People invest in an opportunity in exchange for equity. Money is exchanged for shares, or a small stake in the business, project or venture.  As with other types of shares, apart from community shares, if it is successful the value goes up.

Investors receive their money back with interest. Also calledbpeer-to-peer (p2p) lending, it allows money lending while bypassing traditional banks.  Returns are financial, but investors also have the benefit of having contributed to the success of an idea they believe in.  In the case of microfinance, where very small sums of money are leant to the very poor, most often in developing countries, no interest is paid on the loan and the lender is rewarded by doing social good.

People invest simply because they believe in the cause. Rewards can be offered (often called reward crowdfunding), such as acknowledgements on an album cover, tickets to an event, regular news updates, free gifts and so on. Returns are considered intangible.  Donors have a social or personal motivation for putting their money in and expect nothing back, except perhaps to feel good about helping the project.