Frequently Asked Questions

You’ve probably heard the term “crowdfunding” before: perhaps in the context of a Kickstarter campaign or a GoFundMe page. It’s basically a financing model that collects small sums of money from a large number of people — i.e. the crowd — over the internet.

Equity crowdfunding uses that same basic model, but it’s appropriate for project finance companies or startups, rather than causes and creative endeavors, and in return the backer gets a percentage of ownership or a financial stake in the company.

Crowdfunding is not new, but until recently, “crowdfunding” in the U.S. meant donating money or buying a product. Separately, only wealthy people were allowed to invest in private companies for social or environmental good. Thanks to Raise Green and newly adopted laws called Regulation Crowdfunding, you can now be an impact investor in clean energy and climate solutions, no matter who you are or how much you make.

The law requires that before you invest, you first understand the risks and the rules of investing. Please review the educational materials we provide and consult the additional resources.

Raise Green requires certain personal information to verify investors. The information will be used in certain verifications required under U.S. federal law for financial institutions. All Raise Green investors, issuers, and employees will go through KYC (Know Your Customer) verification and AML (Anti-money laundering) checks for compliance and legal requirements. The personal information collected through the platform will be sent to a third party verification service known as North Capital Investment Technology Inc. The process will be automatic, and there is no required action from investors.

If there is an issue in verification, Raise Green will directly reach out to you to help guide you through the process, which may include asking you to securely upload a government-issued ID to our site.

Yes! We ask for Social Security Numbers during the investment process in order to run a standard background check on our investors - this helps us prevent risks like fraud and money laundering, and is typical for most financial institutions. The Social Security Numbers are encrypted so that we do not have regular access to your SSN. However, some of our project owners request that we provide them with their investors' Social Security Numbers to facilitate their preparation of your tax reporting documents e.g., 1099-Div, so there may be a delivery of that information to the Issuer of an investment you make, at some point, sent through a secure channel.

(AKA When does my security start accruing interest? When do I become an official investor?)

After you add your investment commitment, your money is transferred to an escrow account where an independent escrow provider holds your funds until the published Close Date. After this date, the issuer receives the funds and eligible investors become the owners of their new securities.

Investors typically become the owners of their securities one day after the Offering’s close date* (unless an exception is noted). While it may take several weeks after the close date for funds to be processed, your ownership will be backdated to that date if you are deemed eligible to invest* (see more below). The date on which you become an owner is referred to as the "Issuance Date.” 

After you commit to invest, you will receive a notice of investment commitment sent by Raise Green that tells you:

1. The dollar amount of the investment commitment;
2. The price of the securities, if known;
3. The name of the issuer; and
4. The date and time by which the investor may cancel the investment commitment

If you have committed to invest in an Offering and it meets its Target (minimum) Offering Amount, your investment commitment will transition into a permanent investment unless you cancel within the limits identified in the offer, or you are deemed not eligible to invest*. Your investment will be completed when you receive a countersigned agreement documenting the purchase of your securities, you receive a final “Transaction Complete” email, and your money will be released to the company.  At this point, your investment is complete, and you are an investor in the project or Company!  

Raise Green and the Issuer are prohibited by law from accessing your money during the raise period - neither benefits from holding your funds in escrow (e.g. by collecting interest). When you invest, your funds go directly to an escrow account managed by a third-party escrow bank. If the issuer does not meet its Minimum Target Offering, it will be returned to you in full. 

*Where can I find the close date? 

The close date is typically listed in the offering memorandum (the SEC calls this the ‘Form C’) and on the “Terms and Financials” tab of the Offering Page. Some issuers will choose to do a “rolling close” before the final close date of their offer - see “What is a rolling close?”  

*Who might not be eligible to invest?

Investors may be deemed not eligible to invest for a number of reasons, including foreign residency, incomplete investor profiles, or oversubscription of an offer. Investors who are deemed not eligible will receive communications from Raise Green detailing steps to become eligible (if applicable), or the reason for rejection.

