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1 of 18/For the last couple months I’ve been working with @codeforamerica’s GetYourRefund team to bring in the awesome people power in the #cfabrigade network.
We’ve made some great progress and I want to share some appreciation for the volunteers who’ve made that possible
We’ve made some great progress and I want to share some appreciation for the volunteers who’ve made that possible
2/Some background: GetYourRefund is a product to help people file their taxes with the support of IRS-certified volunteers across the US.
This support is crucial, as thousands in tax credits (and stimulus payments!) are delivered through the tax code: https://www.codeforamerica.org/news/meeting-the-need-for-flexible-cash-during-a-pandemic
This support is crucial, as thousands in tax credits (and stimulus payments!) are delivered through the tax code: https://www.codeforamerica.org/news/meeting-the-need-for-flexible-cash-during-a-pandemic
3/When we offered an opportunity to volunteer to help this work, we hadn’t figured everything out. We didn’t know what volunteers would necessarily be doing.
But our early volunteers: @DianaLaster12 , @domarigames, @DainialPadraig, and @restless_tech forged a path.
But our early volunteers: @DianaLaster12 , @domarigames, @DainialPadraig, and @restless_tech forged a path.
4/Over time, we figured out how we could help. @DianaLaster12 kicked us off with a pre-COVID day of shadowing a tax clinic to highlight potential improvements. @domarigames started off working diligently to improve the UX of GetYourRefund’s partners as they adopt the product.
5/As the team’s needs scaled up, so did we.
@iGregoryJohnson truly exemplified the strength of our network. He realized that GetYourRefund could be huge for Miami’s residents and he made it happen: lining up local partners to serve Miami residents.
@iGregoryJohnson truly exemplified the strength of our network. He realized that GetYourRefund could be huge for Miami’s residents and he made it happen: lining up local partners to serve Miami residents.
6/Suddenly, we needed better-defined processes and more capacity to support our new partners. We brought on two dedicated volunteers @lscott1967 and @combinatorist who have done *amazing* work (in quantity and quality) organizing volunteers and supporting partners along the way.
7/In the last two months, we’ve scaled from 4 partner organizations to nearly 40.
Without the volunteer teams (and the amazing people at @ProsperityNow), we wouldn’t have been able to help nearly this number of partners.
Without the volunteer teams (and the amazing people at @ProsperityNow), we wouldn’t have been able to help nearly this number of partners.
8/Each partner is able to help thousands of clients claim their tax credits.
They receive onboarding support from responsive volunteers (like @phm200, Erick G., and Mark M.!) to have a point of contact the whole time who can help with training and onboarding.
They receive onboarding support from responsive volunteers (like @phm200, Erick G., and Mark M.!) to have a point of contact the whole time who can help with training and onboarding.
9/The partners need to train their volunteers how to use GetYourRefund.
That’s where @acvandris and the training team come in. They’ve produced an entire YouTube playlist of content about how to use every aspect of GetYourRefund to help people:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL65XgbSILalW5ii1cyR1uKWvr87nR0A7H
That’s where @acvandris and the training team come in. They’ve produced an entire YouTube playlist of content about how to use every aspect of GetYourRefund to help people:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL65XgbSILalW5ii1cyR1uKWvr87nR0A7H
10/Huge shout out to @hollyjallen, @acvandris, @jmm140, @ChrissyAlbert, @hamhandedly, and Rae Pilarski of @unitedwayaz for producing this incredible training material!
They also put it up in a Notion knowledgebase:
https://www.notion.so/cfa/GetYourRefund-VITA-Volunteer-Training-Materials-fc155b73cebf4d558c923d2da14ebbf8
They also put it up in a Notion knowledgebase:
https://www.notion.so/cfa/GetYourRefund-VITA-Volunteer-Training-Materials-fc155b73cebf4d558c923d2da14ebbf8
11/Another team of incredible volunteers, led by @domarigames have been working on proactively answering partners’ questions via improved documentation. In the last two weeks, they’ve more than quadrupled the amount of content! And improved its structure too.
12/Because of the hard work of @domarigames, @mad_zhu, @timtunedin, Tara, and @hollyallen, many partners are able to find answers themselves. The number of questions we’ve been fielding from partners has been staying steady (and even decreasing), even as we add more partners!
13/But there’s way more. @DainialPadraig has been organizing our support processes. @BonnieAWolfe is ensuring our documents have a strong brand. We are spinning up teams for translation and tools. And as we launch a “DIY” service, we’ll be looking to our network first to help.
14/So, stopping to reflect on all this makes me really proud of our work these past couple months. It’s been a huge team effort, and *so many* people have put in incredible work to put the EITC and stimulus payments in Americans’ pockets nationwide.
15/(I certainly missed a lot of great volunteer work in this thread too, so I apologize if I missed your contributions here! Shout out to everyone involved!)
16/None of this would be possible without @MereHorowski both guiding the strategy and putting in an unbelievable amount of work into it herself.
It’s a joy working with someone who believes in the power of the committed volunteers in the #cfabrigade network so strongly.
It’s a joy working with someone who believes in the power of the committed volunteers in the #cfabrigade network so strongly.
17/And of course, a huge thanks to the entire GetYourRefund staff team. Especially @ItsAnnelise, Kelly McBride, @bgolder, and Nicole Rappin, who have been such great partners in figuring this all out as we go.
18/And last but not least, a huge special thanks to Rae Pilarski at @unitedwayaz, who has been advising many of these teams in addition to processing an absolutely incredible volume of tax returns herself. We couldn’t do it without you!
