Elena Kennedy, assistant professor of entrepreneurship, shared her research examining the revenue strategies of nonprofit social ventures, focusing on how revenue is earned, allocated and maximized in the face of competing charity and entrepreneurial mindsets.
Elena Kennedy, assistant professor of entrepreneurship in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, presented a paper at the Sustainability Ethics and Entrepreneurship (SEE) Conference, held Feb. 28 through March 2 in Puerto Rico.
During the “Sustainable Development” session, Kennedy discussed the paper, “Unintended Consequences of a Charity Mindset: Exploring Strategic Social Entrepreneurship as a New Revenue Model for Social Ventures.” She and her co-author, Denise Parris, assistant professor of social entrepreneurship at Rollins College, examined the revenue strategies of nonprofit social ventures by focusing on how revenue is earned, allocated and maximized in the face of competing charity and entrepreneurial mindsets.
The paper’s abstract: “This paper examines the revenue strategies of nonprofit social ventures by focusing on how revenue is earned, allocated and maximized in the face of competing charity and entrepreneurial mindsets. Utilizing a mixed methods approach we examine two hypotheses: H1: There is a positive association between an increase in strategic social entrepreneurship and employee wages among non-profit organizations; and H2: The relationship between strategic social entrepreneurship and wages is positively moderated by the age of the organization. Our research posits that unintended negative consequences of the traditional charity mindset within nonprofit organizations can be mitigated by incorporating a logic of strategic social entrepreneurship. We conclude by proposing a new model of a strategic social entrepreneurial mindset, whereby it is considered normatively appropriate and legitimate to pay market rate wages, earn margins, and invest in the growth of social ventures.”
SEE is an international conference for the top scholars in the area of sustainability, ethics and entrepreneurship. Scholars share cutting-edge research, ideas and theories across these interdisciplinary fields. Scholars also connect with companies at the conference in order to build a worldwide community that advances the state of knowledge and practice on SEE-related issues.