The best months to launch your offering

March through May, with February close behind. January is the worst month to launch, and October and November are worse than their headline numbers look. That is the short answer, and it comes out of our own analysis of 9,227 archived crowdfunding offerings, narrowed to the 1,799 Reg CF raises that ended above $250,000 and grouped by the month of their first recorded commitment.

The longer answer is more useful, because the month you launch turns out to matter much less for how much you raise than for how long you spend raising it.

What the data says

Every raise is compared against a typical raise from its own launch year, since the market grew year over year and raw dollars across a decade would be misleading. A score of 1.00 means an ordinary raise for that year.

The finding that matters most

Look down the "size vs same-year" column and the range is remarkably narrow. Ten of the twelve months land between 0.95 and 1.11. On total dollars raised, seasonality is close to noise for most of the year.

Now look at "days active". February launches finish in a median of 92 days. September launches take 162. That is seventy days of difference, more than two extra months of paying a team, running ads, answering investor questions, and having the founder's attention inside a fundraise instead of inside the company.

That is the real seasonal cost, and it is invisible if you only look at what was raised. A fall launch that ends at an ordinary total after five and a half months was more expensive than a spring launch that reached the same number in three and a half.

Why spring wins

April starts fastest. April launches pull $323,000 in their first thirty days against a cohort norm around $260,000, and close in a median 102 days. The first month sets the pace for the whole campaign, and April's cohort gets the best start of any month.

February closes fastest. Ninety two days, the shortest of any month, and it fills its maximum goal 23% of the time.

March is the most reliable. Raises launched in March end 5% above their year's typical raise, and March is the only month in the data with a 100% funded rate.

May ends largest but takes the longest of the spring months. Up 11% on the year median, which is the best result in the table, but it takes 143 days to get there. If the campaign's monthly cost and your team's attention matter, and they should, the months just ahead of it are the better trade.

Why January and the late fall lose

January is genuinely bad. Launches end 16% below their year's typical raise, the weakest month in the data, and hit their maximum goal only 14% of the time. The new-year money mindset that everyone assumes exists does not show up here at all.

December starts slowest. $202,000 in the first thirty days, the lowest of any month, and December launches only recover as the campaign spills over into spring. That works, but it means paying for a slow first month and finishing on someone else's calendar.

October and November look fine and are not. Both end at ordinary totals, 1.04 and 1.05. Both then run 158 to 161 days. They are paying two extra months for an average result, and they carry the holidays through the middle of the campaign, when ad auctions are at their most expensive because every retailer in the country is bidding.

The pattern underneath all of it: the six weeks around New Year are the one window where seasonality clearly costs money on the total raised. Everywhere else it costs time.

What this does not mean

Two honest caveats, and the first is important enough to change how you use the table.

Founders choose their launch month. So some of the spring advantage is not the calendar, it is selection. A company that opens in March is often a company whose audited financials, counsel, and creative were all ready when planned. A company that slips to June or October is sometimes a company that slipped, and the same organizational habits that caused the slip show up again in how the campaign is run. The calendar is partly measuring preparedness.

Launch here means the first recorded commitment, which can lag the true open by days or weeks.

Which leads to the only planning rule that survives all of this: readiness beats the calendar. A raise that is genuinely ready in June should open in June. Deferring a prepared campaign for nine months to catch a spring window costs more in runway and momentum than the few percent the calendar is worth. This matters especially under Reg A+, where SEC qualification does not arrive on a schedule you control, so building toward a state of readiness rather than a fixed date is the only workable plan.

What the data does justify is the negative version. Do not deliberately open into the New Year window. If you find yourself six weeks out from a December or January launch with a choice, pulling the open forward into the fall or pushing it to February is supported by the numbers.

How to use the table

• Working backwards from a spring open means the reservation list, creative, and tracking need to be in progress through the winter. The pre-launch window is where the first thirty days is won, and the first thirty days is the single best predictor in this table.
• Budget for the campaign length your month implies. A fall launch should be planned and funded for five months, not three. Discovering that in month four is how closing campaigns get cut short.
• Plan the close as its own campaign regardless of month, since the deadline is yours to set and a well-run close can bring in a large share of the total. See how-to-market-an-equity-crowdfunding-raise.

About this data

Our own analysis of 9,227 archived crowdfunding offerings, September 2026. The cohort is the 1,799 Reg CF raises that ended above $250,000, grouped by the month of their first recorded commitment. Raise sizes are compared to a typical raise from the same launch year rather than in raw dollars, because the market grew every year. Best and worst months are the sum of each month's rank across five measures: size versus same-year raises, first-thirty-day dollars, days active, funded rate, and share that hit the maximum. Campaign length is weighted as heavily as total raised, which is why the fall months rank low despite ordinary totals. Past raise performance is not a guarantee of future results, and nothing here is investment, legal, or financial advice.

FAQ

What is the best month to launch an equity crowdfunding raise?

March through May, with February close behind. April launches raise the most in their first thirty days, February closes fastest at a median 92 days, March has the highest funded rate, and May ends largest at 11% above its year's typical raise while taking the longest of the four.

What is the worst month to launch a raise?

January, by a clear margin. January launches end 16% below their year's typical raise and fill their maximum goal only 14% of the time. December has the slowest start of any month at $202,000 in the first thirty days, and October and November produce ordinary totals but run about two months longer than a spring launch.

How much does launch timing actually affect how much you raise?

Less than most people expect. Ten of the twelve months land within a few percent of an ordinary raise for their year. The clear exception is the six weeks around New Year. The larger seasonal effect is on campaign length, where the gap between the fastest and slowest months is about seventy days.

Should I delay my raise to hit a better month?

Generally no. Readiness matters more than the calendar, and part of the spring advantage reflects companies that were organized enough to open when they planned rather than the month itself. Deferring a prepared campaign for months costs more than the few percent the calendar is worth. Avoiding a deliberate New Year launch is the version of this advice the data actually supports.

How long does a crowdfunding campaign take?

In this cohort, a median of 92 to 162 days depending on launch month. Spring launches close in roughly 100 days, and fall launches run closer to 160. Budget the campaign for the length its launch month implies rather than assuming ninety days.