By regulation, the company sets a target amount for their offering, and raised funds must meet that threshold in order for the company to complete the offering and issue you securities. If the company does not raise enough funds by their selected Close (or End Date), then the raise was not successful, is canceled and you will receive a full refund.

When you invest on Raise Green, you receive a financial stake in the project or company in the form of a security. Companies that issue securities through Raise Green may opt to use a variety of different security types including, but not limited to: SAFEs (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), common stock or member units, preferred equity, convertible notes, or debt notes.

As this is a financial investment, your expectation is a return. The nature of any payments back to the investor is unique to the security and the company. This is laid out for you in the offering’s materials on the Raise Green page for the company. 

Securities issued through Regulation Crowdfunding do not typically include a physical certificate but rather the issuer is responsible to maintain a record of holders in an electronic manner. Your initial purchase is evidenced by a countersigned subscription agreement and a confirmation “completed” email from Raise Green, at the end of the raise.

Impact investing can be fulfilling beyond the potential monetary return. Not only are you joining founders and community leaders on their exciting journey to be more sustainable and become more climate-resilient, you’re betting on a company’s future and gaining a chance to aid in their success.

There are no guarantees of a return. Crowdfunded impact investing is risky and many projects and startups fail, meaning your initial investments could be lost.

But some projects will succeed to generate annual dividends. If the project gets acquired at a valuation higher than the one at the time of your investment, you will earn a return. If the company has another financing round, it can decide to repurchase shares which would pay back initial investors or deliver returns through other means.

Once you have committed to an investment, you can change your mind anytime up to 48 hours before the Close date of the Offering, and you will receive a full refund of your investment commitment. For example, if the Close Date is December 24th, you can cancel up to 11:59 PM EST on December 22nd. Investments can not be canceled within 48 hours of the Close date, even if you submitted your investment within the 48 hour time period. If the investment opportunity is going to close earlier than identified at the beginning of the raise, and you have committed to invest in that project, you will receive a five business day notice via email notifying you of the new Close Date. Your 48 hour window to cancel is reset to the new Close Date.

If the project makes what’s called a “material change”, a change that could reasonably be expected to have a significant effect on the value of the securities or the company itself, the company must file an update to their campaign, known as a Form C/A. You will receive a notification within five business days and will be required to reconfirm your investment, otherwise it will be canceled and your funds will be refunded.

Investors can find a "Cancel" button next to each of their Investments made on Raise Green in the "Pending Transactions" section of your Raise Green account.

Limited investment amount:

Raise Green’s platform requires a minimum $100 investment into each project. You can only invest up to a certain limit per rolling 12 months across all equity crowdfunding campaigns (not limited to those on Raise Green). Your limit is automatically calculated based on your income and net worth when you create an investor profile on Raise Green.

The amount of funding you can invest depends on your status as an investor, the applicable regulations, and any minimum investment size the issuer has chosen. This information is told to you before you make an investment, and we have a helpful calculator that you can use before making an investment. However, we encourage you to closely monitor and self-regulate your investments as we cannot see investments you might make on other platforms offering Regulation Crowdfunding securities.

With Regulation Crowdfunding,  for non-accredited investors, the investments shall not exceed in any 12 month period of time: 

• For those whose annual income or net worth is less than $124,000 –  the greater of $2,500 or 5% of the greater of his or her annual income or net worth. 
• For those whose annual income and net worth are both greater than $124,000, the investor is limited to 10% of the greater of his or her annual income or net worth, not to exceed an annual maximum of $124,000.  
• Accredited investors, however, are not limited by Regulation Crowdfunding, to a specific investment amount. 
• To determine your current investment limit, start at the date in which you first signed a subscription agreement and add the total committed amounts from that point in time until 12 months from then.

Limited transfer of securities:

The securities you get when you invest have limitations of transfer for the first year following the investment. You can only transfer (gift or sell) the securities:

• Back to the company that issued them
• To an accredited investor
• To an immediate family member

See FAQ on selling securities for more details on additional selling options.

