One Year In: A Progress Report
By Liana Snider | August 15, 2023
2 minute read
Last summer, Junia and I submitted the official documentation for eruka’s incorporation. If you know as little as I did about what it takes to become a nonprofit, there are two main steps: (1) filing with the state to be recognized as an organization and (2) applying for tax exempt status with the IRS.
Given that Junia had already written hundreds of pages outlining the vision, mission, and goals, we breezed through the applications. But then we started waiting…and waiting.
A Long Wait
The IRS had a backlog of applications, so it took months to hear anything. And then the IRS agents had a few questions…or, more literally, over a hundred questions.
The agents recognized we were doing something entirely new. Rather than merely treating the symptoms of injustice, we’re identifying and addressing the deep-seated racism in the system itself. Since it was different, the IRS wanted to make sure our approach matched their requirements.
It took countless rounds of phone calls, expanded descriptions, and rewritten forms to sufficiently answer all their questions. But on July 15th, a simple one-page letter arrived in the snail mail declaring we had been granted tax-exempt status. We were elated!
We can now apply for the grants that will enable us to expand our work.
The Work Thus Far
We have three ongoing projects, each staffed by volunteers.
esearch: Research and Education
As you’ve already seen with our Appraised reports, we are conducting research and producing content to increase awareness of the inequities in the housing and finance industries. Our team is also working on an audio docuseries tracing the creation of these injustices and exploring how we can reform them.
eppraiser: A Revolutionary Appraisal Application
We’ve developed a new appraising approach designed to be equitable across people and places. To implement it, we are developing a mobile application that will identify the quality and condition of properties. For the last year, a team of volunteer professors and students have been helping us create the needed technology.
essessments: Reimagined Property Tax
This summer, our newest team of volunteers began working on developing property tax processes that will be more racially just and environmentally sustainable. We’re currently testing the feasibility and potential consequences of our approach. This fall, we'll will work with county and city officials that have already expressed interest in our new approach to design pilot programs for their jurisdictions.
What’s Next?
Now that we have tax-exempt status, we’re looking for foundations and organizations to partner with our brilliant volunteers to help us make our transformative ideas a reality. Our current needs include:
esearch—site research travel expenses, recording devices, and audio engineering
eppraiser—scanning equipment, application developers, and computer scientists
essessments—parcel data, interactive web tools, and local organizers
If you know a foundation or organization who might be interested in partnering with us, please let us know!
