Advancing Tax Systems That Work for All
Sample Strategies for Foundations
Foundations play a key role in advancing tax equity. From investing in equitable strategies to raising awareness of the importance of tax systems that work for all, there are a number of ways the philanthropic community can help move this work forward.
How Can Philanthropy Help?
Learn About the Impact of the Tax System on Equity
Understand Your Place in the Ecosystem
Raise Awareness & Help Workers and Families Find Free Tax Prep Services
Share the Stories of Workers and Families
Join the Network & share resources with your partners and grantees
There are a variety of strategies that philanthropy can support to increase equity and help more individuals and families who have low and moderate income get access to much needed tax credits.
Invest in Innovation
In partnership with Prosperity Now, the Tax Equity Funders Network worked with network members and field leaders for more than a year to identify and write about innovative strategies that can help to maximize the number of individuals and families who have access to tax credits and non-predatory tax preparation services. Six briefs have been written by field experts and answer the question: What are innovations that would dramatically improve the ability of low- and moderate-income taxpayers to access all the tax benefits there are eligible for?
Read the briefs here.
Support Outreach and Enrollment
Many families do not know they are eligible and will not fill out needed paperwork to receive the credits. In the near-term, we need to focus on targeted outreach and engagement strategies.
Support outreach and awareness efforts, especially those that are building cross-issue bridges. For example: between early childhood providers, diaper banks, homeless shelters, health care providers, immigrant service providers, faith-based groups, or food banks and those working on tax credit awareness.
Sample Strategy: Identify grantee partners serving hardest to reach members of your community and make sure they are aware of and have access to outreach materials and are developing an outreach strategy.
Identify your existing outreach infrastructure and support enhanced capacity for those key partners to engage in outreach and assistance efforts.
Sample Strategy: Re-energize your Census Complete Count Committee (or voter registration, ACA enrollment coalition, etc.) to build on successful efforts to reach the hardest-to-reach communities. Get that group back together to develop a “Complete Outreach” plan.
Helping families enroll is a critical element of success. This can take the form of ensuring that trusted messengers know how to access the enrollment portal and can trouble-shoot basic questions and/or connect community members to national systems of technical support.
Sample Strategy: Identify where community members most likely to be non-filers go for information (for example, a mutual aid organization serving refugee and immigrant communities) and ensure that these front-line helpers have the information and training necessary to answer basic questions and get additional help for families wanting to enroll.
Encourage Storytelling to Support Outreach and Secure Expansions
Many families do not know they are eligible and will not fill out needed paperwork to receive the credits. In the near-term, we need to focus on targeted outreach and engagement strategies.
While some grantee partners have already built this capacity, additional resources may be necessary to help community partners gather stories and prepare communications materials that highlight family experience.
Sample Strategy: Provide funding for grantee partners to bolster their communications capacity to gather and elevate the stories of families receiving the CTC and EITC to local media and opinion leaders.
Prepare for Tax Time
With all of the changes to the tax code in recent year, more families than ever will need help getting their taxes done in high-quality, free, and non-predatory settings.
Identify who among your partners provides tax preparation services and engage in a conversation about gaps and needs.
Sample Strategy: Convene grantee partners and other community partners to develop a tax preparation asset and needs map for your area. Support them develop a strategy to expand access and fill gaps in service, building on the outreach efforts that helped to connect families to the credits.