You are restricted from reselling your securities during the first 12 months after the offering closes, unless the shares are transferred:

• To the company that issued the securities
• To an accredited investor 
• To a nuclear family member: a child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent, grandparent, spouse or spousal equivalent, sibling, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law, including adoptive relationships.
• In connection with your death, divorce, or other similar circumstance
• To a trust controlled by you or a trust created for the benefit of a family member (defined as a child, sibling or parent of you or your spouse) or
• As part of a later offering registered with the SEC

Once the 12 month restricted period ends, any sale or disposition of the securities you hold must comply with applicable federal, state and foreign laws. Any transfer during this period is subject to applicable federal, state and foreign laws.

You should know that there may be no market for the securities both before and after the initial 12 month restricted period. Because the project or company issuing the securities is private, you cannot sell your securities on the public market, making it potentially difficult to find a buyer.

It is important that you only invest capital with the expectation of holding your investment for an indefinite period of time, and with the real risk of a total loss of your investment in mind. Only invest an amount you can afford to lose without changing your lifestyle.

The time will be different for each project. Once a project or company lists a campaign, it will run for a set period of time, regardless of whether or not the project reaches its minimum or maximum funding goal at any point.

Each crowdfunding campaign has:

 A start and an end date. Even if the project reaches their minimum funding goal before the deadline, the campaign will run and remain open for investments until the deadline.

Investment cancellation deadline. A deadline for canceling investments is common to all campaigns and is at the 48 hour mark prior to the campaign’s end date. Past that point, your investment will be final and you won’t be able to cancel or receive a refund. If the offering proceeds to follow the process for a rolling close, the end date for the rolling close will be announced in the offering, investment commitment, and in additional communications with the investors.

A Rolling Close allows for an issuer to close parts of the offering early in order to access raised funds while the raise continues to collect investment commitments. Once the offering reaches 120% of the Target Offering Amount (the minimum amount required for the offer to be successful), the issuer can request a close on the investment commitments to date. Some issuers anticipate this from the beginning, so please review the Form C for further information about whether the offering expects to engage in Rolling Closes. Once a Rolling Close is confirmed by the Issuer and Raise Green, Raise Green will send out an update and an email to all investors who made commitments to the offering. The email and update will include information about the early close date and the period until which you can cancel your investment (up to 48 hours before the Rolling Close date). Then, the issuer will countersign the subscription agreements, and all investment funds that were included in the Rolling Close will be transferred from the Escrow to the Issuer. Please note that a rolling close means that the offering will remain open afterwards and continue to take investments until the official end date of the offering. An issuer may engage in more than one rolling close before the official end date of the offering. 

Yes. If a company or project makes a material change to the deal terms or other information disclosed on the campaign page while the campaign is running, they are required to notify you and get your confirmation that you still want to invest.

As an investor, you will have five business days to reconfirm your investment after the confirmation request has been sent to you. If you do not re-confirm within five business days, your investment will be canceled, and you would have to reinvest if you still wanted to participate.

There are essentially four kinds of crowdfunding: reward-based, donation-based, debt-based and equity-based.

1. Reward-based crowdfunding

Is when you contribute money and get a reward in return. This is mostly used for creative endeavors or campaigns like recording an album, and there are often varying levels of rewards, or perks, that correspond to pledge amounts. Think Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

2. Donation-based crowdfunding

Is when you contribute money without expecting anything of value in return. This exists largely to fund charitable causes, like building a well in Kenya, or personal campaigns, like helping someone pay their medical bills. Think GoFundMe, YouCaring and CrowdRise.

3. Debt-based crowdfunding

Is when you contribute money to help fund the growth of a company, and receive a contractually obligated payback at a certain percentage interest rate in return. These campaigns require the company to pay you back in the given timeframe or be in breach of their debt contract and face bankruptcy or liquidation.

4. Equity-based crowdfunding

Is when you contribute money to help fund the growth of a company, and receive an ownership stake of the financial pie in return (but you can get perks too). You may make money if the startup or project does well, but startups and projects are risky. You could lose your investment. Think AngelList, Republic and your community-driven platform Raise Green.

