Recruitment Overview Al Hershey and Denise Montana 1.

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AARP Tax-Aide Coordinators Meeting

AARP Tax-Aide Coordinator’s Meeting

Recruitment Overview Al Hershey and Denise Montana

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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

Recruitment Strategy

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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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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

Recruitment Survey Results

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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.

Recruitment Survey Results

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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

Recruitment is Supported from the Top

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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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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

Statewide Recruiting Activities

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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)

Statewide Recruiting Activities

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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/taxaide/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

Local Recruitment Activities

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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?

Discussion and Next Steps

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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)

Next Steps