236 11 HIGHER EDUCATION ENABLING A SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURIAL APPROACH FOR THE THIRD SECTOR Willem Ellis & Deidré van Rooyen ABSTRACT Social entrepreneurship could possibly be a solution to the lack of financial sustainability that many South African non-profit organisations currently experience. The following methodology was adopted for purposes of gaining insight into the potential of non-profit organisations in the Free State to embrace social entrepreneurship: By means of telephonic interviews, focus group sessions and face-to-face interviews with provincial government officials and non-profit organisations in Mangaung and Matjhabeng, a snapshot of the third sector environment in the province was developed by the researchers. Due to the paucity of academic contributions on this topic, the researchers highlighted the challenges facing the third sector in its endeavour to adopt a social entrepreneurial approach. It is suggested that higher education could play a facilitative role in the shift towards this approach (for the public, private and third sectors) through reciprocal knowledge enablement. Erasmus M, Albertyn R (eds) 2014. Knowledge as Enablement. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS DOI: 10.18820/9781920382636/11 © 2017 AFRICAN SUN MeDIA