Hotlines that are a part of a Legal Services Corporation program office are supported out of general operating funds for that program and funds are not raised specifically for the hotline component since it is part of the whole delivery scheme of the program. Hotlines that serve seniors receive most of their funding through federal, state, and local agencies on aging. Many of the senior hotlines were started with grants from Title IV of the Older Americans Act (OAA), research and demonstration projects. Some of the senior hotlines, such as the one in Maine, are part of the state’s Title IIIB (OAA) provider, where the senior hotline serves as the advice and brief service component of the program. Other senior hotlines have contracts to provide IIIB legal services for a local area agency on aging. The New Mexico senior hotline is part of the State Bar and serves as the advice and intake component of the state lawyer referral for the elderly program. Domestic violence legal hotlines often operate with Congressional funds allocated for that purpose. Most hotlines have additional sources of funding such as grants from bar associations, money from IOLTA funds, private foundations, etc. Creative hotline managers will develop other fundraising plans. Kate White, manager of the Legal Hotline for Michigan Seniors, suggests commissioning a fundraising feasibility study. A good one will provide information on how a particular organization is perceived in the community and what its fundraising potential is. A good study will identify particular methods of fundraising that have a likelihood of success. Possibilities include soliciting corporations for matching grants, or grants for specific projects; recruiting corporate attorneys for either pro bono volunteers or to serve on the program’s board of directors or advisory council. Corporations can also be asked for in-kind donations such as printing, copying, or office equipment. She also recommends joining the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives. (For further information call 1-800-666-FUND). For more suggestions, see, Funding for Senior Hotlines LHQ Summer 1999.

Any legal services program needs to be proficient at writing successful grant proposals. Technical assistance in preparing proposals is available from many sources. Senior hotlines should see, White, "Planning Your AoA Hotline Proposal" LHQ Spring 2000. Some of the points stressed in this article include the importance of having a good idea that is innovative, replicable, solves an identifiable problem for a specific group of people, and is likely to work. It is important to demonstrate knowledge of the issues, to have the support of relevant groups and agencies, a realistic budget, and a procedure for evaluating success. Additional help is available from the AARP Foundation Technical Support for Legal Hotlines Project. A large array of successful Title IV AoA grants is posted at the Legal Hotline Technical Support Library at www.povertylaw.org.

The Legal Hotline for Older Americans (formerly in Pittsburgh), the Legal Hotline for Older Floridians (which closed in May, 2001), and the Pennsylvania Legal Advice Line (a reorganized version of the Pittsburgh program) have had experiments with fee for service plans in an effort to generate operating income. Charging fees is a viable way to target free services to lower-income callers if the hotline previously provided across the board free services to clients whose eligibility criteria was not linked to income. Charging fees may also allow the hotline to provide low-cost services to clients who may not otherwise seek legal assistance such as clients between 50-60 or low-income clients who are over legal services income guidelines.

The Legal Hotline for Older Americans and the Legal Hotline for Older Floridians offered free services to age eligible clients (over 60) with annual incomes less than $15,000 per year (200% of poverty in 1996). All others were charged $15.00 per phone consultation. Florida clients were billed and sent in checks. Pennsylvania clients were able to pay by credit card or send in a check. In Pennsylvania, the imposition of fees substantially reduced the number of calls coming in and thereby reduced operating expenses. In Florida, the number of calls coming in was not greatly impacted because the demand for the service continued to far exceed the amount of services the budget could supply. In both cases the fee experiment succeeded in increasing the ratio of low-income callers served. However, the amount of fees generated never totaled more than 10-20 % of operating expenses.

In August 1999, AARP entered into a contract with Tele-Lawyer, Inc. to operate the Pennsylvania Legal Advice Line. The Tele-Lawyer receptionist receives all calls coming into the hotline 800 number. She screens them for eligibility, arranges for the fee to be paid if applicable, and routes the calls to the hotline attorney in Pittsburgh. He now works from his home and is paid only for time spent on the phone plus time to input casenotes. This system has resulted in a 50% decrease in costs of running the hotline and almost tripled the level of productivity but only $3,500 in client fees was collected in 2000. Further marketing to higher income seniors is expected to increase fee-generation in the future.