With a Little Help from Our Friends: How Social Entrepreneurship Ventures Change the World on a Shoestring

Abstract

This paper employs grounded theory to understand how social entrepreneurship ventures pursue the types of change that supporters demand with very limited budgets. A multiple case study found that organizations walk a fine line, inspiring supporters by emphasizing grand change goals while at the same time, buffering supporter enthusiasm from disappointment by refraining from identifying as mission critical any goals for which the factors that would influence success are largely outside of the organization’s control. SEV’s used inter-organizational cooperation to pursue change goals where short term failures were likely and where eventual success was only possible after a protracted effort.