Review:  This article examines the evolution of the institution of socially oriented nonprofit organizations, granting them a status of the “deliverers of social services” and the “providers socially beneficial services” through the prism of influence of the concept of “service state” upon these processes. Relevance of this topic is substantiated by the rapid development of socially oriented nonprofit organizations in the Russian Federation and their impact on social life on one hand; and on the other – the government’s desire to include socially oriented nonprofit organizations into the sphere of rendering social services, which used to be the government monopoly. The goal of this research is to assess the impact of “service state” concept upon the process of inclusion of socially oriented nonprofit organizations into the sphere of social services. The author comes to a conclusion that the concept of “service state” influenced the development of the institution of socially oriented nonprofit organizations with regards to their acceptance into the sphere of social services. The acquired theoretical results complement the scientific research of the impact of “service state” concept upon the reforms of state administration in the Russian Federation.

Keywords: state firm, welfare state, community service, social service, social service provider, non-profit organization, service state, civil society, public association, open state