed.

  1. Campaigning has no limits:

A successful crowdfunding should not be limited to one portion of your project. It is always profitable to do successive campaigns for the project. It not only increases the incoming funds to the project but also keeps refreshing your project idea among the public. The trust building is even more in this process as your recurring crowdfunding campaign is indicative of the fact that you are not going to con the public.

Happy Campaigning for your project!!!

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Crowdfunding Real Estates: The latest in the Market

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Crowdfunding start-ups and businesses has been prevalent since a long time in the market. The latest kind of these are crowdfunding real estates. Real estates are one of the most profitable alternate investments to make and crowdfunding real estates will only add pace to the profit involved. The potential of crowdfunding real estates has been already identified by eminent crowdfunding players in the field. These include crowdfunding platforms like MyEfunder and CircleUp. With crowdfunding real estates blooming, we look into everything regarding why real estate has emerged as a mainstream investment from being the underdog

A brief History of real estate market

Until early 1980’s real estate market was never thought of being a major form of investment. Apart from hard cash, it was only stocks, assets and bonds which were considered to be fruitful with time. However with saturation and drive to find more option, financial institutions included the market of real estate in to list of generating a stable income.

The After 1980’s scenario

Real estate emergence caught hold of the various institutional investors, which included it in their investment portfolio. The fruit of the newest addition to the portfolio was sweet and slowly real estate market was towards its bloom season. The growth was enormous and it turned out to be a regular source of stable income. Meanwhile accumulation of funds through crowdfunding was also spreading its charm. A combination of the two; crowdfunding real estate has been on the investment radar for more than a decade now.

Crowdfunding Real Estates

Investment agencies have lately identified the potential of real estate investment and are slowly gearing up to brace the latest trend in the market which is crowdfunding real estate. Eventually, the past is the witness to the fact that real estates projects were initially handled by the already established. With the evolution of various financing techniques, crowdfunding real estates being one of them, commoners can even raise their own real estate projects. Also the charm of real estates investment is such that investment companies do not hesitate in loosening their pockets for crowdfunding real estates. The process is even eased by crowdfunding platforms which facilitate the exposure to real estate market thereby easing crowdfunding real estates. Through these platform funds for crowdfunding real estates projects can be accumulated from both individuals and companies. Crowdfunding real estates i.e. funding real estates by the method of crowdfunding is gaining more than average momentum amongst individuals of all classes, especially the middle class. They are seeing crowdfunding real estate as an opportunity for their dream projects grow and flourish. People are coming up with innovative ideas clubbing the simple real estate concept with technology and networking.

Real estate, an option for investment seems to get an extra edge with the concept of crowdfunding real estates. People who were used to crowdfunding investment seem to be more than pleased with crowdfunding real estates and are eyeing it as the next investment in their kitty. A successful venture of crowdfunding real estates comes from the combined efforts of the investor and the project owner.

Crowdfunding Campaign

Crowdfunding Campaign – How to Succeed?

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Campaigns are nothing but a series of activities done to achieve a particular result. There are campaigns of many types like advertising campaign, military campaign, political campaign etc. The latest in the series is the crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunding is the new way of gathering a fund, through an online platform. Here people invest together for supporting one cause, or many causes. In this way a huge fund is collected for a specific purpose like real estate, startups, nonprofit organizations, business, movies etc. A series of process is done in order to raise a fund from crowd, and that is called crowdfunding campaign.

