Case Study: Robin Hood reaches eligible New Yorkers with Civis Analytics

Locating Eligible New Yorkers for Benefit Programs

Robin Hood, the New York City antipoverty nonprofit, wanted to increase participation in key benefit programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and SNAP. To do that, it needed to answer a difficult question: who is eligible, where do they live, and how can they be reached? Robin Hood turned to Civis Analytics for help estimating and identifying the eligible population at a more granular level than the organization had previously been able to access.

Civis Analytics used anonymized U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey microdata to estimate eligible tax filing units and SNAP households by geography, then layered models on top of those direct estimates to improve accuracy and reduce variability. The solution helped Robin Hood pinpoint neighborhoods with the highest participation gaps and non-participation density, as well as demographic patterns among eligible non-participants. As a result, Robin Hood’s Start By Asking campaign reached 10,000 people eligible for more than $15 million in benefits.

Robin Hood

Steven Lee

Managing Director