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Do you believe that effective government policies can be built on rigorous research and reliable evidence?
Armed with a 34-year track record of producing and communicating practical lessons about what works — and doesn’t work — in education and social programs, MDRC stands out as trusted and objective voice on policies that aim to improve the employment opportunities and life circumstances of low-income Americans. We are committed to the idea that polices and programs aimed at improving the lives of low-income people should be built upon solid evidence, not hunches or anecdotes. To do this, we focus on developing the strongest research methods, applying them with discipline and rigor, and widely disseminating the results of our studies.
Research can make a difference. For instance, MDRC’s studies of state welfare-to-work efforts in the 1980s, which demonstrated that programs could help welfare recipients find jobs while saving money for taxpayers, are widely recognized as influencing the focus of the federal welfare reforms of 1988 and 1996. More recently, the positive results from our studies of earnings supplements for low-wage workers have helped demonstrate that financial incentives can increase both employment and income, making the case for expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and similar programs that supplement the earnings of the working poor.
In education, our research on Career Academies — small high school programs with a career focus — has both demonstrated the lasting earnings effect of the model and encouraged the developers of Career Academies to bolster the model's academic components. Our popular and influential synthesis of research on three high school reform models is offering practical lessons for transforming underperforming high schools. Finally, our 2006 study of a performance-based scholarship for community college students in New Orleans, which showed positive effects on student achievement and retention, has already inspired the replication of the program by the state of Ohio.
Your tax-deductible contribution to MDRC’s General Support Fund will be used to:
- Strengthen and broaden our communication and dissemination efforts;
- Provide seed capital for emerging projects and studies; and
- Allow our staff to provide technical assistance to state and local governments, schools and school districts, and other public service providers dedicated to helping low-income Americans.
General support dollars are the lifeblood of MDRC. These flexible dollars allow MDRC to deepen its connection to practitioners and policymakers and to ensure that our research is being used to improve policies and practice in the field. Your support is crucial to MDRC’s efforts to develop new and innovative ways to reach audiences and stakeholders throughout the country and to ensure that research-based evidence remains at the forefront of emerging policy issues and debates around improving the lives of low-income Americans.
If you are ready to become a supporter of MDRC now,
you may donate by credit card using our secure online
donation form.
Or if you prefer, you may send a check
with a completed donation
form to:
Sarah McNeil
Development and External Affairs Department
MDRC
16 E. 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
You will be sent a receipt by return mail.
Thank you for your interest in MDRC!
Contributions are not refundable. No
information submitted as part of this transaction will
be shared with any third party. Name and contact information
submitted will be retained for internal use by MDRC.
No credit card information is retained once the transaction
is complete.
MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt
organization. A copy of our latest annual report may
be obtained, upon request, from MDRC or from the New
York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau, 120
Broadway, New York, New York 10271 |
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