Accelerating social initiatives: an exploratory study on scaling in the social sector

Abstract

This exploratory study aims to provide an initial understanding of the role of accelerators in the public sector. Our findings on potential accelerators in the Dutch social sector show that they differ from those in the private sector. They also take temporary organizational forms, rarely select social initiatives through open calls, and support experts rather than initiators. Their contribution is difficult to measure. Their potential role in the ecosystem of social initiatives includes coordinating the scaling and focusing on effectiveness, but their role needs further development. Our findings indicate that scaling beyond should be considered as separate dimension of scaling.