NPO’s Commercialization Strategy and Cross-sector Governance: A Case Study of Eden Social Welfare Foundation
Po-Yu Lee*
Abstract
Since the 1980s, the development of non-profit organizations (NPO) or the third sector has been encountering various challenges. Facing the contraction of government subsidies, as well as global economic slump causing a reduction of donation by enterprises and the general public, how non-profit organizations initiate projects of commercialization in order to preserve the organizational sustainability and maintain the public interests is an important topic. This research is aimed at dealing with the theoretical basis of commercialization of the third sector by examining the issues related to the sector’s operational reconstruction, its development backgrounds, methods and types. The study also looks at a new commercialization strategy that incorporates new resources and public-goods principles. Empirically, through observation of the commercialization process of Taiwan’s Eden Social Welfare Foundation, this study uses multi-sectoral cooperation governance to emphasize the partnership among governments, enterprises and the third sector that co-produce public services. The study combines the research, training, production and marketing of commercialization process of Eden Social Welfare Foundation with Najam’s “4C Model” (cooperation, complementarity, confrontation and co-optation), and details the foundation’s experiences for the reference of all those interested.
Keywords: the third sector, commercialization, cross-sector governance, social enterprise, corporate social responsibility
* Associate Professor, Department of Social and Public Affairs, University of Taipei, email: jack3841@utaipei.edu.tw.