❮ Projects page The Campaign for Working Families

Spatial Analysis Project:

The Campaign has three project proposals that would benefit from GIS mapping. Due to some overlap, components of these proposals could be combined but we will keep them distinct for purposes of this application.

Project Proposal 1: Tax Site Locations and Services CWF’s primary mission is to increase access to the Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax credits that benefit working families. The IRS estimates that 15-20% of individuals and families eligible for this refundable tax credit do not claim it. Many EITC-eligible families have their taxes prepared by commercial tax preparers or online. Also, an increasing number of customers served by the Campaign are no longer eligible for the EITC due to age, income or number of dependents. These three factors make it imperative that CWF design a strategy to target EITC-eligible families through improved marketing and positioning tax sites in more strategic locations.

The Summer of Maps Intern would help answer the following questions:

1. What Philadelphia neighborhoods likely have EITC-eligible customers who are not being served by Campaign tax sites?
2. What areas of Philadelphia lack free tax preparation services or commercial tax preparation services?
3. Do customers go to the tax site closest to their home address?
4. How many EITC customers live in certain legislative districts in Philadelphia? What is the average/median return in certain legislative districts in Philadelphia?
5. What is the optimal location for a large tax site in Northeast Philadelphia, West Philadelphia and Germantown?

Project Proposal 2: Volunteer Management and Retention CWF relies on hundreds of volunteers to deliver tax preparation and other asset-building services to customers to help them get more and save more. Students from area colleges are the largest source of volunteers followed by corporate partners and community members not affiliated with a college or corporation. CWF has had too much success staffing sites in high-traffic areas of the city (Temple University and Center City) but has faced challenges meeting the needs of some tax sites in North Philadelphia (Impact Services, Ceiba Sites), South Philadelphia (Diversified Community Services and United Communities) and Southwest Philadelphia (Ebenezer Temple Church).

The Summer of Maps intern would help answer the following questions:

1. What areas of the city could use more advertising about volunteer opportunities?
2. Do volunteers live near the tax site where they volunteer?
3. How do the home addresses of the CWF’s volunteer base compare to CWF’s customer base and how do the underlying census demographics of income and crime correlate?
4. Which volunteers could be targeted to support the smaller community sites?
5. Where do various groups of volunteers volunteer their time and how can we visualize the impact they are having on the community?

Project Proposal 3: Financial Workshops and Coaching in Empowerment Zones Unlike commercial tax preparers, CWF aims to put more money in the pockets of its customers through the Resource Builder program. Resource builders screen tax site customers for public benefits, encourage them to save some of their refund and provide access to prepaid debit cards, credit reports and FAFSA applications. CWF will soon be expanding its programming to provide year-round services that will target customers based on the services they took advantage of at the tax site. Volunteer financial coaches will connect with customers on a personal level while financial workshops provide greater knowledge in the area of financial management, loans and services. One grant CWF has received to provide these services requires that customers come from certain Empowerment Zones with distinct boundaries.

The Summer of Maps intern would help answer the following questions:

1. Which customers live in the Empowerment Zones and how can we quickly whether a family lives in these areas?
2. What mainstream and non-mainstream financial services are available in geographic proximity to customers’ home addresses?
3. Are customers who received certain asset-building services concentrated in certain areas of the city?
4. What locations for workshops would be most convenient for tax site customers in each empowerment zone?

Data available:

Project 1:

• IRS address level data on commercial tax service providers
• IRS address level data on free tax service providers
• Deidentified address level data on customer base, EITC customers, customers by tax site
• Census tract data on income and family size

Project 2:

• CWF address-level data on volunteers for the last three tax seasons.
• CWF data on volunteer demographics and affiliations and hours
• US Census data on income/crime

Project 3:

• Deidentified customer data tied to asset-building services received at the tax site
• Government data on registered banks, registered check cashers, registered tax preparers and other financial services.
• Locations of local churches, schools and community organizations.

Maps and Reports that will be created:

Whether it’s choropleth maps that include the right data and design to tell a clear story or a report that hinges on statistics gleaned through spatial analysis, we appreciate any output the Summer of Maps intern can provide in getting answers to the questions posed above. In the process of answering these questions, we anticipate that more questions will arise leading the project in the direction that will produce a valuable product by the end of the summer.

How the maps and reports will be used:

The maps and reports will have a direct impact on internal decision-making at CWF. By gaining more knowledge about our operation, we can implement new strategies for setting up the tax site operation, recruiting and training volunteers or providing year-round financial services.

The maps and reports will also be used to secure funding to implement these new strategies. CWF relies on grant funding and must often make the case to funders that the services we provide are needed and our intervention strategies are creative and responsive.

In addition, CWF relies heavily on schools and corporate partners for volunteers, so it would be helpful to demonstrate the impact various groups of volunteers are having on the community. By including maps in our marketing materials, we will be able to spark interest in volunteering and encourage more people to attend volunteer training and support our work.

Lastly, the maps and reports will help make the case for local and state legislators to continue to support the work that we do and actively promote financial services and education in their communities. While we rely on reports to these political figures, many respond well to the powerful stories that maps can share.