2010 Census Tips for Property Managers, Property Management Company and Landlords

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Supporting the  2010 Census:

Download Toolkit for Reaching Tenants and Residents for Property Managers, Property Management Companies, Landlords and Home Owner Associations by CLICKING HERE (Very Large PDF 10MB)

Below is the toolkit

Dear 2010 Census Partner,

Thank you for your partnership with  the U.S. Census Bureau and support of the 2010 Census. The  2010 Census is quickly approaching, presenting an opportunity to paint a new portrait of America and show the changes in our  country during the past 10 years. The data collected through the 2010 Census also will shape the future of our  nation for the next decade, so participation is vital.  We need the help  of housing associations, landlords, property managers, property management companies and other organizations that work with  Tenants and Residents to raise awareness of the census and ensure everyone understands the importance of completing and returning the census form.

Tenants and Residents are an important and growing segment of our population. It is projected that the 2010 Census will show a rise in the number of Tenants and Residents in this country, due to an increase in home foreclosures and natural disasters that have displaced people from their homes. In past censuses, homeowners have had higher census form  return rates than non-homeowners. Research has shown that misinformation about the census and language isolation are two primary reasons non-homeowners have been “undercounted.” Undercounts can mean less funding for communities that need enhancements. With  accurate data, we can help  ensure that funds are distributed appropriately and maximize the potential of communities across the nation. Your support of the census is critical to achieve a complete and accurate count in 2010.

This toolkit provides you the property manager, property management company or landlord with  resources and tools to help  you communicate about your partnership with  the Census Bureau and encourage census participation among Tenants and Residents. The toolkit includes information about the census, key messages, materials and activity ideas you can customize and use in your promotional efforts through Census Day, April 1, 2010.

You are uniquely suited to communicate about the importance and benefits of census participation. Census data directly affect how  more than $400 billion  per year in federal funding is distributed to tribal, state and local  governments. Census data also  are used to reapportion congressional seats to states and assure  proper district representation. 2010 Census data will help  our  communities and business leaders to:

Guide local planning decisions, including where to provide additional social services, establish child- care and senior centers, and build new roads, hospitals, schools, and job training and community centers.

Guide all levels of government on the implementation and evaluation of programs such as the Fair  Housing Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Act and the Civil Rights Act.

I encourage you to utilize this  toolkit to help  Tenants and Residents understand that the 2010 Census is easy, important and safe. Your  efforts, in tandem with  other 2010 Census public awareness initiatives, such as paid  advertising, public relations and online/interactive  elements, will ensure a brighter future for your community.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert M. Groves

Director, U.S. Census Bureau

Property Manager, Property Management Companies, Landlords Housing Associations Quick Start Guide

Thank you for signing on to be a Census Bureau partner. You are committed to encourage participation in the 2010 Census so your community can be accurately represented and eligible for  funding needed for a brighter future. Now  you want to know, what’s next? What should you do as a partner in 2010?

It’s simple. Here – at a glance – are the three main  steps you should take.

Property Managers, Property Management Companies, Landlords – Build your action plan.

Create an  action plan that defines specifically how  your organization will support the census. Focus activities on  motivating people to participate in the census. This toolkit includes planning resources and activity suggestions specific to your audience.

Conduct ongoing communications and activities.

Start spreading the word, using your action plan and the many resources provided in this guide, such as newsletter and Web site copy, customizable templates and posters. Send letters and e-mails, post information in newsletters and on  your Web site, or  issue an  official proclamation. Include specific messages that will resonate with your audience.

Sustain the momentum.

A steady stream of communications and events through Census Day (April 1, 2010) will be critical to educate Tenants and Residents about the census and motivate them to take part. Stagger timing of communications and events through April  2010 to sustain census awareness with your residents and community. Use  materials in this guide to assist you in your initiatives.

Your efforts will be supplemented by other public awareness initiatives, including paid advertising, public relations and online/interactive tools and resources. Together, these efforts will surround your community with messages about  the 2010 Census.

Getting Started: the Path to a Successful Partnership

We need your support in promoting the census among your Tenants and Residents, employees, organization partners and others in your community. Housing partners, such as you, are integral to the census communications effort and are uniquely suited to encourage participation among this important segment of the population.

