Abstract
There is an increasing realisation of the need for civil society organisations (CSOs) to be agile, given the fast-changing policy, legal and funding environment they operate in. Chatwani (2019) links this agile capacity to the fact that NGOs are norm- and mission-driven and have a strong identity, which facilitates the required knowledge transfer. In this chapter, however, we will identify ideal-type CSO business models and explore how (changing and emerging) business models are the key to agility and innovation. Based on a review of existing academic literature, we will look for examples of innovative thinking in CSOs. Through a survey of CSO leaders, we explore if the ideal-type business models we identified have validity and to what extend they are driven by the business model canvas.
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Notes
- 1.
We define “civil society organisations” (CSOs) as non-state, not-for-profit, voluntary entities formed by people in the social sphere that are separate from the state and the market; they represent a wide range of interests and ties ranging from community-based organisations, service providers to advocacy groups.
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Elbers, F., Grigore, AM., Coman, A. (2022). To Be Agile or Not to Be: New Business Models for Civil Society Organisations in Times of Crisis. In: Fotea, S.L., Fotea, I.Ş., Văduva, S. (eds) Navigating Through the Crisis: Business, Technological and Ethical Considerations. GSMAC 2020. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82751-9_11
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