December 2009 Hosting Marketing Survey Results

From AFSWiki

In November, 2009, a survey was created by the Hosting Marketing Group in order to gather feedback from volunteers about best practices for recruitment.

Thank you to everyone that took the time to complete the survey! Almost 300 volunteers in 60 teams responded. To download the results summary, click here.

Key findings

• Most families become interested in hosting because someone with AFS asked them to host; most say yes to hosting because they want to have an intercultural experience.
• Faith communities and community based organizations (CBOs) are not used as key locations to recruit new families.
• Families say no to hosting because of financial and/or time constraints.
• AFS should produce hosting advertisements, videos and posters, and more volunteers need to be recruited to make host family recruitment easier.
• Most respondents have a Facebook account, but only half have used it for AFS.

Recommendations from the Hosting Marketing Group

• Many respondents commented "I've already talked to everyone I know!" There is a need to move past our limited personal networks to expand our message to a larger group of people in our areas.
• Many people have had success by connecting currently hosted students with prospective host families. A tool kit could be created for hosted students to equip them with the tools and information they need to spread the word about the benefits of hosting a student.
• Ensure there are resources (preferably in Global Link) to track contact with faith communities and CBOs.

Next steps

• Use results to create relevant marketing messages and materials.
• Tailor materials in the recruitment tool kit for hosting volunteers, which are being created as a recommendation from the National Hosting Meeting, based on survey results.
• Create scripts and talking points for use in places of worship and other faith-based communities, as well as CBOs.
• Create a forum for hosting volunteers to share best practices.