Finance
Finance Mechanisms, Grants, and Networks
Green Climate Fund: Financial Support for Developing Countries
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Partnerships Platform
United Nations - Climate Finance
UNFCC Climate Finance Data Portal
WMO/UNEP/UNDP Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF)
US National Science Foundation - American Seed Fund
Cause Artist - Social Impact Investing
Chamber of Commerce - Start-Up Funding Options for Business
Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)
International Network for Sustainable Financial Policy Insights, Research and Exchange (Inspire)
Crowdfunding Platforms for Social Enterprise
Equity crowdfunding: The most traditional type of funding is equity crowdfunding. You sell a piece of your business to an investor or groups of investors and they provide you with the funding (capital) to move your business forward.
Donation crowdfunding: For nonprofits or local businesses, donation-based funding is an option. You create a campaign asking for donations to support your effort. You have no obligation to repay or provide services or products to you donors.
Debt crowdfunding: Debt crowdfunding is borrowing money from other individuals, instead of from a bank. You borrow at a set annual percentage rate, and loans are often structured similar to those of a traditional business loan. You incur an obligation to repay the loan with interest in a given amount of time.
Rewards crowdfunding: This is a well-known type of crowdfunding made popular by sites like Kickstarter. Funders are offered products, services, or other gifts in exchange for a set donation amount.
Various crowdfunding platforms are listed below in alphabetical order. HPAC neither endorses nor recommends any of these. We recommend that you visit the sites to explore their features in detail and to assure they suit your mission and purpose. Make sure you understand terms, conditions, and fees before you sign up. Some platforms offer services and tools in addition to crowdfunding such as Customer Relationship Management(CRM) and are thus, more expensive. You should determine what level of services you need. You can search for crowdfunding site comparisons and recommendations online. We also recommend considering case studies from users of the platforms you are considering. There are many, many more crowdfunding platforms than those listed below. You can perform specific search online by country or organization type, e.g., non-profit, business, social enterprise, etc.
Engaging a crowdfunding platform is just the beginning. You must also run a successful crowdfunding campaign. Explore the help tools provided by any platform you might use and also search for advice and insights online.