The term “crowd funding” can refer to several things, but in the US, it primarily refers to a campaign of donations to a commercial or non-commercial venture, such as a business, film, art project, band or science project. “Crowd funding” is also sometimes used to mean small investors buying small business stocks, something currently illegal in the US, but just might become legal under the pending Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act (HR 2930).

Crowd funding doesn’t work for everyone, but it has allowed many projects to get started in a timely manner that otherwise could have taken years.