The Center’s K-12 education program is now a certified Educational Improvement Organization in Pennsylvania, which means that your donation could be eligible for a 90% Educational Improvement Tax Credits (EITC) against your state tax liability. Due to Federal tax deductions that are also available to businesses, your combined tax benefits may actually exceed the value of your gift — all while you help us bring the discovery of design and the built environment to students across Philadelphia.

The way the EITC program works is that the organizations must be approved as "Educational Improvement Organizations" (i.e. the Center) AND the businesses that donate to the program must also be approved by the State to receive the tax credits. The approval process for businesses can be very competitive and hard to access, so the State created what they call "Special Purpose Entities" (SPE), which essentially allow businesses and individuals to give to the SPE and receive the tax credits without having to go through the approval process themselves.

We are partnering with Friends of Education, which is an approved Special Purpose Entity (SPE) with available tax credits for businesses that want to donate to the Center's program.

If you are a business partner or owner and are interested in redirecting your state tax dollars to the Center -- this is all it takes:

1. You would identify how much you can give based on your state tax liability.
2. You would contribute that amount to Friends of Education and join their SPE.
3. Friends of Education would transfer 100% of your donation to the Center by December 19, 2022. (More opportunities to give in 2023).
4. Friends of Education would send you a K-1 to you to use when filing our tax returns offsetting your tax liability.
5. The Center would acknowledge your gift as a supporter of the Architecture and Design Education Program.

Lower Your Tax Bill

Pennsylvania’s EITC allows you to channel your tax dollars directly to a qualified educational organization that supports your values. The Center for Architecture + Design is now qualified. EITC gives donors a 90% state tax credit; for example, a $10,000 donation yields a $9,000 PA tax liability credit.

Business donors receive an additional benefit at the federal level. For every $100 your business donates, your federal tax bill could be decreased by up to $40, while your Pennsylvania tax bill decreases by $90. Please consult your tax professional when making a gift decision.

Increase Our Impact

Our K-12 program is committed to exponentially expanding access to design education for students across Philadelphia. 

In the classroom, I’m fighting the students’ urge to not care – they have problems that are so much bigger. I have to make every class relevant, expanding their lens. I show them how their problems could be tied to their built environment and push them to ask: ‘How could I make it better?  —Candice Vanderhorst, MArch, Volunteer teacher

As we expand career horizons for students in largely underserved African American and Latinx communities, we are building a pipeline to design and construction careers for all. This lays the groundwork for greater diversity and justice in the professions.

Design education is a social escalator, a game changer. Architecture and design let kids say: “Yes I’m really good at that! Even if I don’t do well in standardized tests, I can think with my hands.”  —Andrew Phillips, PhD, Chair, School of Design, String Theory School

Please contact Rebecca Johnson at rebecca@philadelphiacfa.org or Jermaine Jenkins at jermaine@philadelphiacfa.org to discuss your interest in EITC. Or you can reach out directly to Jed Silversmith or Todd Unger at Friends of Education.