SOI-487 VITA Volunteer Recruitment

Study Correspondence

INVITATION EMAIL (Wave 1)

Dear [NAME],

The Internal Revenue Service is partnering with Pacific Consulting Group (PCG) an independent research company, to get your feedback on volunteering. Please complete the following survey so that your feedback can help the IRS better understand the way it serves its volunteers. It will take about 15 minutes to finish.

[survey link] [username] [password]

Your participation in this survey is voluntary, and there are no penalties if you choose not to participate. Your information will be kept private, to the extent provided by law. PCG is conducting this survey on behalf of the IRS and will not share any of your identifying information when they provide survey responses to the IRS.

If you have any questions, please contact the Help Line toll-free at [help desk phone number]. If you wish to verify the IRS’s sponsorship of the survey, please contact [IRS contact] at [telephone number] or [email].

Thank you for your participation.

EMAIL REMINDER 1 (Wave 2)

Dear [NAME]

Recently, we sent you a survey about feedback on volunteering. The survey may be completed online at: [survey link] [username] [password]

If you already have completed and submitted the survey, please accept our sincere thanks. If not, please take a few minutes to complete it today. Your input is important and we want to be sure we include your feedback.

If you have any questions, or are experiencing difficulty completing the survey, please contact the Help Line toll-free at [help desk phone number]. If you wish to verify the IRS’s sponsorship of the survey, please contact [IRS contact] at [telephone number] or [email].

Thank you in advance for your participation.

EMAIL REMINDER 2 (Wave 3)

Dear [NAME]

Recently we sent you a survey asking for your feedback about feedback on volunteering. If you have already completed and submitted the survey, please accept our sincere thanks. If you have not done so, please take a few minutes now to complete the survey.

[survey link] [username][password]

Your participation in this survey is voluntary and should take no more than 15 minutes.

If you have any questions, or are experiencing difficulty completing the survey, please contact the Help Line toll-free at [help desk phone number]. If you wish to verify the IRS’s sponsorship of the survey, please contact [IRS contact] at [telephone number] or [email].

EMAIL REMINDER 3 (Wave 4)

Dear [NAME]

Recently, we sent you a survey related to your preferences for IRS services. The survey may be completed online at: [survey link] [username] [password]

If you already have completed and submitted the survey, thank you. If not, please take a few minutes to complete it today. Your input is important and we want to be sure we include your feedback. The deadline for completing the survey is [survey close date].

If you have any questions, or are experiencing difficulty completing the survey, please contact the Help Line toll-free at [help desk phone number]. If you wish to verify the IRS’s sponsorship of the survey, please contact [IRS contact] at [telephone number] or [email].

Survey Instrument

IRS Survey of Volunteerism

The IRS is committed to better understanding the types of individuals that choose to commit their time to volunteer tax preparation or to volunteering in general. You can help in this important mission by providing your feedback below. This voluntary survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete. Our survey partner, Pacific Consulting Group, will keep your identity private to the extent permitted by law. If you have any questions about this survey, please email [email protected] or contact the Survey Help Line at 1-866-960-7897 and refer to study R004.

1. Introduction

1.1 Are you presently, or have you been within the past 12 months, engaged in volunteer work?

 Yes

 No (TERMINATE if Not IRS Employee: Thank you, but this survey is only for those who have volunteered in the past 12 months.)

The following questions ask about the reasons you volunteer in general. Please rate the accuracy of the following statements on a 5-point scale from “Not At All Accurate” to “Completely Accurate”.

Purpose of Volunteering		Not At All Accurate					Completely Accurate
			1	2	3	4		5
1.2	Volunteering can help me to get my foot in the door at a potential new job.							
1.3	I can make new contacts that might help my business or career.							
1.4	Doing volunteer work relieves me of some of the guilt over being more fortunate than others.							
1.5	Volunteering allows me to gain a new perspective on things.							
1.6	I feel compassion toward people in need.							
1.7	Others with whom I am close place a high value on community service.							

Please indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with the following statement given your overall experiences on a 5-point scale from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”.

Satisfaction with Volunteering		Strongly Disagree					Strongly Agree
			1	2	3	4		5
1.8	I am satisfied with my experience as a volunteer.							

2. Preferences

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance/Tax Counseling for the Elderly (VITA/TCE) Program is a community based effort managed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that provides free tax return preparation assistance to low-to-moderate income taxpayers, seniors, people with disabilities and limited English speakers. Some of the organizations involved in this program include United Way, Goodwill, AARP Tax Aide, and local community organizations.

