Social Entrepreneurship, Compassion and AGWM: An Investigation of Organizational Sustainability and Economic Development in Nonprofits

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM) missionaries working in Compassion Ministries through the nonprofit sector could apply the concepts of social entrepreneurship to achieve organizational sustainability and economic development for the communities they are embedded in. AGWM missionaries are serving people around the world, tending to their spiritual, physical, and economic needs. Social entrepreneurship could increase AGWM’s capacity to minister to the whole person. The correlation between a social entrepreneur and a missionary will be explained to provide a foundational understanding of their motivational drive. The case studies emerged from interviews and dialogues with missionaries working in the field. Social entrepreneurship assessment questions and a list of resources were developed through the research and the case studies. In addition, a proposal was created to utilize the theoretical components in a culturally specific context to illustrate how theory can merge would praxis. A funding plan and a leadership development plan to go hand in hand with the proposal. Our hope is that AGWM missionaries will find this thesis useful and practical tool when starting a social enterprise.