The Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC) provides Pennsylvania companies with a tax credit up to 75% for a one-year commitment and 90% for a two-year commitment for contributing to nonprofit educational organizations (EIO).
When Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company was looking to invest their EITC credits, the 112-year-old, Philadelphia-based insurance carrier found a partner with College Possible Philadelphia.
“I was looking for other organizations who were local, established and formidable advocates for helping students succeed in college and beyond,” said David Gittelman, vice president of marketing and communications at Reliance Standard. “That is a mission we take very seriously. I wanted to deepen that legacy.”
For the past 22 years, Reliance Standard has exclusively funded the Delphi Project Foundation that provides innovative arts education programs to student in the school district of Philadelphia. The foundation works with a variety of organizations that help underserved student populations in the Philadelphia area. Partnerships include The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania Ballet and The Philadelphia Zoo. An employee committee at Reliance Standard took an active role in planning and promoting corporate social responsibility projects that were EITC approved.
“What we have been very deliberate about is helping prepare students who participate in our programs for life. For example, the college acceptance rate in our programs is well above 90% whereas the commensurate rate is somewhere around 50%,” said Gittelman.
That made College Possible a natural fit. During the 2018-19 program year, 100% of College Possible Philadelphia students were accepted into college and more than 900 students were supported through the program.
“There are so many organizations doing amazing things that we haven’t been able to help because they don’t have EITC designation. We see it as an acknowledgment of stability and legitimacy on the part of the beneficiary. It makes good business sense as well as social corporate responsibility sense for us,” said Gittleman.
By investing EITC credits with College Possible, you can help support our college access and success programming in the City of Philadelphia. College Possible will allocate your 2020 EITC tax credits to deliver its evidence-based programming to junior and senior students at four high schools in the School District of Philadelphia. College Possible Philadelphia is registered as an EIO until Dec. 31, 2020.
For more information or to learn more about investing your company’s EITC credits, contact Alison Foster at AFoster@collegepossible.org or 215-309-7311.