For each of the following questions, please assume you see or hear about volunteering for VITA.

2.1 Which message would be most persuasive and which would be least persuasive in convincing you to take the next step in the VITA Volunteering process? Select one option per column.

[Programmer: first column selection can NOT be the same as the second column]

	Most Persuasive	Least Persuasive
Help people get a refund	O	O
Learn new tax preparation skills	O	O
VITA works with your schedule	O	O
Give back to your community	O	O

2.2 By which method would you most like and least like to learn about volunteering for VITA? Select one option per column.

[Programmer: first column selection can NOT be the same as the second column]

	Most Like	Least Like
Television ad	O	O
Radio ad	O	O
IRS.gov	O	O
On-site flyers or posters	O	O

2.3 From whom would you most like and least like to learn about volunteering for VITA? Select one option per column.

[Programmer: first column selection can NOT be the same as the second column]

	Most Like	Least Like
IRS	O	O
Celebrity endorsement	O	O
News media	O	O
Community VITA sites	O	O

2.4 Which incentive would be most persuasive and which would be least persuasive in convincing you to volunteer for VITA? Select one option per column. [Programmer: first column selection can NOT be the same as the second column]

	Most Persuasive	Least Persuasive
Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering	O	O
Time off work to volunteer	O	O
Gift card after completing a volunteer season	O	O

2.5 By which method would you most like and least like to get information about volunteering for VITA? Select one option per column.

[Programmer: first column selection can NOT be the same as the second column]

	Most Like	Least Like
Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest	O	O
Meet with VITA site coordinator	O	O
Call a toll free phone line to show interest	O	O

3. Conjoint Analysis

For these questions, we will ask you to compare a series of three separate marketing communication messages and to choose the one that would be most likely to persuade you to take the next step in the VITA volunteering process. You will be presented with ten different scenarios, each containing the three messages and a different mix of characteristics.

There are no right or wrong answers. We are only interested in how you would react to the different approaches and characteristics based on the information provided.

What will persuade you to take the next step in the VITA volunteering process?

Each profile will contain five attributes. Please review the following information carefully to become familiar with each of the different possible attribute options.

Message	Help people get a refund Learn new tax preparation skills	VITA works with your schedule Give back to your community
Media	Television ad Radio ad	IRS.gov On-site flyers or posters
Source	IRS Celebrity endorsement News media	Community VITA sites
Incentive	Time off work to volunteer Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering
Next Step	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Call a toll free phone line to show interest

Now it’s time to make some choices!

The following questions look similar, but each presents slightly different details for three different profiles so please pay attention! In each question, please compare the three boxes and choose the most persuasive profile by selecting the radio button under that profile.

1. Which message is most persuasive?

	Message 1	Message 2	Message 3
Message	VITA works with your schedule	Help people get a refund	Give back to your community
Media	IRS.gov	On-site flyers or posters	Radio ad
Source	Celebrity endorsement	IRS	Community VITA sites
Incentive	Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering	Time off work to volunteer
Next Step	Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest	Call a toll free phone line to show interest
Which is most persuasive?	O	O	O

3. 2. Which message is most persuasive?

	Message 1	Message 2	Message 3
Message	Learn new tax preparation skills	VITA works with your schedule	Help people get a refund
Media	On-site flyers or posters	Television ad	IRS.gov
Source	IRS	News media	Celebrity endorsement
Incentive	Time off work to volunteer	Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering
Next Step	Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest	Call a toll free phone line to show interest
Which is most persuasive?	O	O	O

3. Which message is most persuasive?

	Message 1	Message 2	Message 3
Message	Give back to your community	Learn new tax preparation skills	Help people get a refund
Media	Radio ad	Television ad	IRS.gov
Source	Community VITA sites	IRS	News media
Incentive	Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering	Time off work to volunteer
Next Step	Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest	Call a toll free phone line to show interest
Which is most persuasive?	O	O	O

4. Which message is most persuasive?

	Message 1	Message 2	Message 3
Message	Help people get a refund	VITA works with your schedule	Give back to your community
Media	On-site flyers or posters	IRS.gov	Radio ad
Source	IRS	Celebrity endorsement	Community VITA sites
Incentive	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering	Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Time off work to volunteer
Next Step	Call a toll free phone line to show interest	Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest
Which is most persuasive?	O	O	O

