Introduction
This program is being set up in partnership with United Way of Greater Toledo, which has a Four-Star Charity Navigator rating. United Way raises and distributes funds for local area programs, helping people in need, improving the quality of community life.
In this particular instance, United Way are supporting and working with our University of Toledo Tax Income program to provide free tax preparation advice for low income families in the greater Toledo area.
The program will also give our finance major students the opportunity to put into practice what they have learned in their studies, as they provide voluntary assistance to our qualified tax advisers, in advising the low income families in regard to their tax preparation.
That this advice really is needed is indicated by the sad fact that Toledo is the 8th poorest city in the nation, with almost 25% of the population living below the poverty line. This program is designed to help such people to obtain the help and guidance they need.
Planning the Program
For the program to be successful, we need:
Publicity / promotion of the Program to maximize awareness in the Toledo area;
A keynote speaker for the program;
Sufficient numbers of tax advisers and volunteer assistants;
Attendance of low-income Toledo citizens/families seeking advice;
Suitable venue(s) for the main event of the program;
All materials, stationery and information needed by the participants;
Refreshments for all attendees.
Covering the points listed above in sequence:
The other flyer, (see below) will be distributed within the university campus to attract student volunteers and any other interested parties attending the university:
For our keynote speaker we have secured the services of Krystal Steuer, who is a Special Projects Coordinator with United Way, Toledo. She will provide information about IRS Tax Training and Certification, which will be of interest to all attendees and participants.
Regarding the volunteer assistants, the intention is that the student-oriented flyer will attract them in sufficient numbers, but we also intend to specifically target those students majoring in accounting and finance, perhaps through their professors to make direct requests to their students. In addition, we have obtained from United Way a quantity of their booklet “Give, Advocate, Volunteer” which explains how students will gain from the experience and benefit from it afterwards. As part of the foreword to the booklet states:
Students who participate gain: valuable leadership skills; knowledge about critical community issues; new perspectives on what role they can play as individuals to create positive community change; genuine, lasting relationships with their United Way colleagues; and much more.
Those booklets will be available on campus in the run-up to our event and each student majoring in accounting and finance will be given a copy by their professor.
We are confident that the city-wide distribution of our flyers in the supermarkets will attract sufficient numbers of the local citizens to take advantage of the free tax preparation advice. However, to achieve even more publicity, we are also approaching local radio stations to ask them to publicize the program. One of our organizing committee has taken on the task of contacting as many stations as he can, working through those listed on the online list at: (http://www.ontheradio.net/metro/toledo_oh.aspx). We will also ask them to publicize the event during the morning of the day it is to be held.
Regarding a venue for the program, we’ve been able to secure Stranhan Hall, part of the Toledo University campus. This is an excellent venue, having a main hall area of circa 10,000 square feet. There is also good parking outside and nearby.
Being part of the university campus, the Stranhan Hall is also ideal for our purposes with regard to materials needed such as stationery, and any audio-visual equipment we may require, and will be virtually under our direct control, as opposed to an off-campus function venue which would obviously be run by the owner company. It also – of course – will have available as much furniture, e.g. tables, chairs, etc that will be needed for the tax preparation interviews between the advisers and the people seeking the advice. Being university property will also mean that we will have maximum flexibility in the setup and layout and freedom to provide direction signs, meet & greet facilities and so on. It also has a service kitchen, which will be ideal for our planned refreshments for the attendees, including cooked foods and hot beverages, to be prepared and served by some of our volunteers.
Organization of the Event
The date and time of the event is already scheduled for 2pm on Saturday XX June this summer. We have quite deliberately chosen a weekend timing so that more people are likely to be free to attend, most particularly the targeted low-income Toledo citizens who in the main are employed in Monday-Friday jobs, and are probably less able to take time off for something like this. Our keynote speaker and several of our professors have already pencilled us into their diaries.
We are an organizing committee of six students and have between us agreed on our own assigned roles for the program. We have designed a student volunteer registration form (enclosed). As each one “signs up” for the program we will discuss their preferences then assign them specific roles / tasks. As far as possible assignments will be based on their own choices / interests, but we will keep the tax assistant roles for those majoring in finance and accounting.
Program Control
As the date of the event approaches we are meeting as a committee with increasing frequency, to ensure that no detail is overlooked. The keynote speaker has already been confirmed and we are confirming our qualified tax advisers including professors one by one as early as we can, to ensure the program will not be short-staffed on the day.
On the morning of the Saturday itself, we are meeting as an entire committee at 9:00 am, followed by a meeting in the Hall at 12:00 midday with all of our volunteers, to double-check everyone understands their roles, to set out the furniture, etc and to resolve any last-minute issues. At that meeting we will also issue the volunteers with name badges we have designed & made, so that they are immediately recognizable to the public and other attendees. We will have similar badges, but with a distinctive background/border to identify us as committee members.
We will ask all student volunteers to remain behind for a short time at the end of the event to assist the committee in any clearing up, stacking furniture, tidying the kitchens area, etc, so that we leave the Stranhan Hall and its environs in good order.
On the Monday following, we have scheduled a meeting with Krystal Steuer and selected Professors, to analyze the event and to prepare a report. Our findings will in part be used to determine how successful it was and to (hopefully) schedule more such programs in the future – perhaps even at other venues for the convenience of Toledo citizens in their individual locales.
