About OneStar Foundation: Texas Center for Social Impact
Texas has thousands of nonprofits. Each has a different mission, but we are all working toward the same goal: helping to improve the lives of Texans. OneStar supports the nonprofit sector and its stakeholders through initiatives that increase civic engagement, research, rigorous evaluation and nonprofit organizational excellence. Our goal is to achieve sustainable social impact throughout the larger nonprofit infrastructure.
OneStar:
- Promotes the nonprofit sector. We believe that the sector is more than just nice to have--it is a critical part of Texas' social service network. We encourage state agencies, nonprofits, universities, corporations and foundations to become informed and engaged partners in the effort to bring about systemic change in the nonprofit sector.
- Analyzes the nonprofit sector. We collaborate with leading researchers to study nonprofit statistics and trends. We emphasize the importance of measuring nonprofit effectiveness in communities and across the sector. We help organizations determine their capacity, understand the metrics that affect their performance and strategize on improvements for greater results. Rich data are then shared to build the knowledge base of the nonprofit sector in our effort to achieve impact.
- Strengthens the nonprofit sector. We provide nonprofits across the state access to high quality learning opportunities and grants related to leadership development, nonprofit business practices, social impact, social innovation and more. We convene organizations at events such as the Governor's Nonprofit Leadership Conference. We also connect local faith-based and community organizations to resources including state and federal government, as the Governor's Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Office.
- Encourages service in the nonprofit sector. We are the State Service Commission, charged with promoting an ethic of service throughout Texas. We work with leaders in various sectors to ensure that service and volunteerism are integrated as viable and serious strategies for addressing needs of our state. AmeriCorps*Texas, which we administer, has placed thousands of members with organizations, which then leverage volunteers to help them tackle social challenges. And we honor the importance of service and civic engagement through administering the Governor's Volunteer Awards.
We come from many groups; and together, we are stronger, more dynamic and more effective in achieving impact on the social challenges of our Texas communities.
