Center for Social Innovation

Many nonprofit executives spend a good chunk of their time trying to talk corporate executives into giving them money. And companies big and small often respond generously. But social entrepreneurs should also consider a less well-known technique for generating new revenues: lobbying for changes in government tax policy. Such changes can yield an enormous outpouring of new resources for the social sector.

A case in point is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), passed by Congress in 1986. The LIHTC generates nearly $400 million annually for the development of affordable housing, an amount that far surpasses the level of gifts from Fortune 500 companies to any one cause. Corporations have become extremely adept at lobbying for tax changes that are advantageous to them. Coalitions of nonprofit ... Read more

• Socially Responsible Investing