5. Which message is most persuasive?

	Message 1	Message 2	Message 3
Message	Learn a new tax preparation skill	Give back to your community	VITA works with your schedule
Media	Television ad	On-site flyers or posters	Radio ad
Source	Celebrity endorsement	IRS	Community VITA sites
Incentive	Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering	Time off work to volunteer
Next Step	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest	Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Call a toll free phone line to show interest
Which is most persuasive?	O	O	O

6. Which message is most persuasive?

	Message 1	Message 2	Message 3
Message	VITA works with your schedule	Help people get a refund	Give back to your community
Media	IRS.gov	On-site flyers or posters	Radio ad
Source	Celebrity endorsement	IRS	Community VITA sites
Incentive	Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering	Time off work to volunteer
Next Step	Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest	Call a toll free phone line to show interest
Which is most persuasive?	O	O	O

7. Which message is most persuasive?

	Message 1	Message 2	Message 3
Message	Learn new tax preparation skills	VITA works with your schedule	Help people get a refund
Media	On-site flyers or posters	Television ad	IRS.gov
Source	IRS	News media	Celebrity endorsement
Incentive	Time off work to volunteer	Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering
Next Step	Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest	Call a toll free phone line to show interest
Which is most persuasive?	O	O	O

8. Which message is most persuasive?

	Message 1	Message 2	Message 3
Message	Give back to your community	Learn new tax preparation skills	Help people get a refund
Media	Radio ad	Television ad	IRS.gov
Source	Community VITA sites	IRS	News media
Incentive	Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering	Time off work to volunteer
Next Step	Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest	Call a toll free phone line to show interest
Which is most persuasive?	O	O	O

9. Which message is most persuasive?

	Message 1	Message 2	Message 3
Message	Help people get a refund	VITA works with your schedule	Give back to your community
Media	On-site flyers or posters	IRS.gov	Radio ad
Source	IRS	Celebrity endorsement	Community VITA sites
Incentive	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering	Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Time off work to volunteer
Next Step	Call a toll free phone line to show interest	Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest
Which is most persuasive?	O	O	O

10. Which message is most persuasive?

	Message 1	Message 2	Message 3
Message	Learn a new tax preparation skill	Give back to your community	VITA works with your schedule
Media	Television ad	On-site flyers or posters	Radio ad
Source	Celebrity endorsement	IRS	Community VITA sites
Incentive	Gift card after completing a volunteer season	Token of appreciation after number of seasons volunteering	Time off work to volunteer
Next Step	Fill out a form on IRS.gov showing interest	Meet with a VITA site coordinator	Call a toll free phone line to show interest
Which is most persuasive?	O	O	O

4. Thank you for making those choices. In the table below, you will see two messages. How likely would you be to take the next steps in the VITA volunteering process if you were to receive either of these two messages? Please indicate the likelihood for each with the sliding scale ranging from 0 to 100. 0 means “Definitely would NOT take the next step to volunteer” and 100 means “Definitely WOULD take the next step to volunteer.”

[PROGRAMMER: Force answer this question. Please do not show the error message for the pretest due to the scale resetting to 0 issue. We want to see how many respondents in the pretest actually give reverse answers. ]

	Message 1	Message 2
Message	[Programmer: Show most persuasive from 2.1]	[Programmer: Show least persuasive from 2.1]
Media	[Programmer: Show most liked from 2.2]	[Programmer: Show least liked from 2.2]
Source	[Programmer: Show most liked from 2.3]	[Programmer: Show least liked from 2.3]
Incentive	[Programmer: Show most persuasive from 2.4]	[Programmer: Show least persuasive from 2.4]
Next Step:	[Programmer: Show most liked from 2.5]	[Programmer: Show least liked from 2.5]
Likelihood of you volunteering for VITA	[Programmer: Show sliding scale from 1-100 with 0 being “Definitely would NOT” and 100 being “Definitely would”]	[Programmer: Show sliding scale from 1-100 with 0 being “Definitely would NOT” and 100 being “Definitely would”

5. Volunteering with the VITA/TCE Program

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance/Tax Counseling for the Elderly (VITA/TCE) Program is a community based effort managed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that provides free tax return preparation assistance to low-to-moderate income taxpayers, seniors, people with disabilities and limited English speakers. Some of the organizations involved in this program include United Way, Goodwill, AARP Tax Aide, and local community organizations.

