CFED Competes for $1 Million Sam's Club Grant

Participating in Nationwide Online Voting Campaign to Help 100,000 Low-Income, Self-Employed Americans Start Their Business off Right

WASHINGTON, April 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), a national nonprofit dedicated to expanding economic opportunity, announced today it has been selected to participate in the Sam's Club "Giving Made Simple" campaign, an online voting campaign where Sam's Club Members and associates will determine how the company will allocate $4 million in charitable contributions to eight nonprofit organizations that support programs dedicated to education and small business development. The campaign starts today and concludes on May 2; the winners of the campaign will be announced May 4, 2010.

CFED is pleased to bring one of its most successful programs into the spotlight during tax season, thanks to Giving Made Simple. The program demonstrates that tax preparation is an extremely effective and efficient way to help low-income small business owners get their businesses off on the right foot. Through its nationwide network of local partners, CFED delivers free essential business development and financial services to entrepreneurs while helping them file their taxes properly. CFED, a nationally recognized 30-year veteran of microenterprise and poverty-alleviation strategies, will invest its share of the contribution to expand this program and reach up to 100,000 low-income self-employed business owners.

CFED is competing with three other organizations in the entrepreneurial category.  Giving Made Simple is part of an $18.5 million giving program dedicated to the Sam's Club philanthropic strategy, a core focus area of which is youth education and entrepreneurship.

"We are thrilled to be selected by Sam's Club to participate in Giving Made Simple," said Andrea Levere, President of CFED. "With their contribution, we will be able to help thousands of self-employed Americans build their businesses through training, assistance and tax preparation. In a recessionary economy people turn to self-employment; our mission is to make sure they have the opportunity to start their business right. We're asking all of our friends, family and supporters who are Sam's Club Members to go online and vote for us."

By logging on to samsclub.com/giving, Sam's Club Members and associates can vote for one of the eight participating organizations. They can cast one vote per day for the duration of the campaign, and may vote for the same or a different organization each time. The number of votes will determine which two organizations, one in the education and one in the entrepreneur categories, receive $1 million for first place; $500,000 for second place; and $250,000 for third and fourth place.  Working together, CFED and Sam's Club can make a difference in communities nationwide.

In the past three tax seasons, CFED's Self-Employment Tax Initiative has:

• Awarded grants to 31 organizations in 23 states that collectively have served over 20,000 disadvantaged entrepreneurs.
• Saved these entrepreneurs nearly $6 million in tax preparation fees.
• Helped nearly half (48%) receive the Earned Income Tax Credit, providing over $13.5 million business capital.

With a major award from Sam's Club the impact of this already successful program can increase to reach up to 100,000 entrepreneurs.

"Sam's Club is honored to be working with such dedicated and inspiring organizations," said Brian Cornell, president and CEO at Sam's Club. "Small business is at the heart of our business, and supporting educational programs that promote the entrepreneurial spirit in America's youth is an investment in the communities and people we serve."  

For additional information and regular updates on CFED's participation in Giving Made Simple, visit www.cfed.org/samsclub. You can also follow CFED on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cfednews.  

CFED expands economic opportunity by helping Americans start and grow businesses, go to college, own a home and save for their children's and own economic futures. We identify promising ideas, test and refine them in communities to find out what works, craft policies and products to help good ideas reach scale, and develop partnerships to promote lasting change. We bring together community practice, public policy and private markets in new and effective ways to achieve greater economic impact. Established in 1979 as the Corporation for Enterprise Development, CFED works nationally and internationally through its offices in Washington, DC; Durham, NC; and San Francisco, CA.

SOURCE Corporation for Enterprise Development