Comments on: Growing a Partnership http://eitcoutreach.org/growing-a-partnership Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:06:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Anna Leavitt http://eitcoutreach.org/growing-a-partnership/comment-page-1#comment-72 Anna Leavitt Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:25:48 +0000 http://eitcoutreach.org/?p=691#comment-72 I will echo the praises for the "Money Talks Have You Heard" outreach kit. We began our coalition development very late in the year and found this packet to be invaluable in our outreach efforts. We have put together a very quick 10 - 15 minute power point presentation that includes the information from the CBPP and localized statistics from the Brookings Institution (with the help of CBPP) and have found it to be a powerful tool as well. We took our show "on the road" and presented the information in a variety of settings, all of which helped recruit members to our coalition development meetings. As Christin suggests in tip # 3, we have also found that meeting with individuals and groups face to face has been instrumental. We were able to present a very brief program to one of the local city councils and have subsequently had an elected official participate in EITC Coalition development. I also have used tip # 4. I agree that having a clear outline of the program expectations and development goals is very helpful. I will echo the praises for the “Money Talks Have You Heard” outreach kit. We began our coalition development very late in the year and found this packet to be invaluable in our outreach efforts. We have put together a very quick 10 – 15 minute power point presentation that includes the information from the CBPP and localized statistics from the Brookings Institution (with the help of CBPP) and have found it to be a powerful tool as well. We took our show “on the road” and presented the information in a variety of settings, all of which helped recruit members to our coalition development meetings. As Christin suggests in tip # 3, we have also found that meeting with individuals and groups face to face has been instrumental. We were able to present a very brief program to one of the local city councils and have subsequently had an elected official participate in EITC Coalition development. I also have used tip # 4. I agree that having a clear outline of the program expectations and development goals is very helpful.

]]> By: Pat Moynihan http://eitcoutreach.org/growing-a-partnership/comment-page-1#comment-70 Pat Moynihan Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:48:18 +0000 http://eitcoutreach.org/?p=691#comment-70 We use Christin’s Tips for Building Effective Partnerships before tax season as we gear up, as well as during the tax season when questions arise. When we held our December training, our attendees were very happy to receive the Money Talks Have You Heard? Outreach Kit and commented that the information provided would help them in reaching out to their EIC eligible clients. We were able to form a partnership with a few umbrella agencies who attended the training that ordered a large number of additional kits to distribute within their own organizations. This expanded the reach of our efforts exponentially. As a result of our training, we were invited to participate on a panel for a local Parish Social Ministry to educate clients about EIC and to stress the need for volunteer tax preparers. Another tip for establishing partnerships is to have facts to back-up your outreach efforts. Hard numbers can convince organizations of the importance of sharing EIC info when they have other priorities and are hard-pressed to use their limited resources to focus on EIC or CTC. Using the Brookings Institution website which allowed us to generate reports specific to our area was especially helpful. The availability of Spanish language flyers enabled us to provide immediate outreach to a local Hispanic Cultural Center this year at one of their events and to forge a new partnership with them. We are still hoping to develop greater local government interest as it seems that the most successful programs across the US are those with solid government support. Evelyn, what are you doing to nurture relations with your city and county governments? We use Christin’s Tips for Building Effective Partnerships before tax season as we gear up, as well as during the tax season when questions arise. When we held our December training, our attendees were very happy to receive the Money Talks Have You Heard? Outreach Kit and commented that the information provided would help them in reaching out to their EIC eligible clients. We were able to form a partnership with a few umbrella agencies who attended the training that ordered a large number of additional kits to distribute within their own organizations. This expanded the reach of our efforts exponentially. As a result of our training, we were invited to participate on a panel for a local Parish Social Ministry to educate clients about EIC and to stress the need for volunteer tax preparers.

Another tip for establishing partnerships is to have facts to back-up your outreach efforts. Hard numbers can convince organizations of the importance of sharing EIC info when they have other priorities and are hard-pressed to use their limited resources to focus on EIC or CTC. Using the Brookings Institution website which allowed us to generate reports specific to our area was especially helpful. The availability of Spanish language flyers enabled us to provide immediate outreach to a local Hispanic Cultural Center this year at one of their events and to forge a new partnership with them. We are still hoping to develop greater local government interest as it seems that the most successful programs across the US are those with solid government support. Evelyn, what are you doing to nurture relations with your city and county governments?

]]> By: Evelyn Bryant-Banks http://eitcoutreach.org/growing-a-partnership/comment-page-1#comment-64 Evelyn Bryant-Banks Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:23:24 +0000 http://eitcoutreach.org/?p=691#comment-64 I use these tips each tax season. They are implemented in our daily tax prep. The Money Talks Have You Heard? Outreach Kit has several great tips as well including strategies to help you better serve your target area. The great thing about forming partnerships is that we can offer our free services to help more people in the community. Since we also teach our clients how to develop better financial habits and how to manage money and balance their checkbooks, banks and credit unions have become great partners. Forming a good working relationship with city and county government is also helpful. I use these tips each tax season. They are implemented in our daily tax prep. The Money Talks Have You Heard? Outreach Kit has several great tips as well including strategies to help you better serve your target area. The great thing about forming partnerships is that we can offer our free services to help more people in the community. Since we also teach our clients how to develop better financial habits and how to manage money and balance their checkbooks, banks and credit unions have become great partners. Forming a good working relationship with city and county government is also helpful.

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