Volunteer Positions
The DC EITC Campaign mobilizes a volunteer corps of more than 500 community members committed to providing high quality free tax assistance and promoting financial stability for hard-working families.
YOU CAN HELP by volunteering at a tax site as a:
Tax Preparer
Savings Promoter / Intake Specialist
SNAP/Food Stamp Outreach Specialist
Interpreter**
Volunteer Reviewer *
- Lead Reviewer*
- Assistant Reviewer*
- Volunteer Mentor*
Site Coordinator *
PLEASE NOTE: Starred (*) positions are filled by individuals formally identified by the Campaign prior to the tax season. Depending on the tax site, these roles may be filled by volunteers, or by seasonal paid staff. If you are interested in being considered for one of the positions, send an email to miren@communitytaxaiddc.org. The Campaign will contact interested volunteers based on staffing needs.
** Double-starring of a position connotes a high-need volunteer role
Tax Site Volunteer Opportunities:
Tax Preparers make up a majority of the Campaign’s volunteers. These volunteers interview customers and prepare their federal and state income tax returns.
To volunteer as a tax preparer, you should have relevant experience. Relevant experience includes preparing your own returns, preparing returns for others, or working extensively with numbers.
However, preparers do not need to have significant individual income tax preparation experience- all preparers will be trained by the Campaign and certified by the IRS before the tax season begins in late January.
First-year Tax Preparers must also be available to commit to at least one shift (generally three to four hours) per week during tax season (late January through April 15- approximately 11 weeks). Exceptions can be made on an individual basis for professional tax preparers and others with extenuating circumstances.
First-year volunteers who cannot meet these requirements may volunteer as Savings Promoter / Intake Specialists or Interpreters.
Savings Promoters / Intake Specialists are the first volunteers to work with each client at the tax site. Savings Promoters screen clients for eligibility, and help guide them through their intake forms. Savings Promoters then encourage clients to save a portion of their refunds and work to connect those clients with free financial resources, like financial education classes and credit counseling, that will help them use their refunds to increase their economic security.
Savings Promoters should be enthusiastic, outgoing, and charismatic, and must be willing to speak with clients about general financial topics. Financial expertise is not required, however, as Savings Promoters are not financial advisors.
Savings Promoters will attend 4-8 hours of training in late January, and are highly encouraged to commit to one 3-4 hour shift per week during the 11-week tax season.
SNAP Outreach Specialists provide information on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the food stamp program), screen clients for eligibility, and help clients complete SNAP applications. SNAP Outreach Specialists canvas the waiting room to find out if clients have heard of SNAP and if they want to learn more. If the client is interested, the volunteer will pre-screen them and will offer application assistance, if appropriate. Volunteers will track their interactions with clients in a log. This year, volunteers may also have the opportunity to screen clients for other benefits programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
SNAP Outreach Specialists must be enthusiastic, outgoing, compassionate, and charismatic, and must be willing to engage clients in a discussion about public benefits programs. Previous experience with SNAP is not required.
SNAP Outreach Specialists will attend a 3 hour training in January, and will be supported by D.C. Hunger Solutions staff throughout their volunteer stint. Volunteers are highly encouraged (though not required) to commit to a weekly time slot (generally three to four hours) during the 11-week tax season at one of the 5 DC area sites.
Interpreters help ease communication for taxpayers with limited English proficiency. Bilingual volunteers are strongly encouraged to become Tax Preparers or Savings Promoters, but bilingual volunteers who do not want to take on those roles can become interpreters.
The Campaign needs both interpreters who can commit to specific tax sites and interpreters who will be available on-call for sites that do not have a steady demand for this service and for languages that are not spoken regularly at our tax sites. The languages most commonly spoken at tax sites are Spanish, Amharic, Cantonese, Fukien and Mandarin, and there is also a need for Vietnamese, American Sign Language, Arabic, Farsi, Russian, and French.
Interpreters are encouraged to commit to one shift (generally three to four hours) per week during tax season.
* Volunteer Reviewer
Reviewers are responsible for ensuring that returns prepared by the Campaign are accurate and complete. Every tax return is reviewed by a Volunteer Reviewer who must complete the IRS mandated quality review form before a tax return is released to a client or filed electronically. There are three levels of Volunteer Reviewer: Lead Reviewer, Assistant Reviewer and Volunteer Mentor.
Lead Reviewers are qualified to review all levels of returns at our tax sites, and are expected to spend a large majority of their time reviewing returns.
Lead Reviewers must attend Quality Reviewer training, and be certified at the Advanced level.
*Assistant Reviewer
Assistant Reviewers review returns under the supervision of a Lead Reviewer. Assistant Reviewers may split time between preparation and review, depending on site needs. Assistant Reviewers must attend Quality Reviewer training, and be certified at the Intermediate or Advanced Level
*Volunteer Mentor
Volunteer Mentors provide substantive tax knowledge and guidance to volunteers. Mentors make themselves available to other volunteers to answer questions, and guide inexperienced volunteers through returns at the request of a Site Coordinator or Lead Reviewer. Mentors may shadow Reviewers to learn about the review process. Volunteer mentors are encouraged to attend Quality Reviewer training.
Site Coordinators are responsible for maintaining an orderly, efficient, and welcoming environment; ensuring all Campaign and IRS standards are met; coordinating volunteer schedules and needs; providing excellent customer service to tax clients; and ensuring that quality standards are met on all tax returns prepared at the site.
Site Coordinators are encouraged to become return reviewers to oversee the quality of return review and provide support to Volunteer Reviewers.
Finally, Site Coordinators are responsible for maintaining communication between the sites and the central Campaign.
PLEASE NOTE: Starred (*) positions are filled by individuals formally identified by the Campaign prior to the tax season. Depending on the tax site, these roles may be filled by volunteers, or by seasonal paid staff. If you are interested in being considered for one of the positions, send an email to miren@communitytaxaiddc.org. The Campaign will contact interested volunteers based on staffing needs.
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