Date: October 28, 2026

Topic: Volunteer recruitment — what programs are doing now, plus certification test errors

Updates from the Field

• Grant notification: No one on the call had received it yet; notices are usually posted to the listserv. An orientation was circulated, which suggests it is close. One participant’s IRS contact said the IRS has finished its work and did not know why it is taking so long. The facilitator’s understanding is that all federal grants are getting an administration review, which is delaying everything. VITA has broad support and should be fine over the long run, but programs should build relationships with local officials now so they can call on them quickly if VITA funding questions come up.
• Success: One participant is rushing prior-year clients and just finished six years of returns (2020–2025) for one client. When state wage information is missing, the client gets transcripts: one state sends withholding transcripts at no charge on request (a form, about a couple of weeks), while another charges $15 per W-2.

Certification Test and Publication Errors

• Purpose: After listserv traffic about errors and questionable items on the test and in the publications, the facilitator is compiling a list. One participant will send it to the IRS specialist who helps design the test; the more people who send it up, the better. Another participant had two volunteers review the list and will send additions.
• Basic Scenario 5: The answer treats a 66-year-old taxpayer as eligible for the EIC, which a participant said is no longer correct. The specialist agreed it needs fixing, after the scenario was updated for the recent legislation’s senior benefit. A suggested revision is to add that the taxpayer cares for a young grandchild.
• Other items flagged: Advanced Scenario 8; how Pub 4012 is laid out, which creates inconsistencies; the mileage rate used in the test; and Basic Scenario 8, question 24, where “actions that should take place” for a balance due would read better as “could,” since the taxpayer has no self-employment income to require estimated payments.
• Advanced Scenario 7: The supporting 1099-R shows an incorrect 2025 date.
• Pub 6744 (site coordinator test answer key): Says 15 questions, but the test has 20. The facilitator will add it as a testing error.
• OPI question 4: Asks which language is not offered, but all of the listed languages are. One (French) is not on the main menu and is reached through a representative.

Volunteer Recruitment: What Programs Are Doing

• Radio and referrals: One participant, in an area with many retirees, gained two volunteers from radio and 3–4 referrals by pushing volunteers to recruit on the program’s behalf (not as a competition). The facilitator noted that each small win reaches the volunteer’s own friends and contacts.
• Know your community: The facilitator cautioned against assuming what works in one place works in another. Volunteers in large urban areas face more competing options than a small-town group that volunteered and socialized together (with golf as the main competition).
• Students and retirees: One small program connected with a community college internship coordinator for the first time and is drafting an internship description. Its volunteers are mostly retirees, and students may commit better if it is a credited internship. The facilitator likes the balance: students are good with older clients but move on after a couple of years, while retirees stay for a long time.
• Aging-out volunteers: One new coordinator, with many 15–20 year volunteers aging out, emailed large community-minded employers, sent press releases (securing a radio interview), is contacting local schools, and gained about 12–13 prospects from two community events (one veterans-focused, one a hospital’s aging-focused event). The facilitator suggested asking retirees to volunteer with grandchildren or family; one prospect had already mentioned a high-school granddaughter, and the coordinator will add this as a follow-up question.
• 55-plus communities: Many hold volunteer fairs and will post to websites and newsletters. Keep pushing to get on the list, and stay for the entire fair so you are invited back.
• Info sessions and taxpayer-volunteers: One program holds info sessions for people who showed interest last year, bringing one or two past volunteers to share their experience and explaining what VITA is, the study required, and the community impact. Two or three sessions have produced about 8 sign-ups for training. The program also asks taxpayers at the site about interest. The facilitator noted that taxpayers can struggle with skills at first but, once trained, become the anchor of a site who know the community. Retired teachers were called among the best volunteers; the facilitator added that language skills and teaching ability are the skills hardest to replicate.

Orientation and Volunteer Roles

• Info session orientation: Works to weed out those unlikely to volunteer and motivate those on the fence, showing the strongest prospects. Decide how it will benefit you before committing time, and if required, offer enough opportunities to attend (a couple of online sessions will not be enough).
• Site orientation: Covers what happens at each site after testing and training; some of it can move into the info session. One program requires a 15–20 minute process orientation with handouts and slides, and an intern is to create a game-style (Chutes and Ladders-type) picture of the non-linear process. Many programs use a soft launch day. Volunteers who have already picked up documents or sent a volunteer agreement tend to stay committed.
• Multiple roles: Use the info session to explain that other jobs besides preparer need filling.
• Interviewer role: One coordinator found the one-on-one interview intimidating, so the role is now called “tax educator” and will be required for interns. The facilitator calls the role “financial guide”: intake coordination, referrals to other opportunities, and being the client’s contact for questions or waits. Educators also help taxpayers see options, such as adjusting withholding or making payments, an extra step that is hard for preparers to add on top of preparation.

Outreach to Local Officials and Contact Cadence

• Sample email: Created after the VITACon discussion on engaging local officials. It targets state legislators but works for city, county, state, and federal officials. Two asks: help recruit volunteers (swap in your own landing page and flyers) and help with outreach to taxpayers. Keep the IRS links for statewide officials if you lack statewide coverage. It will be in the VITAquality.org repository under the outreach to local officials folder, and these notes are uploaded there too.
• Four outreach groups: (1) last year’s volunteers and those who signed up but did not volunteer; (2) referrals from volunteers’ friends and family; (3) community partners, including site hosts and outreach partners; (4) local officials, the new group everyone should have a plan for. Frame it as offering an opportunity to constituents and as constituent service, since many constituents already volunteer and love VITA.
• Cadence: Contact returning volunteers at least three times (when registration opens, when training sign-up opens, and before the last training day); lapsed volunteers, site partners, community partners, and select supportive local officials at least once. One participant sends last year’s volunteers a Google Form with updated information to mark the sites they are interested in, then personally reaches out to non-responders. Site coordinators should help bring volunteers back.
• Email group: A participant asked about the tax roundtable list on groups.io; she was pointed to the free resources on the website and to email the group’s owner to be added.

What’s Next

• Possible topics: The 12 Promising Practices for financial empowerment at VITA sites (from the CFPB work, updated for VITACon), perhaps with the Money Menu; Trump accounts and the new Saver’s Match for tax year 2027. A participant liked the financial content and open problem-solving, noting it is hard to prioritize right now. Participants are invited to present a success for 5–15 minutes.
• Schedule: Next week falls the day after the elections, so it will be informal chat time; the following week, a presentation promoted to a larger audience.

The Society for Free Tax Assistance  •  VITAquality.org  •  a project of JC Craig Consulting