Copywriting GuideWhat to Say, and What to Avoid

Be careful when you are conveying the benefit of a donors participation. Many who advertise the tax credit will tote overzealous benefits that are imprecise at best, or even outright wrong. Avoid anything that sounds like these:

Wont cost you dime! Free! No cost to you!

It is not free donors still have to give up money in order to make the donation. They either pay it in taxes or they pay it as a donation to an STO. If a donor happens to receive a refund after they donate and file it is because of how they paid their taxes throughout the year (i.e.: they overpaid on their taxes), not just because they donated.

Donate now and get a refund Donate and get your money back

For the same reason as the paragraph above, there is no guarantee that it wont cost the do-nor anything. Because everyones tax situation is different, we cannot guarantee a full credit or refund. Even after donating, depending on how much you donated and how much you pre-paid in taxes throughout the year, you still could owe more to the state.

Everyones situation is different this is perhaps the most difficult part about working with tax credit and taxes; it severely narrows down the amount of specifics we can offer because everyones situation is different and there are very few results we can guarantee. All we can say with confidence is what is allowable by law, and we must leave the rest to the taxpayers discretion and the advice of their accountant/tax advisor/CPA.

Earmark/Designate/Redirect/Channel state tax dollars!

There are many variations of this phrase. None are accurate. It is not redirecting state dollars rather, the government is declining to impose a tax (or, forgoing its right to those taxes, and providing a credit in return) for those who donate. The exact reason why we won in ACSTO v. Winn is because the U.S. Supreme Court determined that tax credit donations are not state dollars. This is not a loophole program that sticks it to the man. This is a benevolent program developed by the state government because they believe that school choice is the best course of action for Arizonas children. When a taxpayer receives a credit on their taxes in return for a donation, the government is declining to impose a certain portion of taxes owed. Source: SCOTUS Syllabus, ACSTO v. Winn, p.9.

In addition, the ultimate destination of a taxpayers donation is not guaranteed, regardless of whether they gave a recommendation or not. This is why we never use the word designate, since it gives the wrong impression.

This is in accordance with the notice that appears on all ACSTO materials, and on our web-site. Notice: A school tuition organization cannot award, restrict, or reserve scholarships only on the basis of a donors recommendation. A.R.S. 43-1603(C)

Each of the words listed above have been singled out in one court case or another by school choice/tax credit opponents to try and discredit the program during the last 13 years of litigation that lasted from 1998 all the way through 2011 in the historic ACSTO v. Winn (though by Gods grace we ultimately prevailed). Consider the words listed above (earmark, designate, redirect, channel) as taboo.

Dont give money to the IRS!

Not only is this wrong for the same reason why saying redirecting is wrong, but the IRS is Federal, while this tax credit is on the state level.

Make Money By Donating!

We have actually seen this in the past. The idea is to claim a state tax credit, then claim a Federal Deduction: which is allowed. However, not only does it sound really bad to say it this way, but it is simply untrue. When you itemize and claim a deduction, it only reduces a small percentage out of your taxable income. If in the instance that taxes owed is reduced to zero because of a deduction, it will not tip the balance into the green to generate a refund. Besides, any refund received by a taxpayer is also taxed as income on the next years taxes. No one is making money off this program.

Bottom Line:

These catch-phrases are meant to reduce the readers anxiety about giving away their money, and we can understand that. The problem however, is these phrases give the wrong impression and are not accurate to how the tax credit works. It may be somewhat inconvenient, but we must take the extra effort to not only make our message sound good, but to make it absolutely accurate. It is a balancing act between two virtues: being relatable and being accurate. The idea is to make sure your donors would feel great about donating and helping in this way, without stretching the truth.

If you have questions about phrasing, copywriting, or wording, please dont hesitate to call our office. We are always available to help. Our office can be reached at 480.820.0403, Monday through Friday from 9-12, and 1-4. Thank you for partnering with us in providing Christian education to Arizona students.