Social innovation in non-profit organizations: a measurement scale

Social innovation has emerged as an outstanding topic in a situation in which industrial economies are translating into knowledge and service-based societies. Research efforts have been focused on identifying the different theoretical approaches of this fragmented concept, but comprehensive instruments for measuring it are noticeably lacking. Combining a literature review and a quantitative-based research with 201 non-profit organizations (NPO), this study develops and tests a measurement scale for assessing the extent to which a particular initiative undertaken by the NPO (a project, program, process, product or any other activity) is a social innovation. A thorough revision of the diverse streams that have approached this construct allowed us to define the domain specification, as well as to generate a pool of items and assure the content validity of the scale. Different statistical analyses were used to assess its dimensionality, reliability and validity. This scale can be employed by practitioners and policymakers to verify the extent to which NPO initiatives satisfy a social problem, in a new and sustainable way, and with the improvement of social behaviors or relationships, as well as to identify relevant gaps that need to be addressed to effectively set priorities and implement SI strategies and policies.