Here are some basic guidelines for Crowdfunding from a legal perspective . . .

1) Transparency is important.  The FTC advises crowdfunders to “keep your promises” and “use the money raised from crowdfunding only for the purpose represented.” Clearly detail what the money is to be used for and what return they may get on their investment.
 

2) Relaxed regulation doesn’t mean there is no regulation. Federal agencies outside of the SEC can still have regulate campaigns.  Moreover, SEC regulations still affect startup businesses.  Startups must register their organizations and adhere to disclosure requirements under Sarbanes-Oxley.
 

3)  Transparency, relationship management, and image management are important for startups and crowdfunding. Don’t underestimate the importance of effective and truthful promotional content.

SEC Regulation A+, allows organizations to use online campaigns to gauge interest in potential projects without collecting any capital.  This effectively allows organizations to compile information on investors prior to creating a formal capital campaign.

HVPR has no moral or rightful claim to any percentage of sales generated through your crowdfunding project. To be perfectly transparent, it’s unethical and not permitted for a public relations firm to garner a percentage of the revenue generated from a crowdfunding campaign.

Federal law in the United States makes it illegal for us to get any sort of percentage or bonus for helping an equity crowdfunding campaign raise funds. HVPR is not a registered or licensed broker or dealer and we don’t want to be. We’re public relations experts, not stock brokers. Without a clear cut policy we can easily find ourselves in legal trouble if someone signs on as a crowdfunding PR client for an equity crowdfunding campaign with any sort misunderstanding or misapprehension whereby we agree to receive a percentage of the funds they raise.

We will in good conscience do our best to get your crowdfunding campaign all of the attention we possibly can for the fees we charge.

Over the years HVPR has developed relationships with reporters, journalists, show producers and bloggers.  We’ve also built a reputation that members of  the media respect.  When we reach out to one of our contacts with a crowdfunding public relations pitch, the person on the receiving end sits up and pays attention to us.

Crowdfunding public relations helps crowdfunders create an identity in the industry, media and community. Public relations is the use of established public forums (social media platforms, magazines, newspapers, TV and Radio etc.), to deliver a message to a targeted audience. Public relations basic methodology involves establishing goals, objectives, strategy, tactics and target audience.
 

PR is about building trust and often includes creating a strong brand and great reputation to allow you to build relationships with the public. For your crowdfunding campaign, those relationships will be with the public at large who are potential backers as well as members of the media – TV, Radio, Print, and Online.

Public relations can add credibility to any crowdfunding campaign and give authority to the crowdfunder via organic news that crowdfunding advertising can’t while creating an opportunity to conduct market research for your product/service at a far lower cost than advertising. Crowdfunding PR can also establish or increase public awareness of your crowdfunding campaign to pivotal buyer and influencer audiences.  Crowdfund Buzz deploys “call to action public relations” to drive potential backers to a crowdfunding campaign so consumers can make an on-the-spot decision to back a project.