Nehemiah Gateway Community Development Corporation

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Nehemiah Gateway Community Development
Corporation

• Non Profit organization headquartered in
  Wilmington.
• Organize and manage the EITC Campaign throughout
  Delaware.
• Mission to transform lives and communities by
  increasing opportunities for successful
  employment, entrepreneurship, and asset
  development.
• Programs focus on helping lower income workers to
  build wealth through savings, access to
  mainstream financial services, job training, and
  advocacy for policies that support these goals.

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Delaware EITC Campaign Results Summary 2008
Background Program Age 8th Year
Operations Territory Statewide Delaware, 22
locations Market Size 780,000 total
population in Delaware Returns Under
40,000 206.413 Returns Over 40,000 163.473
Total Tax Returns 369.886 DE EITC
Campaign Tax Returns by Campaign 14,377 (6
market share) Small Business Returns
629 Federal Refunds 17,405,529 State
Refunds 1,854,869 Savings Accounts Opened
247 Certificate of Deposit Opened
241 Savings Bonds 105 Credit Report and
Education 2523 Split Refund 352 Amount
Saved on Tax Prep Fees 2,875,400 Minorities
Served 68 Minorities in State 30 AGI
of Customers 15,771 Campaign Champion
Governor Jack Markell Campaign Sponsor
Nehemiah Gateway CDC
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Pre-Tax Season Preparation for Split Refunds and
Financial Services

• Conduct research to decide on product. Interview
  other programs around the country and EITC
  Campaign customers.
• Prepare Request for Proposals for Delaware
  financial community during Summer 06
• RFP outlined requirements
• Offsite processing/approval of account opening
  (by phone)
• Immediate creation of savings account number for
  form 8888
• Created Cash Coordinator position
• Recruited from community and local colleges

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Cash Coordinator Goals

• Intake Manage the Site INTAKE process.
• Savings/ Split Refunds Promote and facilitate
  savings and financial goal setting.
• Credit Educate customers about credit and the
  role that credit history plays in obtaining
  access to financial services.
• Referrals Educate and refer customers to state
  benefits, home ownership counseling and financial
  education programs that are available in
  Delaware.

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Why is a Cash Coordinator important?

• Help the Client to learn about the financial
  services at the tax site and to take advantage of
  them.
• Educate NOT advise.
• Provide clients with tools to use to increase
  their income, cash flow, and future economic
  position and become more financially stable.
• Encourage Saving through the new Split Refund
  program, where a refund can be put into up to
  three financial accounts (checking, savings,
  etc.)
• Encourage clients to learn more about handling
  their money, and having good credit.
• Be a resource to provide information and
  referrals about state benefits, and community
  programs including financial education, and home
  ownership counseling.

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Cash Coordinator Job Promote Savings

• Encourage EITC clients to use direct deposit and
  save part of their refund. With the Form 8888,
  taxpayers can split their refund into as many as
  3 accounts.
• When you have a large sum, an unexpected windfall
  of dollars into your life, that is the time to
  think about saving.
• Saving can be accomplished by
• Use Existing Accounts Using existing checking/
  savings account for one part of the refund and
  using an existing second account for another
  portion of the refund
• Open New Accounts Assist the client in
  signing-up for a CD or savings bond product.

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Cash Coordinator Job Teach About Credit

• Obtain a credit report for clients, interpret the
  contents, educate on how to improve their credit
  report, and refer them to a professional
  non-profit credit repair/ housing counseling
  organization.
• Enter Housing Counselor Online (Fannie Mae
  website) through the desktop and pull a credit
  report containing information from TransUnion
  credit bureau
• The customer gets an education and a picture of
  their credit history, good and bad, with details
  regarding content and a score.
• The score is used as a grade to qualify for
  financial services, jobs, and housing. A bad
  score can prevent a consumer from accessing the
  above through the mainstream, forcing them to
  alternative fringe or predatory services.

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Financial Services for Un and Under Banked
Taxpayers

• CONVENIENT CASH CARD
• NEW service sponsored by Nehemiah Gateway
  Community Development Corporation and Advent
  Financial Services, designed to make your
  financial transactions EASY!
• How it Works
• Get a Mastercard/ Debit Cash Card when you
• get your taxes done.
• Use it as a convenient way to manage
• your money!
• Direct Deposit
• The IRS can directly deposit your refund on
• to the Card.
• Your employer can also directly deposit
• your pay check.
• Uncle Sam can directly deposit your social
• security or other benefits.

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Benefits of the Cash Card
Fast! Direct deposit is faster than a check
from IRS Get your refund within 7 to 12 days!
Save Money! No check cashing fees No bounced
checks, overdrawn accounts, or bank fees No
minimum balance requirements first 3 months Free
money transfers from bank account to card
(international or local) Safe! No need to carry
large amounts of cash, Purchase protection and
fraud monitoring included Convenient! Get your
refund on a card and not in a check Use a card
instead of cash to buy things Accepts payroll
deposits Use your card for store purchases Use
your card to pay bills Use your card for ATM
cash withdrawals You can deposit checks and cash
at any Green Dot location (Rite Aid, Walgreens,
CVS, Radio Shack)
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Tax Site Marketing Money Menu

• 25 Big Ruby Tuesday style menus at each tax site
• List and describe all financial products and
  services available at tax site. Each customer
  receives a mini menu to take home.

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Opening CDs at the Tax Site

• Opening CDs at the Tax Site CDs are opened
  either through a secured website and or an 800
  customer service number. The account number is
  provided to the customer at the site and a
  package with signature cards is sent by the bank
  via snail mail.
• Tax Preparer Training
• We developed a savings manual for tax preparers
  and we sent an email to our tax preparer
  volunteers to stress the importance of their role
  in encouraging customers with big refunds to
  save.
• Communications
• We use a list serve with Financial Coordinators
  to exchange ideas and communicate throughout the
  season.
• Talent Bank
• We identify the strongest Cash Coordinators and
  ask them to increase their volunteer service by
  going to various sites on different days of the
  week to train other Cash Coordinators.

