Purpose This study aims to develop an empirically validated taxonomy. Typologies of social entrepreneurship are primarily based on conceptual considerations and case studies. There is a need for quantitative approaches and empirical testing of this emerging organizational form and its characteristics. Design/methodology/approach First, an item scale was developed that emerged from frequently mentioned elements in social entrepreneurship literature. Next, social entrepreneurs rated these items. Finally, the authors conducted a cluster analysis to derive a taxonomy with three distinguishable types of social enterprises. Findings Based on a cluster analysis (N = 70), an empirically validated taxonomy is provided with three social enterprise types: social service providers, social change makers and social philanthropists. Practical implications Although this research has an exploratory character, it makes a clear contribution by complementing existing typologies, which tend to be conceptual in nature, with a taxonomy that is empirically grounded. This study defogs the blurry understanding and limited knowledge about different social enterprise forms and provides insight into meaningfully similar groups across the sector as a whole. Originality/value This article fills a void of empirically grounded taxonomies by analyzing which definitional aspects of social entrepreneurship literature correspond to the perceptions of social entrepreneurs regarding the nature of their organizations.

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While entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in nonprofit organizations (NPOs) is often considered as another business‐like behavior, the present systematic literature review changes this perspective by revealing that the construct refers to several specific third sector organizations' qualities and leverages financial and mission goals simultaneously. EO as a strategic posture of organizations is already well established in management and strategy literature whereas corresponding insights in NPOs are indeed expanded, but fragmented. To develop this research stream, a systematic literature review was conducted, that analyses the results of 76 studies about EO in NPOs. Besides describing current findings, this paper generates a comprehensive overview of applied constructs, drivers influencing EO, and goals promoted by this strategic posture. The context‐specific modification of the construct leads to the presumption that EO does not predominantly target business‐like initiatives, but holds a lot of potential meeting NPO's core challenges, such as the fulfillment of various stakeholders' expectations or diverse resources acquisition. The discussion elaborates to what extent EO serves as a viable alternative to highly discussed third sector developments of business approximation.