As of 2009, there were more than 36  million renter-occupied housing units in the United States, accounting for  more than one-fourth of the housing units in the country. The 2010  Census is expected to show an  increase in this portion of the population, as the recent economic downturn, natural disasters and other factors have caused many in the United States to be displaced from their owner-occupied homes.

Your assistance also is essential to help the Census Bureau reach many mobile members of the population, individuals completing the census form for  the first time,  and individuals  with limited English-language proficiency. Many of these people have questions or confusion about where they should be counted or if they  should be counted at all.

This  toolkit provides information and resources to relay the importance of census participation and clarify misinformation or confusion some Tenants and Residents may  have about the census. You  can customize many of the materials to suit the unique needs of your Tenants and Residents. The toolkit also includes suggestions for partnership activities and communications tips to help sustain your efforts through Census Day,

April  1, 2010. It is important to plan and conduct as many communications activities as possible between January 2010 and April 2010. This  key timeframe presents the best opportunity to inspire census participation among Tenants and Residents.

Forecasting future housing needs for all segments of the population and funding for government-subsidized housing	Planning for hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and the locations of other health services
Directing services to children and adults with limited English-language proficiency	Designing facilities for people with disabilities, children or the elderly
Forecasting future transportation needs	Distributing medical research funds to meet the needs of more people
Drawing school district boundaries	Attracting new businesses and jobs to local communities
Directing funds for services for people in poverty	Guiding all levels of government on programs such as the Fair  Housing Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Act and the Civil Rights Act
Creating maps to speed emergency services to households in need of assistance	Ensuring proper district representation in national, state and local governments

STEP ONE:

BUILD A COMMUNICATION PLAN

Develop an  action plan for  your organization by working with your employees to outline communications initiatives and activities your organization will conduct from now  through April  2010 to reach Tenants and Residents in your community. As you develop your plan, ask  yourself:

How can we maximize our census-related communications efforts in the months leading up to Census Day, April 1, 2010?

What barriers do Tenants and Residents in our community face in completing and returning their 2010 Census forms?

•      How can our organization help address these barriers?

•      What census misconceptions may exist that we can help clarify?

How can we include information on the census in our current communications with Tenants and Residents, written and otherwise?

What events and activities can we conduct to help spread the word?

How can we highlight key census milestones in our communications?

How can we involve employees and others in the community to relay the importance of census participation?

PLANNING RESOURCES

Use  the following resources to get a sense of key operational and campaign milestone timing, and build communications initiatives and activities accordingly.

Key 2010 Census dates

July  2009

Address canvassing completed

August  2009

Census in Schools materials arrive in schools

OctOber  2009  –  April  2010

Census worker recruitment underway

NOvember  2009

New 2010 Census Web site launch

February  2010  –  April  2010

Questionnaire Assistance Centers and

Be Counted sites open to answer questions

march  2010

United States Postal Service (USPS) delivers census questionnaires   April  1,  2010CENSUS DAY

Send your questionnaire back!

March 2010

Census forms are mailed or delivered to households.

2010 – in your office, lobby, meeting room

May  2010  –  July  2010

Census takers follow up with households that did not return questionnaires

December  31,  2010

U.S. Census Bureau delivers apportionment counts to the President

2010census.gov

GET INVOLVED – HERE’ S HOW:

CONDUCT ONGOING COMMUNICATION

The following are several suggested activities your organization can conduct to inform Tenants and Residents about the importance and benefits of the census and inspire them to participate:

Explain the 2010 Census residence rules. Some Tenants and Residents may  be confused about how to fill out their form or whether they should fill out the form at all. Others may  be “snowbirds” who have residences in two or more cities and may  have questions about where to complete the form.

Every household, regardless if they rent or own, should fill out the census form. Most people should be counted where they live and sleep most of the time.  To help Tenants and Residents complete and accurately answer their census forms:

Educate Tenants and Residents about how to count family members on their census form, particularly in homes with multiple generations and different families living in one household.

Raise awareness of the 2010 Census residence rule regarding how and where to be counted. See the brochure, How People Are Counted (available as a separate electronic file), for more information. This brochure describes the process by which the Census Bureau counts everyone.   Include information about the census in your communications to Tenants and Residents. Use  your current renter communications to provide census information, including:

Letter to Tenants and Residents. Announce your partnership with the Census Bureau by sending a letter to Tenants and Residents. A sample letter is included in this toolkit. Be sure to put the letter on your organization’s letterhead.

