Foundation Communities Savings Bond Pilot
Final Report
Reporting Period: February 1, 2011 – April 18, 2011
Overview
The Savings Bond Incentive Pilot Project employed a variety of incentives designed to increase the
number of tax center clients allocating a portion of their refund to the purchase of a savings bond. By
using a variety of incentives with a range of values we hoped to determine which level of incentive
clients would be most likely to respond. While savings bonds were promoted at all eleven tax center
locations*, the incentives were only distributed to clients at our Community Financial Center location.
*The extent of promotion varied greatly. At some sites, materials were made available but were not
actively distributed or promoted to clients.
Pilot project statistics





243 clients purchased savings bonds (167 of whom claimed an incentive)
Clients purchased $40,950 in bonds
Their average AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) was $21,730
The average savings bond purchase was $150
The range of savings bond purchases was $50 - $5,000
Amount of refund
allocated to
purchasing savings
bonds
$50
$100
$150
$200
$250
$300
$350
$400
$450
$500
$600
Number of clients
108
70
8
19
6
9
3
2
1
7
3
Foundation Communities
1
$750
$1,000
$2,000
$5,000
1
4
1
1
Incentive
Number of clients
claiming incentive
20
55
5
Incentives Distributed
$10 HEB gift card
$20 HEB gift card
$5 Whataburger
gift card
$10 Whataburger
gift card
$20 Whataburger
gift card
$50 Savings Bond
Tote bag
Total incentives
distributed
6
5
63
13
167
Informing and Training Volunteers and Community Tax Center Staff
Our largest resource for promoting savings bonds was the hundreds of volunteers who assume roles as
intake specialists, translators, and tax preparers. Our volunteers complete extensive training for their
roles. Before training season began, we ensured that savings bonds were included in the curriculum.
Unfortunately, the topic of savings bonds comes at the very end of the eight hour training and if the
instructor is running short on time the savings bond piece gets cut.
Understanding that volunteers have a significant amount of material to absorb during tax training simply
on understanding tax law and learning how to use TaxWise, our tax preparation software, the Director
of Asset Building offered an optional one-hour workshop called the Asset Building Boot Camp. The
Asset Building Boot Camp was offered three times during training season. Once in December (which
had the highest attendance) and two times in January. The Asset Building Boot Camp was primarily
designed to educate about savings bonds, but also included information on other asset building
programs offered by Foundation Communities to tax center clients.
Recognizing that not all tax center volunteers would elect the optional one-hour training, we created a
webpage that goes beyond the basics and contains all the information a volunteer could ever want or
need to know about savings bonds: www.foundcom.org/get-involved/savings-bonds
Foundation Communities
2
The intent of this webpage is not only to brief our hundreds of volunteer tax preparers on savings bonds,
but also to provide the site managers and the volunteers a resource to consult when a knowledgeable
staff person is not around to assist. This allows all 11 sites to have access to the information, without
having to rely upon knowledgeable staff, or printed materials that may run out or get lost amidst tax
center activities. The webpage has been updated as volunteers and managers have offered
suggestions. Each computer monitor has a notice reminding the volunteers of the webpage, and
reminding them to offer savings bonds to their clients.
Informing and Educating Clients
We used the savings bond brochures (English and Spanish) that were made available through D2D Fund.
These flyers received good reviews from volunteers and clients. The information provided was simple,
easy to understand, and was formatted nicely. Upon arriving at the Community Financial Center, each
client was given a savings bond brochure along with a ¼ page flyer announcing the promotion of the
day. Additionally, each volunteer was also given the brochure and information on the promotion of the
day upon arriving for their shift. This ensured the volunteers were familiar with the information the
clients are receiving.
Signs and Mural
We had four large signs advertising savings bonds. One of the signs was a generic sign, simply
encouraging clients to allocate a portion of their tax refund to purchasing a savings bond. The other
three signs contained information about the day’s incentive. One sign was located in the entryway, two
in the client waiting area, and one in the tax preparation area. Foundation Communities’ staff designed
the signs.
