Venturing into Venture Philanthropy: Is More Sustainable Health and Medical Research Funding Possible Through Venture Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship?

Resource issues of Australia's ageing population are wrinkling the strategists' brows. A quest for novel funding options is underway. This article draws upon case study research to raise the allied concepts of venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship as useful partners in a nation's medical research funding portfolio. While both notions are quite new in the nonprofit and philanthropy literatures (Van Slyke & Newman, 2006 Van Slyke, D. M. and Newman, H. K. 2006. Venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship in community redevelopment.. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 15(3): 345–368. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) US cases suggest a tangible benefit to the health system worth exploring for countries without such inputs (e.g. Australia). This article is an early investigation of these concepts in the health and medical research setting.