To start a crowdfunding campaign for anything that you want to do, there are certain fundamental things that you should consider and work on. Crowdfunding is the alternate, easy way to get capital/fund for your dream project. If you do it in the right way, there is no way you won’t succeed with your crowdfunding campaign. What you should take care of:

  • Proper message: You should be ready with a good selling story about your idea or venture, and how you are planning to make it true, before starting your crowdfunding campaign.
  • A video clip: A nice but small video clip with a good script about your project is recommended to catch good attention during the crowdfunding campaign.
  • Website: Be ready with your website. Creating a website before even starting the crowdfunding campaign gives the investors an idea about how serious you are with your project.
  • How much you need: Do not try to raise a huge fund. Always try to get funds phase by phase, through many crowdfunding campaigns. When you ask for more, there is more chance of getting disappointed.
  • Help other fund raisers: Be ready help other crowdfunding campaign by funding them, this helps you to extend your contact list and you never know someone there will be of help to you!
  • Gift your backers: Be ready to thank your backers/funders with a small, in budget memento, like a printed* t-shirt or printed* mobile holder or anything after the successful completion of your crowdfunding campaign. (*Print your logo/name)

There is one more important thing to do before you start your crowdfunding campaign – do a proper research on various crowdfunding sites and single out the one which is most appropriate for your need. Also come to a conclusion on what type of crowdfunding you are going to adapt out of these four –

  • Rewards crowdfunding – where investors receive a tangible item or service in return of their fund.
  • Equity crowdfunding – here the investors receive a stake in the company/venture.
  • Donation crowdfunding – like the name suggests, the fund is raised for any charitable organization or social services.
  • Lending crowdfunding – here the investors are repaid for their investment over a period of time.

Once you have a proper strategy and on paper plan of how to run your crowdfunding campaign, major part of the crowdfunding campaign is done and the success rate also will be high.

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Crowdfunding Real Estates – Different Methods Used

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Real estate is ever growing and profiting. As long as there is an increase in population, the need to dwell is going to increase, and thus you will need more buildings and apartments. Everyone wants to try their hands on real estate now days, as it is one of the profit giving field and risk factors are pretty calculable. And this is where the crowdfunding real estates scores.

Crowdfunding is an entirely new way of financing. The concept of crowdfunding is that you can invest in a particular thing, and along with you there will be many investors. Crowdfunding helps the companies or individuals who are in a mission, but couldn’t gather the capital. Through crowdfunding a group of investors invest and the needy companies/sponsors can make good use of it. Both investor and sponsor are benefited by this.  Read more about crowdfunding here: http://myefunder.com .

In crowdfunding real estates, money gets invested in real assets like apartments, buildings and shopping malls. There are many platforms for crowdfunding real estate.

Some top crowdfunding real estates sites:

  • Realty Mogul
  • Fundrise
  • Ground breaker
  • Crowd street
  • Ground floor
  • iFunding
  • Crowd baron
  • RealCrowd
  • RealtyShares
  • Patch of Land
  • Equity Net
  • Peer Realty
  • Peer Street
  • Real Circle

Types of crowdfunding real estates:

There are three types of crowdfunding for real-estate. They are direct investing, indirect investing and Software as a service.

Direct Investing

This model of crowdfunding real estates allows investors to invest in real estate directly with a real estate firm. Here the crowdfunding firm acts only as an intermediate between the investor and the real estate sponsor.

The advantage of these crowdfunding real estates is that, the investors are co-investing with the sponsors and there is no brokerage. The benefit for the sponsor is that, they get direct access to the capital and they also have a direct contact with the investor.

CrowdStreet and Real Crowd are few among the direct crowdfunding real estates sites.

Indirect investing

In this model of crowdfunding real estates the accredited investors invest through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created by the crowdfunding firm. Added fees and brokerage are yielded by the crowdfunding firm here.

The advantage to sponsor in this type is that, they receive a single check and they only have to manage one SPV throughout. Here the risk of loss to the investor is more, because they don’t know on whom they are investing, and their profit is calculated on how good the crowdfunding firm does.

Realty Mogul and iFunding works using the indirect investment of Crowdfunding real estates.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

In this model of crowdfunding real estates, the sponsors integrate a SaaS technology platform with their existing website, through which investors can make investments. This is more or less like the direct investing.

The CrowdStreet and CrowdEngine are examples of SaaS crowdfunding real estates type.

It is estimated that the crowdfunding real estates may grow to a trillion dollar business by this year. Those who want to invest and make returns, but is doubtful about where to start with, can try their luck with the low risky crowdfunding real estates.