We ordered a large savings bond cut-out from D2D Fund, which was displayed in the entryway. Clients
can have their pictures taken with the savings bond. We gave a picture to the client to take home as
well as posting a picture on the painted savings bond wall.
We happened to have a helium tank and balloons left over from an event. On a whim, we decided to
hang balloons on the savings bonds signs to draw attention to them. Kids were not shy about asking for
the balloons. Usually the parents accompanied the kids when they asked for a balloon, so it give us
another opportunity to ask if they had considered allocating a portion of their refund to a savings bond.
We painted wall in the tax preparation area of the Community Financial Center reminding volunteers
about savings bonds and reminding them to use form 8888 to purchase bonds. The wall also showcased
client pictures and included some motivational posters (from D2D Fund).
Foundation Communities
3
The Power of the $50 Savings Bond
We offered the $50 savings bond incentive seven days into the project. By this time, most all of the
Community Financial Center volunteers and the tax center managers for that site had received
information and/or training on savings bonds and had been at the center during the incentive pilot time.
When we announced that the incentive was a $50 savings bond, the tax center manager thought about
it for a while and then said, “You should really put some signs up in the waiting room letting clients
know about this!” There had been signs up since the first day. Not just signs, but signs with balloons!
The $50 savings bond incentive seemed to capture the attention of the volunteers and the site
managers, and motivated the volunteers and the tax center managers to talk to clients about savings
bonds. Those days, the staff fielded more questions from volunteers and site managers about savings
bonds than any other day. During the two days savings bonds were offered as the incentive, you could
hear more volunteers and tax center managers talking about savings bonds. Perhaps we should have
offered the $50 savings bond at the beginning of the incentive pilot to pique the interest of the
volunteers and managers.
Staffing the Project
The project was staffed during all opening hours of the Community Financial Center tax site using
existing Foundation Communities staff. We elected to use existing Foundation Communities staff
because of their additional knowledge about tax preparation, other programs and services provided by
Foundation Communities, and their ability to answer a large range of questions. This increased their
credibility not only with the clients, but with the volunteers as well. There were five staff members who
rotated working on the project.
Getting volunteers on board – an integral component
Without a doubt, the most challenging part of the savings bond program was getting volunteers on
board. It was difficult to get volunteers to talk to clients about savings bonds, until the $50 savings bond
incentive was offered.
Foundation Communities
4
From individual conversations with volunteers, we found that the perception amongst volunteers was
that savings bonds are a poor investment. The rate of return is pitiful. There are many other
investment options with better rates of return. In one extreme example, a student volunteer reported
to us that she had helped her client allocate a portion of her return to a savings bond, but then a more
seasoned volunteer gently convinced the client to invest his refund elsewhere.
For many of our volunteers a savings bond may not be an appropriate investment for them. Our
challenge is to help our volunteers look at savings bonds from the perspective of our clients. Several
volunteers commented, “We could help clients get a better return on their money if we had clients open
up mutual funds.” While true, for many of our clients coming up with the initial opening deposit
requirement can be quite a challenge. Many of our clients are receiving large refunds and theoretically
can meet the minimum opening deposit; however, clients are spreading their refunds thin. Clients
report using their refunds to catch up on past due bills, to make car repairs, and to purchase necessary
items they have put on hold. Moreover, allocating a portion of your refund is simple, easy, and can be
done right at the time of tax preparation. We will never know if the client who was convinced to
otherwise invest their refund will follow through.
As describe earlier, we briefly mentioned savings bonds at all required volunteer trainings. Volunteers
could elect to attend an additional training (the Asset Building Boot Camp) in which savings bonds were
discussed in more detail. Next year, I think training volunteers will have to be more intentional. We will
have to rely on numerous ways to educate volunteers. I think this can be done through videos posted
on the website, materials distributed at training, and ‘beefing’ up the savings bond training that all
volunteers receive while at tax preparation training.
Foundation Communities
5