Leveraging resources in Fort Collins
The Fort Collins, Colo., tax coalition effort started at the top, when Mayor Ray Martinez heard a presentation from the IRS at a National League of Cities meeting two years ago.

"The Mayor told the city manager this is something we need to do," says Sam McFerran, then a graduate student working as a management assistant in the city manager's office. From October to April, he spent two to three days a week on the EITC effort. McFerran is now working for the city of Washington, D.C.

That support from government leadership was a key factor in making the Fort Collins effort successful, say McFerran and Tess Heffernan, the city's policy agenda manager.

In 2003, the coalition prepared taxes for more than 1,200 individuals and families at 18 sites across Larimer County. One hundred twenty volunteers logged more than 3,000 hours. This year, there will be 14 sites. Homebound residents can also call and get a tax preparation "house call," says Heffernan.

"Because you had the Mayor's endorsement, it allowed (the coalition) to leverage city resources," McFerran says. "We put a newsletter in the utilities bill, both in English and Spanish, to inform people about the advantages of EITC. We had five (tax preparation) sites in the city, three of them in city buildings –the library, the recreation center and the senior citizens center." Those locations were readily accessible by the Hispanic community of Ft. Collins, which was a target of the EITC program.

The AARP already had a tax coalition working with senior citizens, and McFerran tapped that volunteer network, asking them to broaden their mission to help the city's efforts to reach low-income residents.

Working with the library's bilingual specialist, McFerran says, Ft. Collins connected with the Hispanic community. They put out fliers, talked with tenant organizations and nonprofits, and visited mom and pop businesses and mobile home parks. They enlisted Holy Family Church, the largest church serving the Hispanic community, in the free tax preparation effort. The city donated computers in exchange for use of the church's classrooms.

"It's a win-win situation," says McFerran of the EITC program. "There are people in your community who are not taking advantage of this money that's owed to them. A $1,500 (tax credit) is significant for a family that's only making $20,000 a year. It's good politics and good public policy as well."

McFerran's advice to a community that is considering an EITC program:

• Seek out existing volunteer networks, such as the AARP tax coalition
• "Most of our volunteers came from AARP"
• Connect with local or regional IRS Stakeholders Partnerships Education and Communication office. "They were great. They had two or three staffers dedicated to building coalitions in Northern Colorado"
• Tap into local accountants, community colleges for volunteers. "We called accountants to see if they wanted pro bono work," McFerran says
• Involve the media. Another coalition in Denver connected with the local Hispanic television station. Ft. Collins' local newspaper wrote editorials about EITC
• Work with local community partners, such as the library or a local place of worship, to spread the word about EITC to eligible families

A great place to find volunteers is through your local Volunteer Center. Find yours by calling 1-800-VOLUNTEER or visiting www.1-800-VOLUNTEER.org.