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A CD doesnt play music

• Certificate of Deposit (CDs)
• A high interest account that is locked for a
  designated time period. Because the money stays
  in the bank without transactions, the bank offers
  a higher interest rate. This is not a
  transactional account.
• Customer Motivators
• CDs are labeled with purposes to inspire
  customers to save for specific goals, such as
  Vacation CD, Back to School CD, Christmas CD,
  etc. Our research suggests that Christmas Clubs
  are a very appealing type of savings program for
  our customers.
• Getting your Money
• When the savings period is up, the CD can be
  renewed, withdrawn, or just roll over and
  continue. As interest is earned it is added to
  the principal in the account so that new interest
  is earned on increasing higher amounts.
• Bank Partners
• The bank partners for the Delaware EITC Campaign
  during the 2009 tax season are WSFS and and
  Artisans Bank. The Campaign has also worked with
  GMAC Bank and PNC Bank in the past.

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Other Savings Products for 2009
IDAs (Individual Development Accounts) AFI
product, matching 1 ½ 1 for home ownership,
post-secondary education, small business
development. Customers can invest as much as
500 during tax season. Maximum savings
1,500. Accounts are opened as savings and then
transferred into IDAs when clients complete the
formal intake process. Savings Bonds EE
Bonds, similar to CDs, matures at face value with
interest averaging between 4 5 after one year.
Starting investment of 50. Popular as a gift
item.
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Opening IDAs at the Tax Site
On-Site Marketing Customers will be educated
about IDAs and offered the opportunity to open a
pre-IDA by directly depositing a portion of
their refund. Cash Coordinators will conduct
preliminary screening to determine program
eligibility. Pre-IDA Accounts Deposits will go
into a CD or savings account at the partner bank
and will be held there pending final
qualification and notification by the program
administrator. Activating the IDA Clients
will be referred to an IDA program associate for
intake, eligibility, and financial literacy
training. On-site Account Opening Account
numbers are pre-assigned in batches of 25 and
entered into a Spreadsheet. As accounts are
opened, the Cash Coordinator will fill in the
clients name, last four digits of the social,
amount of deposit, date, and tax site.
Spreadsheet will be held on a secured server
which will be accessed only by Tax Site Managers
and the bank with specific usernames and
passwords. Referrals Clients will be given
all referral and program info in writing.
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Script to talk to customers about the split
refund   Keep it Simple and Use Visualization to
get your message across. Use the YES messages
and avoid the NO messages. YES Looks like
youre getting a great refund! Would you be
interested in saving some of it so youll have
money for something you need later on this year?
Christmas shopping, vacation, back to school, or
a savings account for your kids? Help customers
visualize financial needs that they will have
beyond the bills that are waiting to be paid now.
This type of question motivates people to
consider saving. NO Would you like to open a
CD? Most people dont know what a CD is and may
have misperceptions about it. This type of
question might shut down the thought process.
YES By putting some of your refund into
savings, its still your money. It can earn
interest while it sits there and when youre
ready for it, you can take it out. Remind them
that the money belongs to them and it doesnt
have to be spent all at once. NO If you put it
in a CD, you can get it out in six months. It
feels like they are giving away some of their
money and wont be able to get at it. YES
You can put most of it in your regular bank
account to use now, and some of it in another
account to use later on. Its all about having
money when you need it. You wont miss it if you
dont see it. Remind them that once it goes into
their checking account, it will evaporate. By
putting some in a CD, they protect their own
money so they will have it for future financial
needs. NO You can open an account and save
some of your refund. They might feel like you are
trying to take away their refund and will resist
this. They need to visualize the two accounts
and be reminded that the money is theirs to use
for their own expenses.
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Buzz Words and Ideas Benefits of Direct
Deposit Would you like to have your refund
directly deposited into your bank account? Did
you know that if you do direct deposit, you will
have your refund within 2 weeks or
less? Benefits of more than one bank
account  Did you know that this year the IRS is
offering taxpayers an opportunity to directly
deposit their refund into as many as 3 accounts
so that you can put some in your checking and
some in a savings account or CD? Quick and
Easy To make it easy to put a little bit of your
refund into a separate savings account, we can
open a CD right now for that purpose. It only
takes a few minutes and we can call the bank and
open it right now.   What is a CD? How does it
work? Do you know what a CD is?  A CD is a higher
interest savings account where your money earns
interest until it matures in six months.  It is
designed to earn higher interest so its best to
leave it in there and or you risk losing the
interest.  At the end of 5 months you get a
notice telling you that it will mature in 30 days
and you will have a window to either cash out,
add more, or do nothing, in which case it will
roll over and start another 6 month term. 
  Bank Partners  We have a partnership with two
banks who are offering CDs and savings accounts
for our customers who would like to save some of
their refund.  That is GMAC Bank, an internet
bank, and WSFS Bank.  The interest rate is higher
on the GMAC Bank CD because it is an internet
bank and doesnt have the overhead that WSFS
has.  However, with WSFS, you can go into any
branch and get other services also.  Examples
of Customers who took advantage of the
offer Weve had several customers who set one up
for each of two children and then they put the
rest in their own checking account to pay bills.
 One mother did it for her teenagers who are
working. She decided to help them get started on
a savings plan of their own by opening a CD for
each of them so that they could add to it when it
matures in six months.  She took care of the
important stuff. She opened the accounts in her
name and their name and she funded them with her
refund. One young man who is single and in his
twenties, opened a CD with half of his refund, so
that he would have money for a vacation this
summer.