Do I Make Sense? Linguistic Sensegiving and Equity Crowdfunding.

Social ventures often face challenges in securing funding from traditional sources. As an alternative, many socialventures turn to crowdfunding to raise funds. Equity crowdfunding differs from other forms of crowdfunding as it involvesclear expectations of financial returns for the funds provided. Drawing on sensegiving theory and temporal orientationliterature, this conceptual paper develops a set of testable propositions that explain how linguistic cues shape crowdfundingoutcomes for social ventures. Specifically, we theorize how social process language cues and economic process languagecues influence the likelihood of equity crowdfunding success for social ventures, and how these relationships are moderatedby a venture’s long-term orientation. By articulating a language-based framework for understanding investor sensemakingin equity crowdfunding, this study advances theory on social venture finance and provides a foundation for future empiricaltesting.