Action-Learning for the Rural Family Economic Success (RuFES) Alumni Network
Sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation
Coordinated by the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group
Welcome RuFES alumni and friends!
…to our second issue of RuFES Round-up!
Last year, we gave you a chance to take an online survey to let us know about RuFES Action Topics that most interest you. The Earned Income Tax Credit was right at the top of that list. So with tax preparation season looming, we are dedicating this entire issue to EITC—especially in rural areas.
What’s in this Round-Up for you? Here’s the run-down:
- EITC 101: What everyone needs to know about the EITC. What EITC is, how it got started, who qualifies, how it works, and why it's important.
- What’s new for Tax Year 2006. New maximums for claims and earned income, plus some new EITC and other tax refund incentives.
- EITC and tax preparation campaign pointers. Checklists to help you ensure quality and increase scale, plus some great resources.
- Cutting-edge innovations in EITC efforts. Ways you can work with employers to build your program’s size and reach, link tax preparation and asset building, and make the most of your EITC data.
- EITC estimator. A new tool to help you estimate how much EITC is left unclaimed for your place.
- RuFES Alumni in action. We’re especially proud to highlight a raft of innovative approaches and best practices from RuFES Alumni who have tried new things—often after attending some intense RuFES peer-learning event! Their short stories provide an amazing array of ideas to address some of the most pressing issues that uniquely face rural EITC programs.
Whether you are an EITC novice who barely knows what it is, or a Rural EITC Action Hero who has been in the trenches working with tax preparation and EITC outreach for many years, you will find nuggets of useful information and ideas. Even an Action Tool or two!
Have fun—and learn as you go. You’ll find a lot of useful quick-reference EITC information and resources. You might even want to bookmark it.
Our sincere and mighty thanks to all of you who provided us with information about your EITC innovations and successes. Special thank you’s go to Lucy Gorham of EITC Carolinas, Miriam Shark and Bonnie Howard of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Tom Waldron of The Hatcher Group for their content help and valuable advice.
One more thing: If you have comments or questions on this issue, or ideas for future Round-Ups, please write John Molinaro.
And so, we invite you: Read on!
Your RuFES Action Team
John Molinaro, Janet Topolsky and Kelly Malone
Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group
The Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group (CSG) | One Dupont Circle, NW | Suite 700 | Washington, DC 20036