Data Collection at Tax Sites

Earn It! Keep It! Save It! (EKS) Bay AreaSEPTEMBER 27, 2011REI TOUR MAYORS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY- BOSTON

Purpose of the SurveyTo know who EKS tax sites are servingTo report to funders and community partnersTo inform program planning and implementation

The SurveyAnonymous 2-sided paper survey21 questions (Demographics and asset building related)English, Spanish, Chinese

At the Tax SiteAt most sites, the survey is included in the intake process taxpayers fill out the survey on their own (while they wait), or assistance is provided if neededSite Coordinators collect the paper surveys and submit to United Way throughout tax season

At United WayStaff collects the surveys throughout the seasonData entry begins in March (thru June)Surveys are stamped with a serial numberData is entered in 2010 Excel according to tax siteStaff or interns enter the dataUnited Way provides regional, county and site level data

2011 Survey Summary 24,546 surveys (up from 2009 15,882)115 tax sitesAdministered at VITA and Tax-Aid sites

2011 Survey DataDisability Question: Do you or anyone in your household have a disability?Count increased over 2010 (3,082) to 2011 (3,589) = 15.6% (explained by general increase in surveys)73.9% reported 2010 income below $30,00011% reported not having any bank account72% said yes when asked if they filed taxes last year16.3% paid to have their taxes prepared last year54% will use their refund to pay bills and 16.7% will save part of their refund

StrengthsReliable dataLess burden on sites - no reports required or data entry by volunteersRoom for LOTS of questionsNo 7216 complicationsPaper survey for 3 years great historical dataAbility to provide reports to tax sitesData Slicer in 2010 Excel

LimitationsNo ability to connect to tax return data from TaxWiseStaff time to do data entry and create reportsAs with any survey, we tweak it each year creating some inconsistencies year over year

Contact InformationKelly BatsonUnited Way of the Bay Area510-238-2415kbatson@uwba.org