Volunteer Positions
The DC EITC Campaign mobilizes a volunteer corps of more than 600 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
Food Stamp Specialist
Interpreter
Volunteer Reviewer *
Site Manager *
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 info@dceitc.org. The Campaign will contact interested volunteers based on staffing needs.
Tax Site Volunteer Opportunities:
Tax Preparer (Recruitment Goal: 500 volunteers)
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 must 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 must 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.
Some Savings Promoters will also help clients open prepaid debit card accounts or sign up for Food Stamps benefits at targeted tax sites.
Savings Promoters will attend a 4-hour training in late January, and are highly encouraged to commit to at least six shifts (generally three to four hours each) during the 11 week tax season.
Note: Savings Promoter / Intake Specialists will only be placed at tax sites in DC. Suburban sites will not have Savings Promoter volunteers this year.
Food Stamp Specialists provide information on the food stamp program (FSP), screen clients for eligibility, and help clients complete FSP applications. Food Stamp Specialists canvas the waiting room to find out if clients have heard of the food stamp program 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.
Food Stamp Specialists must be enthusiastic, outgoing, and charismatic, and must be willing to engage clients in a discussion about food stamps. Previous experience with the food stamp program is not required.
Food Stamp Specialists will attend a 2-hour training in December or January, and will be supported by D.C. Hunger Solutions staff throughout their volunteer stint. Volunteers are highly encouraged to commit to a weekly time slot (generally three to four hours each) during the 11 week tax season.
Note: Food Stamp Specialists will only be placed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library and United Planning Organization tax sites Other sites will not have Food Stamp Specialist volunteers this year.
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, Cantonese, Fukien and Mandarin, and there is also an occasional need for Amharic, 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.
Reviewers are responsible for ensuring that returns prepared by the Campaign are accurate and complete. Every tax return is reviewed by a Volunteer Reviewer or Site Manager who must complete the IRS mandated quality review form before a tax return is released to a client or filed electronically.
Volunteer Reviewers will pass the IRS certification test at the Advanced level, and will complete a special Reviewer Training.
Reviewers may also prepare difficult returns for clients, and will answer Tax Preparer questions. Returns completed by a Volunteer Reviewer must be checked by another Reviewer or by a Site Manager certified at Advanced and trained as a Reviewer.
Site Managers are responsible for maintaining an orderly, efficient, and welcoming environment; ensuring standard protocol from the Campaign is executed; 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 Managers at most Campaign tax sites are expected to be highly capable return reviewers who oversee the quality of return review and provide support to Volunteer Reviewers by reviewing complicated returns and answering difficult questions from Tax Preparers.
Finally, Site Managers 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 info@dceitc.org. The Campaign will contact interested volunteers based on staffing needs.
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