We have made some updates to MyAFS that allow you to easily contact Sending applicants. Now when you log into MyAFS, you’ll see a Sending widget icon on your home screen that looks like this:

Click on the icon and you’ll be seamlessly guided through the following steps:

1. Find an applicant to contact.

2. Read about the applicant and decide: are you going to call or email?

3. Choose a topic to focus on.

4. Say “hello!” and log contact.

If you call the applicant or their parents, you’ll be asked to leave a short comment indicating how the call went or noting if you left a message. This is important so that your fellow volunteers and others in the organization know you made the call. If you email, the message will be added to applicant’s contact log automatically.

More About Using the Sending Widget
When you reach out to an applicant, your goal should be to introduce the student and family to your Area Team, help them understand how special the AFS family is, and inform them of the many ways to get involved.

It may be that someone else has emailed or called the student or their parents already. That’s OK! Multiple touchpoints are helpful, and it’s important that applicants and their families understand how central volunteers are to AFS-USA.

Keep in mind that students will likely have questions, and you shouldn’t feel you need to have all the answers. Study Abroad Specialists are always ready to speak with applicants and their families about program and application details, so if needed, just point students to studyabroad@afsusa.org or 1-800-AFS-INFO, option 1.

If you have questions or comments about the Sending widget, or MyAFS in general, please don’t hesitate to email helpme@afsusa.org.

Thank you for all you do for AFS-USA. We’re now in the most crucial months for Sending recruitment, so we’re excited to provide this new functionality in time to help make 2018 a success!