Companies issued on Raise Green have legally mandated reporting obligations, but there is the possibility that those obligations may terminate in the future. An issuer must file an annual report unless the company:

• Has filed an annual report and has fewer than 300 investors
• Has filed three annual reports and does not have assets exceeding $10,000,000
• Purchases back all securities it offered on Raise Green
• Liquidates or dissolves its business or
• Has to file section 13(a) or section 15(d) reports under the Securities and Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. 78m(a) or 78o(d))

If you do receive updates, you will be notified directly of these updates by the company – not by Raise Green. Though we try our best to maintain all of our relationships with the issuers on our portal, it may not last beyond the completion of the offering. Raise Green recommends that founders send out an update to their investors at least once a quarter, but you can also ask the founders for an update by posting on the Q&A section of their funding page or by contacting them directly.

The aforementioned Q&A section is designed to provide a communication channel, as defined by SEC Rule § 227.204(c), between the company and investors or potential investors. All communications on this page are made by the company or agents of the company. Raise Green is not responsible for any communications presented on this page and will cease to monitor this page once the corresponding offering has closed.

Companies are legally required to issue at least one Annual Report 120 days after the end of their fiscal year. The annual report, known as a Form C-AR, is a more comprehensive update with their latest financials, board members, new financings, and more; it is filed with the SEC, and then posted to the company’s website. In some circumstances, an issuer may no longer be required to file this information, as outlined above, though we encourage them to do so regardless. Most companies have their fiscal year-end on December 31st, so their annual reports would come out at the end of April.

Companies fundraising on Raise Green must disclose a limited amount of information to you, including but not limited to:

• General information about the company
• Its officers and directors
• A description of the business
• The planned use for the money raised from the offering, often called the use of proceeds
• The funding goal
• The deadline for the offering
• Related-party transactions
• Risks specific to the company or its business, and
• Financial information about the company

You should use this information to determine whether a particular investment is appropriate for you.

The type of financial information disclosed as well as verification of finances varies based on whether the company has raised via crowdfunding in the past, as well as the amount being raised. For example: 

> $107,000 or less – financial statements and certain specific line items from income tax returns are required, both of which are certified by the principal executive officer of the company. (Note for a temporary period ending August 28, 2022, due to a Covid exemption, company’s raising up to $250,000 can use certified financials.) 

> $107,000.01 to $535,000 – financial statements are reviewed by an independent public accountant and the accountant’s review report is provided as well as certification by the principal executive officer of the company. A review is some level of scrutiny of the financials by a CPA.

> $535,000.01 to $5.0  million – if first time crowdfunding, then financial statements reviewed by an independent public accountant and the accountant’s review report, if available, are disclosed for offerings up to $1.07 million: otherwise financial statements audited by an independent public accountant and the accountant’s audit report must be prepared and disclosed. An audit provides a higher level of scrutiny by the accountant than a review as well as some verification by the accountant.

Each offering has a discussion forum where you should ask any questions you have and review those asked by other investors. You can find this on the Q & A tab on the company’s offering page on Raise Green. These channels can be useful both before and after making an investment.

Once an offering has closed, the company will provide updates on the results of its operations and financial statements through its website on an annual basis, as required by regulation. These updates are likely to be less regular and robust than those provided by public companies to their shareholders. Raise Green likely will not retain any relationship with the company. Raise Green does not make the Company’s post-closing disclosure available to you through its website.

Expressing your interest in an ‘Indications of Interest’ offering is just like making a reservation at a restaurant! You are saying that you are interested and will invest, but you are not actually making a commitment with your money. For an Indications of Interest offering, prospective investors can click to indicate interest in an investment, which will be a statement conveying a sentiment of: “Hey, if this project gets listed, I am interested in investing in this project,” without actually committing any money.

