The Census Bureau has Partnership Specialists on staff dedicated to helping you ensure that your clients and community get counted. Partnership specialists can help you become a census partner and connect you with the tools and resources that you need to conduct effective census outreach. Here are some tips for making your meeting with a partnership specialist effective.

Connect: To get started, call your U.S. Census Bureau Regional Office and ask for the contact information for the partnership specialist serving your community. You can find contact information for your Regional Office by going to https://www.census.gov/regions and finding your state in the map provided.

Ask: Keep these questions and ideas in mind when you are meeting with the partnership specialist:

• What other nonprofit organizations are doing census outreach in your area? You may find that you have relationships with these organizations and be able to collaborate with them. Or, you may have ideas for other organizations the partnership specialist may want to reach out to.
• Does the census have any outreach plans specific to the community your organization serves? Are there materials available designed to reach out to your clients?
• Are there any other resources available to support your census outreach work?

Offer: You don’t need to make any specific commitments right away to your census partnership specialist, but be ready to give them an idea of the types of census outreach activities your organization would be interested in. Examples include:

• Hanging a poster in your lobby
• Have your intake specialist ask clients if they have completed their census
• Provide a computer for clients to use when completing their census form online
• Give census buttons to staff to wear
• Include census information in your e-newsletter, website, and other organizational communications
• Participate in a Local Complete Count Committee
• Provide volunteers for census events
• Promote census job opportunities