7Seven things you need to know about running an EITC campaign

Get your campaign started and up to the next level

Presented by Brian KaoClaim it! campaign managerAccountAbility Minnesota

#1:“0.1% can mean a lot”

The power of 0.1%1. An increase of 0.1% in EITC claims produces an

average of 300 additional EITC claims in Minnesota each year.

(1,800 new EITC claims in total over six years)

2. Each taxpayer is estimated to have claimed $1,500 from the EITC.

3. 1,800 x $1,500 =

$2.7 million

So who am I?• What do I do?• Who am I with?• And why am I talking to you?

About AccountAbility Minnesota• 41 years of experience• More than 15,000 taxpayers served, $22.6

million in refunds• More than 550 volunteers• 665 savers that saved over $1.1 million

in 2012

Get strategic with partnerships

#2:

People who:

• Are living in rural areas

• Are self-employed

• Have a disability or have children with a disability

• Are without a qualifying child

• Have limited English proficiency

• Are grandparents raising grandchildren

• Experienced changes to their marital, financial or parental status

Who is missing out?

?Source: eitc.irs.gov/central/abouteitc/

Additional groups who may be underclaiming the EITC:• Working in cash-only

economy

• Have not filed taxes in several years– Have outstanding debts– Afraid of fees, debt, the

unknown

• Prone to user error– Paper self-prep filers– First-time filers

• Divorce decrees and similar

Who else is missing out?

?

• In 2012, Claim it! materials were sent to 65 organizations in Greater Minnesota

• In 2013, we reached 123 organizations in Greater Minnesota (increased by 89%)

Claim it!’s rural outreach

Who can get behind an EITC campaign in your network and community?

Where are the biggest returns for reaching your audience?

Who has access to hard-to-reach communities?

Meaningful partnerships

Listen to your audience

#3:

Listen to your audience

• You are not the audience

• Imagine talking to one person in your audience

• Go out and talk to a real person

Our focus groupThe Nitty Gritty

• 1 hour and 30 minutes long

• 7-8 participants

• Two facilitators

• Each participant provided dinner and $40 compensation

Four main questions1.What are customers’ experiences and

feelings during tax season?

2.What do they know about free tax preparation? What would convince them to use free tax services?

3.How much do they know about the EITC and other tax credits?

4.What are their initial thoughts on our poster drafts?

Our focus group findings

Would you use free tax prep?

ACCURACY92% of returns at free tax preparation sites are accepted by the IRS on the first filing.

REFUND SPEEDCustomers at free tax preparation sites get their tax refund just as fast as customers at paid tax preparation sites.

VOLUNTEER PREPARERSTax preparers at free tax sites have more training requirements from the IRS than paid preparers and are volunteers who care.

EXPERTISEFree tax preparation sites are experts in helping low- to mid-income taxpayers get every penny they deserve.

HONESTFree tax sites help you get the maximum refund and don’t put you at risk by claiming things you don’t qualify for.

IRS PARTNERSHIPFree tax sites are overseen by the IRS, who creates standards and training requirements for these sites.

UNITED WAY PARTNERSHIPFree tax sites are supported by United Way. You can find the closest free tax sites by calling United Way’s 211 hotline.

 FREEFree tax preparation sites are completely free and managed by non-profits that don’t have any reason to charge you more to make more profits.

Planning your focus group

Key things about focus groups

• Establishing the goal of the focus group

• Avoiding mistakes with a focus group

• Recruiting participants

Establish your goals

• What do you want to know?

• How would you plan your focus group?

• What obstacles do you foresee or worry about?

Refine your messaging and delivery to ensure your audience understands your intent

Talking designed by Stephanie Wauters from The Noun Project

#4:Get to the point!

Our PR consultant’s advice

1.Make it irresistible

2.Make it easy to scan

3.Keep it short and relevant

4.Leave out the homework or keep it in the background

Photo by Ludovic Hirlimann on Flickr

An analogy

Putting it all into practice

Our old materials

Our new materials

What changes happened

Our PR consultant’s advice

1. Make it irresistible

2. Make it easy to scan

3. Keep it short and relevant

4. Leave the homework out or keep it in the background

Expect challenges

#5:

Expect challenges• Budget

• Stakeholders

• Getting media attention

• Translating your message

• What are some of yours?

Measure your impact

#6:

Measuring your impact• The wrong way to do it:–Year-to-year comparisons of EITC

returns

• Why?–Changes in populations–Changes in tax policy–Changes in economic conditions

Minnesota compared to the U.S.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

MN

0.037046887466950

3

0.080340036507912

6

0.020027928085180

7

0.112102865630572

0.022493244948329

3

0.015148186160463

U.S.

0.016928089623951

0.063493814155312

3

0.014097722935573

9

0.091675453806622

2

0.013862890679523

5

0.015329552076902

1

1.0%

3.0%

5.0%

7.0%

9.0%

11.0%

Percentage of increase for EITC claims, by tax year

Perc

enta

ge o

f in

crease

Measuring your impactMeasure things you have total influence over, such as:– Amount of outreach you conduct– Percentage of taxpayers using free tax

preparation sites– Website traffic and 211 call volume

Show impact without data– Stories– Photos– Testimonies

Scott’s story

Get visionary#7:

• Imagine where you want the

campaign to be

• Prepare for threats to the EITC

• Use data to target future outreach

Your new best friend:

The Brookings Institution

http://www.brookings.edu/research/interactives/eitc

Your new best friend:

The Brookings Institution

Use taxpayer data to:

• See how people are filing taxes• Self-prep, volunteer prep,

paid prep• Rapid refund product use

• Find who is missing out• % of EITC recipients / % of

returns with AGI under $30k (Brookings Institution)

• Look for areas with low numbers

Your other new best

friend:

American Fact Finder

Your other new best

friend:

Policymap

1. 0.1% can mean a lot

2. Get strategic with partners

3. Listen to your audience

4. Get to the point!

5. Expect challenges

6. Measure your impact

7. Get visionary

7 things to know

Questions?

???

In closing“What is one thing can you put into practice next week for your campaign?”  

Brian KaoClaim it! Campaign Managerbkao@accountabilitymn.org651-262-2161

www.youclaimit.org

www.accountabilitymn.org

AccountAbilityMinnesota Download the full ppt

at:

@accountabilitym http://goo.gl/FNvkfj

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