Newsletters and e-mails. Include articles or briefs about the census in your organization’s newsletters,  e-newsletters or e-mails, and highlight key census milestones. Sample copy for newsletters and e-mail articles  are included in this toolkit. A pre- designed newsletter template that you can customize for your organization also is available.   Statement stuffers and mail inserts.

Include information on  the census as inserts or stuffers in statements, mailings, contract renewals, and other mailings to Tenants and Residents. Copy for customizable stuffers and inserts is included in this toolkit.

In addition to the Tenants and Residents your organization serves, consider conducting outreach efforts and activities  to others in your community or organization.

Use  technology to deliver the message. Promote census participation online by posting information on  your organization’s Web site, or include a Web banner or link to   2010census.gov. Sample Web site copy and  Web banners are included in this toolkit.

Include information about the census at renter, tenant or resident association meetings. A PowerPoint presentation with information specific to Tenants and Residents is available as a separate electronic file. Consider inviting  a Census Bureau partnership specialist to attend your event and answer questions from Tenants and Residents. Contact Partnership and Data Services staff at the Regional Census Center for  information on  having a partnership specialist attend a meeting.

Promote census participation at apartment open houses, display models and showings. Use  your open houses, display models or showings as opportunities to distribute census information, brochures or fliers. Include information in your organization’s leave-behinds for  prospective Tenants and Residents.

Hang posters and fliers in common areas.

Hang or distribute census posters, fliers  or brochures in shared laundry facilities, clubhouses, workout rooms, mail boxes and other common areas. Pre-designed and customizable posters, fliers  and brochures are available as separate electronic files. Visit

Provide census information at events for Tenants and Residents. Provide information about the census at your organization’s pre-scheduled special events for Tenants and Residents. Or, consider hosting a breakfast, coffee or luncheon to discuss with Tenants and Residents the census and its benefits.

Speak with residents moving in or out in

March and April 2010. Tenants and Residents moving  during the March and April  timeframe may  be confused about where to fill out their census form. Be sure to speak with these Tenants and Residents to answer their questions. Provide them with the How People Are Counted Brochure, which is included in this toolkit.

Use  door drops. Provide Tenants and Residents with  census information by leaving information on their doorknobs or at their door through door drops. Customize the information with your organization’s logo to help draw attention to the communication and distinguish it from other door communications they may  receive.

Conduct a census-themed renter appreciation event or activity in March or April 2010 to highlight the census. Show Tenants and Residents your appreciation by conducting a census-themed renter appreciation event or activity in March   or April.  Use  the event to highlight the benefits of the census and importance of participation. Consider events or activities with census- related themes, such as offering 10 treats to   highlight the 10 questions on  the census form.

Special Assistance is Available   For those with visual impairments, the Language Assistance Guide will be available in large print and Braille.  Deaf and hard-of-hearing persons who do not have access to Video Relay Service (VRS) can call the TDD number, 1-866-783-2010.

Offer space for a Questionnaire Assistance Center (QAC). A barrier to a complete count in previous censuses has been lack  of English fluency. To help overcome this challenge, consider donating and transforming an  area of your organization into a QAC. This  resource is especially valuable to those who have limited English proficiency or who have difficulties reading. Contact the Partnership and Data Services Program staff at your Regional Census Center to learn more.

Distribute  information to local businesses. Ask  local businesses if you can post census posters or fliers  in their establishments to reach Tenants and Residents and others in the community. Hang posters in prominent areas, such as store windows, community bulletin boards, near the cash register or other areas approved by the store owner.

Utilize on-hold messages and e-mail signatures. Include information on  the census in your organization’s on-hold messages and e-mail signatures. In e-mail signatures, be sure to include a link to 2010 census.gov for  additional information.

Sign up for speaking engagements. Participate as a speaker at industry or community events in which your organization is involved. Use  the presentation and key messages included in this toolkit to assist you. In your speaking engagements, encourage others in the community to promote census participation to their family,  friends and co-workers.

If time permits, include a question-and- answer session in your speech.

A barrier to a complete count in previous censuses has been lack of English fluency. Bilingual forms are available upon request in five languages: Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Vietnamese and Russian. In 2010, Questionnaire Assistance Centers (QAC) will assist those unable to read or understand the form and Language Assistance Guides will be available in  59 languages at all QAC locations.

