Account withdrawals for unspecified emergencies are an early-warning signal of participant difficulties. A participant's seeking to withdraw funds for unallowed uses, without specifying the need for funds, tends to signal trouble ahead. Individual participant success is hard to predict. The factors, such as motivation, that enable a participant to succeed are often intangible and unobservable. The task of recruiting and retaining participants, with the aim of making full use of program funding, is made especially difficult by the desire to serve those most in need.
Referral is probably the most effective outreach source.
The most successful source of qualified applicants is referral from other programs, either from outside the organization or from other programs with the same organization. Rules setting minimum periods of participation may be constraining. Such limitations sometimes prevent a participant from accessing their match funds when they are prepared to make an asset purchase. Many programs are being under-utilized. Many programs have match funds available to them that they are unable to commit because they cannot fill their authorized number of program slots.