Social enterprises have gained wide recognition as a tool for solving social and environmental problems. They generate new opportunities in the social sphere, while being active in the commercial field. They are hybrid organizations that face many challenges when pursuing frequently conflicting goals. Social enterprises are therefore an expression of the possibility of different institutional logics coexisting as part of the same organization. Social enterprises running a commercial activity and using business-like practices legitimize the market logic, while the social goal of their operation is consistent with the logic of social welfare. Although there an intense discussion takes place in the literature on institutional logics that may affect nonprofits’ activity as hybrid organizations, so far the topic has been empirically verified only to a limited extent. The aim of this article is to examine the successful coexistence of the market logic and the social-welfare logic in NGOs acting as social enterprises. On the basis of a representative national survey of 3800 NGOs, including 412 carrying out market sales and thereby referred to as social enterprises, a one-factor analysis of variance was carried out. The obtained findings of the study indicate that social enterprises acting as non-governmental organizations successfully combine the market and the social-welfare logics.

Research background: NGOs face an increasing expectation to be more business-like. They are becoming involved in selling services by performing a commercial activity, which, in turn, is a basic condition for creating social enterprises. The changes related to this approach are an essential condition for their survival and a significant reason for developing their new form as social enterprises. On the other hand, there is no lack of critical opinions related primarily to mission volatility. Currently, a discussion is taking place in the literature on factors that may affect NGOs? marketization; these, however, have not been empirically verified yet. The identified research gap constituted a major challenge for the author. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this paper is to verify whether conducting a business activity influences the entrepreneurial way of NGOs? operation, and to indicate the factors that have a significant impact on their marketization. Methods: On the basis of a representative national survey of 3,800 NGOs, including 412 social enterprises in Poland. a one-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a stepwise backward regression analysis were carried out. Findings & Value added: The analysis of the results confirms that there are significant differences between NGOs operating as social enterprises and NGOs not performing a business activity. In contrast with the existing literature, this study indicates that social enterprises have less diversified revenue sources and use a more or less democratic governance model. Moreover, Polish social enterprises less frequently adjust their policy direction to donors? interests. The factors significantly affecting NGOs? marketization include action strategies for several years, activity in favor of external benefit takers, close business cooperation, lack of permanent financing sources, and regular activity combined with flexible working time.

Research background: The precarious employment in non-governmental organizations has not been the subject of thorough scientific considerations so far. Meanwhile, the dominance of flexible forms of employment in an organization evokes a sense of instability, insecurity and uncertainty among employees. It weakens the relationship between staff and the organization, which, by not providing employees with prospects for permanent employment, creates a threat to its own development. The COVID-19 pandemic is reinforcing these fears as the situation in the labour market continues to deteriorate. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting NGOs employment of contract employees, as a key condition for crowding out precarious employment. Methods: Logistic regression analysis was conducted based on a national representative survey of 1500 Polish NGOs. Findings & value added: Its results indicate that NGOs are increasing the employment of contract staff in order to cope with the excessive bureaucracy of public administration. A stimulating impact on employment is also provided by difficulties in maintaining good staff and volunteers, as well as when there is no sense of security in running an organization. In turn, the lack of people ready to selflessly get involved in an organization's activities, as well as difficulties in accessing premises appropriate to NGOs both reduce the desire among staff to be employed full-time. The monitoring of precarious employment (PE) in NGOs is of key importance in the shaping and effectiveness of national policies aimed at improving the living standards of society as a whole. NGOs are an important element, as they fill the gaps remaining in the implementation of such policies. In the long term, improving the quality of full-time employment in such entities by reducing the barriers to their activity will increase their potential for fulfilling their social mission. To date, such barriers and their relation to employment have not been considered in research literature. However, a considerable proportion of employees in the Polish NGO sector may join the ranks of those excluded from employment and deprived of income due to the crisis on the job market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article contributes to the existing literature and practice by identifying the influence of wide spectrum of barriers of NGOs activity on permanent employment.

The aim of this article is to identify whether the commercialization of NGOs has an influence on the crowding out or crowding in effect of volunteer work, and to indicate the factors affecting volunteers’ regular involvement in NGO activity. The conducted research confirmed the hypothesis that the commercialization of Polish NGOs is associated with the crowding in effect of volunteer work. The authors prove that the direction of knowledge transfer can be important in engaging volunteers to work in NGOs. The model demonstrates that the likelihood of the NGO crowding in effect increases with frequent internal training, and decreases rapidly with participation in conferences, which work as external knowledge transfer.

The purpose of this article is to examine if Polish non-governmental organizations (NGOs) experience the precarious employment and to identify whether the commercialization of NGOs influences this phenomenon. The study confirms that Polish NGOs experience precarious employment. The greater flexibility a given form of employee engagement provides, the greater the number of NGOs using it. Only a small percentage of organizations employ full-time employees. However, the commercialization does not significantly affect precarious employment in NGOs, moreover it does not impact on the employment of contract employees who had previously worked for the organization as volunteers.