Promoting Asset Building Products and Service at Tax Sites

Posted by on August 18, 2008

Center for Economic Progress – Promoting Asset Building Products and Service at Tax Sites

The Center for Economic Progress is excited to offer three Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs the opportunity to promote asset building products and services effectively at their tax sites. A brief description of the opportunity follows.

On September 22, 2008, CEP will award three programs a grant of up to $25,000 each to promote asset-building strategies at two or more community-based Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites. At each site, selected programs will be responsible for using a standardized service model first developed by CEP and PolicyLab Consulting Group, LLC, for the Financial Opportunities Project (FOP), a CEP project supported jointly by the Ford Foundation and Citi Foundation.

During the 2008 tax season, CEP piloted the standardized process at two Chicago-based community tax sites using the findings to improve the service delivery model for use during the 2009 tax season. The purpose of the national rollout in 2009 is to assess the effectiveness and versatility of the service model and program guide of the Asset Building Services Delivery System (ABSDS) by sites unaffiliated with CEP. Awards will be made to provide selected programs with resources to carry out program and site operations management, staffing, training, volunteer recruitment, technology use, and evaluation of asset-building promotion at the tax sites using the delivery system model.

Ultimately, CEP hopes the model will be used to increase savings and asset-building behavior among low- to moderate-income taxpayers by supporting improvements in how VITA programs promote financial products and services at the tax site, particularly to those taxpayers most likely to pursue asset building opportunities.

Proposals, which shall be no longer than ten (10) pages, are due by 4:00 p.m. (Central) on Monday, September 15, 2008. Notification of the awards will be made on September 22, 2008. The grant will be awarded in two parts, and the grant period will end on June 30, 2009. A final report on the effectiveness of the ABSDS model must be submitted no later than the final day of the grant period.