In the last decade, the dynamics of non-profit organizations/NGOs has been strongly influenced by the so-called trend of social entrepreneurship, which, in the sphere of the non-profit sector, causes changes and new forms of functioning of non-profit organizations. Taking over marketing approaches and values leads to the commercialization or marketization of the non-profit sector. This is reflected in the transformation of non-profit organizations into social enterprises. In its first part, the master's thesis deals with the concept of non-profit organizations and social enterprises and, ultimately, puts the impact of social entrepreneurship on the functioning of non-profit organizations in its centre. The second, empirical part is based on a content analysis of interviews conducted with the leaders of the societies for the blind and partially sighted, and on an analysis of questionnaires with members of the said societies. In studying whether, and how, the trend of social entrepreneurship has influenced the functioning and development of the societies for the blind and partially sighted in Slovenia, we have found that in the said organizations, a minimal trend of commercialization is detected as a consequence of the influence of social entrepreneurship on non-profit organizations. In general, the leaders of these societies understand the idea of social entrepreneurship relatively well and accept it as such, although they avoid social enterprises since they are not familiar with this concept very well. On the other hand, members of these societies cannot correctly define the concept of social entrepreneurship because of their incorrect comprehension of the concept.
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