In fact, no money can be accepted when receiving indications of interest. Moreover, no offer to buy the security can be accepted until a formal offering is launched. Launching an offering formally requires the Company raising capital to file a Form C Offering Memorandum with the SEC. Note that any communication that the Company makes during an Indications of Interest Offering will need to be included in the future filing, so that investors can receive all the information and disclosures that were sent out during the Indications of Interest stage.

If the Company does launch a live campaign for investment, by indicating interest (making a "reservation"), you will be placed on a list to receive a direct notification when they launch, at which time you can determine if and how much you will invest!

No, you do not! Indicating your interest in a future investment does not require any payments or commitments from the investor. It is simply stating, “Hey, if this project pursues an offering, I am interested in investing” without actually committing any money.

In order to place an investment and/or own a crowdfunded investment, an individual must be at least 18 years old.

Accredited Investors are generally investors with a high annual income and/or net worth, and certain sophisticated market participants. Enacted as a result of the Great Depression, the Securities Act of 1933 prohibited inexperienced or what they call “unsophisticated” investors from investing in securities with larger risks - limiting investing to accredited investors.

Fast forward to 2011, the accredited investor definition actually had large consequences over 80 years later in that many investments could be accessed directly only by more wealthy individuals, which represented a small percent of the population. However, the 2012 JOBS Act opened up these opportunities by allowing non-accredited investors to invest through equity or debt crowdfunding! In fact, just about anyone can look through the investment opportunities on Raise Green and sign up to be an investor. When you’re going through the account creation process you will be asked a series of questions that will help determine if you are accredited or not, and how much the regulation allows you to purchase. Recent regulatory changes in 2021 now allow accredited investors unlimited investment in crowdfunded offerings.

You are an Accredited Investor if you fit one or more of the following criteria:

- Individual with an annual income more than or equal to $200K for the past 2 years and expects the same this year (Read More)

- Joint Account with an annual household income (with a spouse) more than or equal to $300K and expects the same this year

- Individual or jointly with a spousal equivalent with a net worth over $1M (minus their primary residences)

- Individual who holds a FINRA Series 7, 65, or 82 license

- A knowledgeable employee of a fund. (Read More)

- Any director, executive officer, or general partner of the issuer of the securities being offered or sold, or any director, executive officer, or general partner of a general partner of that issuer

- Investment advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, state-registered investment advisers, exempt reporting advisers

- Family clients of family offices under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. (Read More)

- Certain entities: (Read More)

- Rural business investment companies, as defined in defined in Section 384A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act

- Limited liability companies with more than $5 million in assets, however such limited liability companies may not be formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the securities offered.

- Certain family offices and family clients (Read More)

- Entities not already considered accredited investors under the definition, that were not formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the securities offered, and that own investments in excess of $5 million.

- Any trust, with total assets in excess of $5,000,000, not formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the securities offered;

- Any entity in which all of the equity owners are accredited investors.

We aren’t able to provide tax, financial or accounting advice, but if your investment is successful and you get repaid then you will likely need to report that information in your tax filings. Issuers will provide you with the required tax documentation for your preparation. 

Regulation Crowdfunding is a U.S. securities regulation, and therefore Raise Green cannot guarantee that residents of other countries are adhering to their local regulations when choosing to invest in a Regulation Crowdfunding offering. Therefore, at this time, Raise Green does not accept investors who reside outside of the U.S. and its territories (including active military bases).

 Raise Green does not store any bank or credit card information used for your purchase transaction.  The Issuer is fully responsible to set up a way to pay their investors and investors can expect that the issuer will confirm those details with you once your purchase is completed.

Once we close an offering, Raise Green typically takes about two to four weeks to reconcile all investor commitments, culminating in a final list given to the Issuer who countersigns the Subscription Agreements.  You will receive a copy plus a separate “transaction completed”  email from Raise Green. The issuer will reach out to you shortly thereafter to welcome you, and they will ask you for your payment preference - typically ACH or Check;  If ACH -  you will provide them with your preferred ACH info. From then on, the issuer will be your main point of contact regarding your investment holdings. 

