4.3.1 The development of the survey sample

The Survey examined a population of Dutch social enterprises understood as such following the Commission’s definition for a social enterprise in the SBI Communication of 2011.1 In addition, the examined population of Dutch social enterprises was selected on the basis of certain criteria, which regarded: (i) if the selected social enterprise is a member of the Social Enterprises NL platform organisation; (ii) if the level of maturity of the selected social enterprise exceeds the three years of existence; (iii) if the social enterprise has the intention of pursuing a social impact and using the profit to achieve a social objective (even if the social enterprise is not making a profit yet); and finally (iv) if the social enterprise is financially independent from the government. As such, the Survey did not examine: (i) social enterprises that satisfy definitions for the social enterprise other than the Commission’s definition in the SBI Communication of 2011; (ii) non-existing social enterprises hampered by various barriers or organisations looking to transition into becoming social enterprises; and (iii) young start-ups.2

In the Survey, the application of the social enterprise definition and the use of the foregoing selection criteria resulted in a survey sample of 390 Dutch social enterprises that were invited to respond to the survey questions. The respondents completed the survey electronically following an (online) emailinvitation. Of the 390 invited Dutch social enterprises, only 13.33% responded to the survey. This meant only 52 social enterprises successfully completed the survey questions. Obviously, 13.33% was a considerably low response rate that could not be used for providing survey results that are generalisable or representative of the entire social enterprise population in the Netherlands. However, the responses of 52 Dutch social enterprises were sufficient to provide background insightful information, which can be used for exploratory purposes in the research concerning stakeholder participation in the governance of social enterprises that do not employ a tailor-made legal form.