Mission/Focus/Vision
Mission
OneStar Foundation: Texas Center for Social Impact is the extraordinary next step in a 31-year history of Texas governors' support of nonprofit organizations and volunteers. Whether nonprofits are strengthening education, fighting hunger, promoting health or helping people overcome trauma or tragedy, OneStar is united behind their mission: improving lives. We support the front lines on the fight against poverty, abuse, neglect, homelessness and addiction. We connect the sector with government and business communities, set new performance expectations and seek innovative new approaches to solve the social issues of today. We champion nonprofits' efforts to professionalize their operations and capitalize on their mission. On every level, we improve the lives of every Texan - every day.
Focus
The success of nonprofits is being targeted through four focus areas at OneStar.
- Service and Volunteerism manages Texas' national volunteer programs and engages them to create community-wide approaches to address social issues.
- Nonprofit Organizational Excellence develops and teaches strategies on improving operations, performance and end results.
- Studies created and provided by Research, Evaluation and Learning report valuable information about nonprofit sector best practices and policies.
- Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship will be launched later this year to encourage nonprofits to establish long term strategies and creative approaches to accomplishing their missions.
Vision
Every day, Texas' nonprofit organizations work to improve the lives of Texans. And every day, OneStar Foundation works to improve the nonprofit industry so it can more effectively serve Texans.
Our organization and its programs are built around four basic principles of organizational excellence.
Solution-oriented strategies must be based on real research, not intuition. OneStar's Research, Evaluation and Learning focus area provides data on needs and trends that help nonprofits solve social challenges, develop best practices and better understand the underlying causes behind the issues they address.
The greatest social challenges deserve lasting solutions, not temporary bandages. Our Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship focus area convenes leaders, scholars and practitioners to explore new solutions. It also distributes innovative approaches across the nonprofit sector and leverages cross-sector leadership, strategies and resources to support and promote these fresh ideas.
Even the best ideas will fail unless organizations can learn what success looks like. The nonprofit sector is often forced to do without the training and executive leadership we expect within the private sector. Our Organizational Excellence focus area develops and facilitates strategies that nonprofits can use to strengthen their operation, professionalize their processes and develop their employee base. Additionally, OneStar hosts the annual Governor's Nonprofit Leadership Conference and Governor's Volunteer Awards ceremony to promote these strategies and highlight success stories from around the state.
Finally, the ultimate success of our nonprofit organizations often rests on the volunteers that serve on the front lines and help these groups fulfill their missions. Volunteers' enthusiasm, expertise and desire to serve are the most basic component of a successful nonprofit sector. OneStar's Service and Volunteerism focus area is cultivating a strong volunteer ethic across the state with AmeriCorps*Texas and our three-year, $45 million investment in our state's volunteer industry.
Together, these basic principles guide the success of Texas' nonprofit industry, and the daily operations of the OneStar Foundation.
