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Peace Corps Trend Analysis

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Carlos Arroyo
Corey Crisafulli
Brian Concannon

HistoryHistory
The Peace Corps was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy
Their primary mission is to Promote world peace and friendship
Total number of countries served: 139, currently 65 countries

The Peace Corps current mission is to promote


world peace and friendship by fulfilling three
goals:
To help the people of interested countries in
meeting their need for trained men and
women
To help promote a better understanding of
Americans on the part of the peoples
served
To help promote a better understanding of
other peoples on the part of Americans

Revenue Sources
The main source of revenue is through the
congressional budget. Each year the Peace Corps
receive millions of dollars in donations. In FY 2011, for
example they received 2.1 million in donations.
In 1999, the Peace Stamp was introduced as part of
the Peace Corps Act. The U.S. Post Office issued a
semipostal stamp, that still continues to generate
revenue for the Peace Corps, today.

Volunteering
When accepted to
the Peace Corps,
volunteers are placed
in one of six
categories to serve in
one three regions.

Competition
The Peace Corps has no main competitors, since it is an independent agency
within the Executive Branch. There are some other organizations that are
similar, which may be a reason that the Peace Corps has had trouble recruiting
for its organization.

Americorps
Teach for America
Foreign Aid efforts
Millennium Challenge Corporation

Volunteers
A total of 7,209 Volunteers and trainees were serving
in the Peace Corps as of September 30, 2013. This
includes 801 Volunteers and trainees funded by the
Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
and 184 Volunteers serving in the Peace Corps
Response Program (www.peacecorps.gov/ response).
The number of Volunteers fielded each year depends
on host country requests and the agencys ability to
effectively support Volunteers in the field

The Peace Corps Unique


Approach to Development
The agency does not provide monetary assistance to countries, the agency
sends Volunteers to countries that have requested technical assistance.
Volunteers share their skills and experience with local people and communities
by living and working alongside community partners and beneficiaries. The dayto-day interaction between Volunteers and local partners builds mutual trust and
understanding. This enables the Peace Corps to contribute to host country
development efforts while also promoting a better understanding of Americans

Integrated Planning and Budget System


(IPBS)
Characteristics:
1) Planning drives the budget
2) Multi-year planning timeframe
3) Macro-level is the focus early in the planning cycle, micro-level is focused to fit
into macro-level plan
4) Includes horizontal and vertical communication to integrate the agency in
planning and budgeting
5) Current operations costing

Budget
Every year since its conception the Peace Corps has asked for an increase in their
budget. Until recently, FY 2012 and FY 2013, they requested a decrease in their budget.
By FY 2014 they were back to requesting additional funding in order to meet their mission
requirements. In FY 2014 they asked for 370 million dollars, a 22.75 million increase from
FY 2013.

Budget Cycle
IPBS Cycle Stage

Timeframe
(months)

Strategic Planning

January-May

Operating Plan &


Budget Prep.

JulySeptember

Submission to OMB

September

Mid-Year Plan and


Budget Review

April/May

Goals Not Reached


Size of Peace Corps decreased 11.2% from 2011 to 2012
2002-2012: Net budget increase of $66.8 million dollars
2002-2012: Net volunteer increase of 340 volunteers
$66,800,000/340 = $196,471 per volunteer

Agency Trend
The Peace Corps utilizes a hybrid budgeting method consisting of a program budget
and a performance budget starting from 2009 onwards.
The Peace Corps has had significant changes from FY09-FY14. In FY 2010 the
President proposed an initiative that would increase the number of volunteers
serving around the world.
As a result of the initiative Congress passed S.1382 Peace Corps Improvement and
Expansion Act of 2010. The goal of the initiative was to increase the number of
volunteers from 7,600 to 9,400 by the end of 2012 and 11,000 by the end of 2016.

Recommendation
First recommendation proposed would be that the Peace Corps consider allowing
the purchase of the Peace Corps stamp to be sold all year around in order to
generate additional revenue.
Second recommendation would be to engage in Corporate Philanthropy for
charitable donations in order to increase donation intaking.

Challenges of the Agency/


Conclusion
If required to cut the agency budget by 10% the first recommendation would be to
reduce the tour of the volunteers from 24 months to 18 months and if worst case
scenario would be to reduce to a year.
The second recommendation would be to engage in discussion with agencies such
as United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC) to discuss sharing of resources.
The third recommendation would be to have a more realistic expectation of
volunteers, currently they have not been able to reach their targeted number set by
President Obama.

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