Please note that there are no guarantees of a return. Crowdfunded impact investing is risky and many startups fail, meaning your initial investment could be lost.

It's important that investors understand and weigh the risks associated with each type of security offered by Raise Green and its Originators. Visit this blog link for a full description of the securities offered on our Marketplace. 

Absolutely! We accept IRAs.  We have worked with several Self-Directed IRA(SDIRA) providers to enable investors to invest through their existing SDIRA. After you make your investment commitment, please note, generally your SDIRA provider will need to review any investment you would like to make to ensure their operations department will accept it, per their requirements. The Raise Green Marketplace team works with you and your provider to complete the paperwork during this process. 

If you don’t already have an SDIRA, or are interested in a new provider, Raise Green makes it easy for you to sign up for one with Alto IRA!  When you select to invest in an offering, you will be given a choice to invest through an Alto IRA Account. If you select this, once you have completed the journey to commit to your investment, you will then be given a link to Alto IRA to open the account. You can fund your Alto IRA account in several ways, including transferring assets from another IRA or 401k.   To learn more about retirement investing through Raise Green visit https://info.raisegreen.com/blog/how-to-invest-retirement-funds.

Alto IRA is a Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA) service provider and integrated into the Raise Green marketplace to make investing through a SDIRA fast and simple. Alto IRA offers a wide range of  alternative assets such as our private climate-specific securities. Our technical integration allows us to expedite the often complicated and time consuming process of transacting in tax-advantaged accounts to invest in alternative investments. To learn more about Alto IRA and their fees, visit https://www.altoira.com/products/alto-ira.

Once you have set up an Alto IRA account and linked it to your Raise Green account, you will be able to toggle between your individual investor account on Raise Green and your IRA account. To do so, click the dropdown in the upper right hand corner and select which account you wish to view. This will enable you to track and differentiate between tax-advantaged and non-tax advantaged investments you have made on Raise Green.

For use of ACH, check, or wire, there are no transaction processing fees. Investors who choose to use a credit card are charged a fixed fee plus percentage of transaction; this is equal to the cost incurred by Raise Green for accepting the credit card transaction. This convenience fee, typically ranging between 3.2% and 3.5%, depends on the investment amount and is added to your transaction. Otherwise, there are no fees or charges associated with having an account or placing a transaction through Raise Green.

Raise Green has the capability to accept ACH, credit cards, wires, and checks. Some issuers may choose to forego certain payment methods for their offers. Please note that there is a $5,000 limit for credit cards, and a $100,000 limit for ACH payments.

For regulatory and control purposes, investors may only purchase on behalf of another individual unless they are an authorized party for the giftee. Here are a few ways that you can purchase securities for the benefit of others:

1. You can purchase in your name and then transfer once the Note is issued to you - in the first 12 months of the security transfers are limited to family and accredited investors; they must be 18 years old or in a custodial account of some sort.

2. You can provide the giftee with the funds and they can purchase directly themselves (again, they must be at least 18 years old).

You are restricted from reselling your securities during the first 12 months after the offering closes, unless the shares are transferred:

• To the company that issued the securities
• To an accredited investor 
• To a nuclear family member: a child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent, grandparent, spouse or spousal equivalent, sibling, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law, including adoptive relationships.
• In connection with your death, divorce, or other similar circumstance
• To a trust controlled by you or a trust created for the benefit of a family member (defined as a child, sibling or parent of you or your spouse) or
• As part of a later offering registered with the SEC

Once the 12 month restricted period ends, any sale or disposition of the securities you hold must comply with applicable federal, state and foreign laws. Any transfer during this period is subject to applicable federal, state and foreign laws.

You should know that there may be no market for the securities after the initial 12 month restricted period. Because the project or company issuing the securities is private, you cannot sell your securities on the public market, making it potentially difficult to find a buyer.

It is important that you only invest capital with the expectation of holding your investment for an indefinite period of time, and with the real risk of a total loss of your investment in mind. Only invest an amount you can afford to lose without changing your lifestyle.