Background One of the effective ways to attract social collaboration to provide effective, prompt, and coordinated interventions in emergencies is through social innovation. The present study seeks to identify the factors affecting the implementation of the social innovation plan based on the collaboration between government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for saving people’s lives in crises. The initial idea of this research was obtained from the best practice “Every Home Is a Health Base” which was implemented in Iran. Methods The Grounded Theory strategy has been used in this study. The statistical population of the study is health experts from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. The study time span is during the first half of 2020. Exploratory analysis was used to identify the factors of social innovation. By selecting and reviewing 68 research in-depth, the initial framework was prepared. Then, through a semi-structured interview with experts, the framework was adapted and reviewed. Based on the analysis of the collected data, 39 open codes were extracted and the factors affecting the implementation of the social innovation were identified. Results The eight axis codes as the factors affecting the implementation of the social innovation plan based on the collaboration between government and NGOs are as follows: Paying attention to the components of the NGOs collaboration effectiveness, investment to attract NGOs collaboration, the ability to manage the implementation, the ability of networking, the ability of policymaking, providing the necessary cultural and educational infrastructure; Existence of capable legal organizations to solve the executive problems of the plan and facilitate coordination, and controlling, containing and reducing the effects of the crisis, as consequences. Conclusions Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic have shown the world that the current governmental and social structures are not efficient enough to respond quickly to the emergence of global challenges. Social innovation is a solution to this problem. The findings of this study also confirm this and identify the factors affecting the implementation of the social innovation plan based on collaboration between governments and NGOs in crises. The results of this research give governments and policymakers an efficient solution by involving NGOs, especially in times of widespread crises. Also, they can be used in planning for social development.

Background: Timely information and risk assessment in crises, can save people’s lives at risk in emergencies, providing effective, prompt, and coordinated interventions. In this context, the best and most effective way to attract social collaboration is through the combination of different ideas and forms of cooperation and creating a new approach to a social issue called social innovation. The present study seeks to identify the dimensions of social innovation based on the collaboration between government and NGOs in crises.Methods: This study is applied research in terms of purpose and qualitative research in terms of method, in which the Grounded Theory strategy has been used. The statistical population of the study is health experts from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. Exploratory analysis and MAXQDA 2020 software were used to identify the components of the model. By selecting and reviewing 68 research in-depth, the initial framework was prepared. Then, through a semi-structured interview with experts, the framework was adapted and reviewed.Results: Based on the analysis of the collected data, 39 open codes were extracted and the components of the social innovation model are identified as follows: the effectiveness of NGOs collaboration, as axial phenomenon; investment, to attract NGOs collaboration, as casual conditions; ability to manage the implementation of the social innovation plan and ability to network, as strategies; ability to policymaking overall social innovation plan and providing the necessary cultural and educational infrastructure, as contextual conditions; the existence of capable legal organizations to solve the executive problems of the plan and facilitate coordination, as intervening conditions and controlling, containing and reducing the effects of the crisis, as consequences.Conclusion: The research results, give policymakers a model for social innovation by involving NGOs, especially in times of crisis. Also, they can be used in government planning for social development.