Terms v Nonterms - Campaign Communication

One important aspect of communicating during your REG CF campaign is not mixing terms and non-terms anywhere except on your campaign page (i.e. any advertisement, social media post, blog, etc.). 

Terms are either defined or implied details about your offering [see chart below]. On the other hand, nonterms are soft communications that do not include any defined or implied terms.

For example, nonterms communication would be “Our company released a new product today! In addition, our campaign has raised over 1M in committed funds!”

Term communication would be “Our Reg CF Offering has a 3M maximum amount.” 

Mixing terms would be “Our company released a new product today! In addition, our REG CF campaign has raised over 1M in committed funds! We are ⅓ of the way toward our offering maximum of 3M.” This is a mixed communication for two reasons: (i) progress toward funding goal is a term and (ii) stating the funding goal is an implied term. To further elaborate, saying “Our company released a new product today! We can’t wait to reach our goal of 3M” and “Our company released a new product today! We’ve raised 1M and are ⅓ of the way to our goal”  are both examples of communications that mix terms and non-terms. 

Understanding what is defined, and especially what is implied by “term”, will build the foundation for successful and compliant marketing efforts.

And remember, the easiest way to avoid mixing terms and non-terms is to simply direct potential investors to your StartEngine campaign page! 

Terms v Nonterms Chart

Helpful Links:

What can I, and what can I not say, when talking about my Reg CF campaign? – StartEngine

It Seems Everyone Conducting a Reg CF Offering is Confused About This 1 Rule | StartEngine

Can I change the terms of my offering if my Reg CF is already live? – StartEngine