Factores clave que facilitan la innovación social en el tercer sector

Introduction: The objective of this study is to describe the factors that influence social innovation processes in the third sector entities. Methodology: From the study of three in-depth cases, a qualitative investigation is carried out from a grounded theory approach. Results: Eleven categories are detected that impact social innovation: user centrality, internal culture, focus, scalability, impact evaluation, financing, level of independence, level of legitimacy, alliances, ICT potential and volunteering. Discussions: Organizations have different progress in the different categories. However, all of them contribute to the development of social innovation. Without a deep understanding of what social innovation is, perhaps the true social innovations that the third sector generates do not emerge and may hide, compared to other sectors, a greater social innovation than assumed. Conclusions: There are four types of factors that favor social innovation in the third sector. The structural ones, such as a clear purpose or its governance. The own factors or differential capacities that the third sector possesses, such as its capillarity. Emerging ones, such as new technological trends or impact measurement. And legitimacy factors, including quality or accountability.