5.1 Are you presently, or have you been within the past 12 months, a VITA/TCE volunteer?

 Yes

 No (skip to next section)

5.2 Please indicate the number of filing seasons you have volunteered with the VITA/TCE program: _______ season

5.3 At what type of VITA/TCE site have you volunteered in the most recent tax season?

 Traditional/Stand-alone VITA site

(face-to-face tax preparation located throughout the community, e.g. libraries, schools and non-profits)

 Facilitated Self-Assistance (FSA) Stand-alone Site

(only allows taxpayers to self-prepare their return with the help of a VITA/TCE volunteer)

 FSA Fusion

(sites that offer a combination of traditional VITA/TCE assistance and FSA)

 FSA Remote

(allows taxpayers to have self-facilitated tax preparation experience from the location of their choice)

 Virtual Tax Preparation Site

(taxpayers bring their documentation to a designated drop-off location to be prepared by a VITA/TCE volunteer)

Military VITA

(tax assistance for military members and their families, located on military installations)

Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) – non-AARP

(free tax help for taxpayers 60 years of age and older specializing in questions about pensions and retirement-related issues unique to seniors)

AARP – Tax Aide

(TCE sites operated by the AARP Foundation’s Tax Aide Program)

5.4 Do you plan to volunteer with VITA/TCE next year?

 Yes  No (if selected no – 4V.1 Why don’t you plan to volunteer with VITA/TCE in the future?(OPEN END))

5.4a [If no to prior question] Why don’t you plan to volunteer with VITA/TCE in the future?

5.5 Would you recommend volunteering for VITA/TCE to a friend?

 Yes  No (if selected no – 4W.1 Why would you not recommend volunteering for VITA/TCE to a friend?(OPEN END))

5.5a [If no to prior question] Why would you not recommend volunteering for VITA/TCE to a friend?

Demographics

6.0 Where do you typically look for information about volunteer opportunities? Please select all that apply.

 Facebook

 Twitter

 Google+

 Linked In

 News websites

 Blogs

 Current volunteer organization(s) (e.g. website, newsletters, email)

 Church or organizational publication (e.g., newsletters)

 National publications (e.g., newspapers, magazines)

 Local publications (e.g., newspapers, magazines)

 Word of mouth

 Other_______________________________

6.1 What devices do you typically use to access the internet? Please select all that apply.

 Desktop computer

 Laptop computer

 Tablet (e.g., iPad)

 Smartphone (e.g., iPhone, Droid, Blackberry)

 Other (please specify) ____________________

6.2 What is your marital status?

 Single, never married

 Married

 Civil union/Domestic partnership

 Separated

 Divorced

 Widowed

6.3 What is your sex?

 Male

 Female

 Transgendered

 Other

6.4 Which category describes your current age?

 18 to 24 years

 25 to 34 years

 35 to 44 years

 45 to 54 years

 55 to 64 years

 65 to 74 years

 75 to 84 years

 Over 85 years

6.5 What is your employment status?

 Student, working part time

 Student, working full time

 Student full time (please skip to Question 6.7)

 Employed full time

 Employed part time

 Not employed, but looking for work

 Not employed and not looking for work (please skip to Question 6.7)

 Retired, working part time

 Retired, not employed (please skip to Question 6.7)

6.6. If you are currently employed or looking for work, which of the following best describes your field or industry?

Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing

Mining/Construction

Business/Professional Services

Computers/Information Technology

Transportation/Communications and Public Utilities

Education

Financial Services/Tax services

Public Administration

Healthcare

Manufacturing

Active Duty Military

Non-Profit or Religious Organization

Government Agency

Insurance/Real Estate

Retail/Wholesale

Other

6.7 What is the highest level of education you have completed?

 Grade school

 Some high school

 High school diploma/GED

 Trade/Vocational school

 Some college

 Associate’s degree

 Bachelor’s degree

 Advanced degree (Master’s, Doctoral, or professional degree)

Thank you for completing the survey.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice

The Paperwork Reduction Act requires that the IRS display an OMB control number on all public information requests. The OMB Control Number for this study is [OMB number]. Also, if you have any comments regarding the time estimates associated with this study or suggestions on making this process simpler, please write to the: Internal Revenue Service, Tax Products Coordinating Committee, SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP,1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6406, Washington, DC 20224.

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