AARP Tax-Aide Coordinators Meeting AARP Tax-Aide Coordinator

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AARP Tax-Aide Coordinators Meeting
AARP Tax-Aide Coordinators Meeting

• Recruitment Overview
• Al Hershey and Denise Montana

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Recruitment Strategy

• Recruitment is an ongoing activity and requires a
  significant commitment of DCs and others in all
  districts.
• In order to get a baseline of current activities
  and needs a recruitment survey was completed this
  summer

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a. Over 20 hours b. Over 40 Hoursc.
Over 60 hoursd. Over 80 hours

• How many hours did DCs report spending on
  pro-active Recruiting Activities?

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Recruitment Survey Results

• 76 of DCs responded to the survey by August 3rd
  (13 of 16)
• All DCs proactively recruit new volunteers each
  year.
• Ads/Articles in newsletters of local
  organizations (92)
• Ads/Articles in Newspapers (77)
• Notices placed on Bulletin Boards of stores,
  libraries, and senior centers (62)
• The average number of hours DCs spend on
  proactive recruitment is 61

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Recruitment Survey Results

• Participation in the program is rewarding. Once
  volunteers become involved they tend to return
  the following year (85 was the average return
  rate reported by DCs)
• Recruitment efforts do pay off. Approximately
  65 of volunteers who initially express interest
  actually go through the training or participate
  in other site activities during tax season
• Unique recruitment activities reported by DCs
  included interviews on local TV programs,
  working with local government representatives and
  agencies, and making presentations to local non
  profit groups.

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Recruitment is Supported from the Top

• AARP Publications (AARP The Magazine) focus on
  volunteering and Tax-Aide program
• AARP developed new on-line volunteer application
  process (improvements have been strongly
  suggested)
• AARP is partnering with nationwide volunteer
  websites including, www.volunteermatch.org and
  www.serve.gov

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Why a New System?

• AARP Tax-Aide adds approximately 6,800 new
  volunteers/ year
• Estimated that 10-12K prospective volunteer apply
  or are considered
• Volunteer s require different skill sets
• E-filing technology, quality requirements need
  different skills, experiences
• Increasingly diverse communities of need
• Highly manual and labor intensive
• With minimal data analysis and leadership
  reporting available
• Indications are that the quicker information
  exchange, assessment is performed with
  prospective volunteers, the higher the likelihood
  of success
• Estimated delay from prospect self identification
  at contact center or web to receipt by PVC and/or
  DC is anywhere from 5 to 30 days

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Statewide Recruiting Activities

• NJ Statewide efforts include
• Article on AARP NJ Website describing volunteer
  positions
• Volunteer announcement Email sent to AARP
  statewide mailing list and had an impact on
  volunteer apps
• A friendly reminder email was sent to current
  volunteers by the state team to help garner new
  recruits
• A home mailing to AARP members in several
  counties is in process and should be out next
  week

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Statewide Recruiting Activities

• Sample communications have been developed and
  will be available on the NJ website
• Article for newspapers/newsletters
• Classified ad announcement
• One-page color flyer for drop off at partner
  locations or as a handout at informational
  sessions (copies available)

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Local Recruitment Activities

• Ask libraries and senior centers to include an
  article on AARP Tax-Aide in their member
  newsletters
• Order volunteer recruitment poster kits (D15925)
  from AARP. This kit consists of a poster (D15187)
  plus a pad of postcards (C2090).
  http//assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/articles/taxa
  ide/extranet/3_D18157.pdf. 
• Contact local newspapers to discuss the
  possibility of running an article on the upcoming
  tax season and need for volunteers.  Highlight
  local volunteers for an interesting human
  interest angle for your story
• Your newspaper may be willing to include a small
  recruitment announcement in the classified
  section under volunteer opportunities 

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Discussion and Next Steps

• Do we need more volunteer outreach now?
• Can we balance an influx of new recruits with
  available training and technology resources?
• Should we be thinking of expanding client
  outreach to match volunteer corps?

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Next Steps

• Evaluate impact of new state volunteer outreach
• Develop a library of sample communications and
  best practices with easy access on the NJ website
• Develop a timeline for recruiting activities and
  actions for new DCs and other leaders
• SMT available to work with DCs on specific
  recruitment strategies (i.e. Atlanticare)