New Research Report: The Value of State Service Commissions

Posted by America's Service Commissions on March 9, 2021

A new research report, The Value of State Service Commissions, was announced by America’s Service Commissions (ASC) underscoring the value and multi-layered impact of state service commissions across the United States and its territories.

The study was conducted by Dialogues In Action (DIA) to explore the value that state service commissions bring to their respective states. The evaluation was conducted in partnership with
America’s Service Commissions (ASC) and five state service commissions, including ServeOhio, OneStar Foundation (TX), Oregon Volunteers, SerVermont, and UServeUtah.

The evaluation utilized a convergent mixed methods outcome evaluation methodology to explore the following research questions: 1) What is the value that commissions bring to their states? and 2) What are the key catalysts of commissions’ impact?

The report includes data collected and analyzed from 303 quantitative survey responses and 98 qualitative interviews across three key populations:

• AmeriCorps Program Leaders
• Nonprofit/Volunteer Sector Leaders
• Public Officials

The evaluation identifies 11 notable impacts that state service commissions have had in their states and communities across national service programs, nonprofits, and the greater social sector:

Impact Findings – State Service Commissions:

1. Help AmeriCorps programs navigate complexity
2. Humanize compliance to help AmeriCorps leaders and programs evolve
3. Build capacity for impact, innovation, and sustainability
4. Improve the state’s ability to understand and meet community needs
5. Develop the next generation of social sector leaders
6. Enrich nonprofit culture and practices
7. Build bridges to strengthen collaboration
8. Place greater emphasis on elevating national service and volunteerism
9. Balance ensuring compliance with supporting impact and innovation
10. Reduce barriers to equitable and inclusive service and volunteerism
11. Play a more significant role in building the capacity of the social sector

“The Value of State Service Commissions report truly demonstrates the critical role that state service commissions play in supporting the national service and nonprofit ecosystem around the country,” said Kaira Esgate, CEO of America’s Service Commissions. “Moreover, it provides some important recommendations on how state service commissions can move national service programming from compliance to innovation, and utilize service as a strategy to meet their community needs. We look forward to working with our 52 state service commissions to apply the findings in this report to increase equity in and accessibility of national service and volunteer engagement resources in 2021 and beyond.”

View or download the Full Report and Executive Summary to learn more.