STEP THREE: SUSTAIN THE MOMENTUM

The following resources are available to help you in your communications efforts about the   2010 Census. Resources referenced throughout this document are available as downloadable print- ready formats and can be found on  the “Partner With Us” Web site at 2010census.gov/partners.

How  People Are Counted Brochure

Many  Tenants and Residents have questions about how  they should be counted or if they should be counted at all. This  brochure describes the process by which the Census Bureau counts everyone.

Would life in your community be better if:

You had access to new hospitals and senior centers or enhanced health care services for ill or aging family members?

Your children could learn in new or improved schools or child-care centers?

Your commute to work were safer and less congested thanks to better roads or expanded public transportation options?

Your local emergency services providers had up-to-date maps to ensure faster response in a crisis?

Your local markets could better deliver goods and services to your community?

The 2010 Census will be a snapshot of our nation’s population – capturing our changing  and diverse America in a fleeting moment in time. But this historic event will do more than tell us who we are as a nation today. It will affect Your community’s future.   Your country’s future. Your future.   We move forward when you send it back.   Make a difference in your community and be counted in 2010. Complete and return your 2010 Census form.

STARTING CONVERSATIONS AND COMMUNICATION ABOUT CENSUS 2010

The information you provide for  the  2010 Census will play  a significant role in encouraging Tenants and Residents to participate. The following messages will help you effectively convey the benefits and importance of census participation, while addressing several points of confusion or misinformation some Tenants and Residents have about the census. Use  this messaging  in your partner communications initiatives to help encourage census participation – from conversations to written communications.

Participation in the 2010 Census is easy, important and safe, and your participation is vital.

•    It’s easy: One of the shortest census forms in history, the 2010 Census form asks 10 questions and takes about 10 minutes to complete.

•    It’s important: Census data directly affect how more than $400 billion per year in federal funding is distributed   to tribal, state and local governments. Census data guide local decision- makers on where to build new schools, roads, child-care and senior centers, community facilities and more. Census data also are used to reapportion congressional seats to states and assure proper district representation.

•    It’s safe: By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents’ answers with anyone, including other federal agencies and law enforcement entities. All Census Bureau employees take an oath of nondisclosure and are sworn  for life to protect the confidentiality of the data. The penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine of up to $250,000 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both.

You do not need to own your home in order to complete your census form. Those who rent their home also should complete the census form.

Everyone in the United States must be counted in the 2010 Census. This includes people of all ages, races, ethnic groups; citizens and noncitizens.

Census forms will be delivered or mailed to households in March 2010. Every household in the United States should complete its census form and mail it back upon receipt. Responding immediately is the most efficient way to participate in the census.

•     Census Day is April 1, 2010. Responses to the census form should include everyone living at that address. Individuals should be counted in the residence where they live and sleep most of the time.

•    In May, census workers will visit households that do not return the forms to take a count in   person. Because people might be apprehensive about a stranger coming to their home, it is important to note that census workers can be identified  by a census badge and bag.

English-language fluency is not a requirement for participation. language assistance is available to help individuals complete their census form.

•      The first-ever bilingual form in

English and Spanish will be delivered   to about 13 million households in areas that have a high concentration of Spanish speakers.

•    Questionnaire Assistance Centers (QAC) will be available to assist those unable to read or understand the census form. Bilingual forms  are available upon request in

five languages: Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), korean, Vietnamese and Russian. In addition to these options, a language Assistance Guide also will be available in 59 languages at all QAC  locations and online at  2010census.gov.

Here Are Some Facts For Your Tenants and Residents Who Have Been  Displaced From Their Homes Due to a Natural Disaster:

The Census Bureau has plans in place to make sure everyone is counted in the 2010 Census and that they are counted once, only once and in the right place.

The law requires that people are counted where they live. It’s important that communities have the resources they need where they live now.

If people move to another address in the Census Bureau’s address list, they will still get a census form.

If people stay temporarily with friends or relatives, questions on the 2010 Census form will help ensure people are counted in the right place.

This is a blog post for Real Estate Professionals, Investors, Landlord, Property Manager, and Property Management Companies. 2010 Census Tips for Property Managers, Property Management Company and Landlords is brought to you by SimplifyEm Pay Rent Online and Property Management Software

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