Analyzing elements affecting the survival of new nonprofit organizations in the context of social entrepreneurship ventures

Despite their important contribution to the social economy, the processes of establishing new nonprofit organizations have not been systematically examined. The survival of new nonprofits is an important issue since if they cease to exist it is a loss to the economy as well as to community. It is well known that new for-profit businesses are vulnerable to failure in the first few years. It would be reasonable to assume the mortality rate for new nonprofits may be comparable to that for business since the establishment processes are similar, but the survival of new nonprofits has received scant attention in the research literature. This paper examines the relevance for emerging nonprofits of elements identified as contributing to the survival of new business ventures, including reference to the limited literature on nonprofits.