Benefits Data Trust (BDT )

Direct outreach and application assistance:benefits Data Trust (bdt) assists clients with the benefit application and enrollment process through phone-based application assistance and data-driven outreach. Bdt partners with government agencies and cross-sector stakeholders and uses Data to identify individuals who are not currently accessing the critical Benefits and services for which they qualify. Once identified, individuals are connected with trained staff at bdt's contact center, which uses bdt's proprietary software to help clients complete applications for a full suite of Benefits and services at once, eliminating the burden and redundancy of navigating each program separately. This is a grant funded program that is a free service to our clients.beginning in 2020 and continuing through 2023, bdt has grown into a nationally recognized organization in the Benefits access sector. Management & general expenses required to support a more sophisticated structure have also grown from $4.3mm to $8.8m (doubling in size) during that time period. Recognizing the need to support a growing organization, bdt invested in revenue generating staff compensation. Fundraising expenses grew from $700k in 2020 to $2m in 2023, and $800k increase over 2022 expense. The investment in sales/philanthropy resources was designed to increase revenue to support the growing expense structure, to ensure long-term sustainability for bdt programs, and to also diversify the revenue streams into new sectors of technology and ta/consulting. In 2023, the investment in revenue generating resources did not materialize as planned in the final months of 2023 which was the main reason that bdt posted the $8.2m deficit in 2023. Programmatically the contract revenues for direct service & outreach have remained consistent throughout this time period with many contract renewals only affording minimal % revenue increases that did not cover the corresponding % increases in expenses. From 2020 to 2023 this dynamic created negative margin gaps and steadily increased throughout the years, meanwhile philanthropy willing to fund the revenue gap declined. This factor is demonstrated in the direct service & outreach revenue vs. Expenses where the historical 3-year rolling average % of expenses funded for direct service & outreach was approximately 74% from 2018 through 2021. In 2022 and 2023, the % of expenses funded dropped to 51% and 52% respectively, while grants and contributions received for direct service and outreach also declined. Knowing the declining trend in revenues, management also reduced expenses of over $2m from 2022 to 2023, but the reduction of costs still left a large gap. In 2023 cash reserves were used to sustain operations of the direct service & outreach program.

Technical assistance:bdt provides policy and practice assistance to states nationwide to help them streamline Benefits access. The organization helps state agencies explore, apply for, and operationalize the collection of waivers, state options, and process improvements available, including data-matching, cross-program enrollment coordination, data-driven outreach, and application simplification. Bdt's policy work also includes dissemination of effective policies and practices through reports, issue briefs, playbooks, and webinars.though considered a key strategic direction and future focus for bdt as well as much needed improvements in policy related to the Benefits sector as a whole, the investments made by bdt in ta/consulting expenses were not fully supported by year over year consistent revenue streams, nor philanthropy. From 2020 through 2023 bdt invested $6.5m in expenditures in the ta/consulting business line, with only 42% funded by program revenues. The programmatic revenues combined with the grant/contribution income did not fully support the expense structure necessary to perform this important work in the Benefits access sector. In 2023 cash reserves were used to sustain operations of the ta/consulting program.

Data and technology:bdt uses Data and technology to design solutions that improve access to essential Benefits and services. Bdt analyzes Data to better connect those in need to public Benefits that they are eligible for and builds integrated technology solutions that connect clients to services for key partners and/or geographies. By building technology solutions that ensure a smooth application and enrollment process, bdt is reducing the number of barriers faced by those in need when applying for assistance.noting the decline in the % of funded direct service & outreach program expenses (see note above), bdt management recognized that the core direct service & outreach business line needed to be reinvented. A visionary plan was implemented with the goals to enhance direct service offerings with technology and compliment the offerings with meaningful policy change. This is demonstrated by the increase in expenses over the past 4 years. Leveraging the unrestricted mackenzie scott gift from 2022, in 2023 bdt continued to invest capital in both ta/consulting and technology focused staff and resources. The year-over-year increases in ta/consulting and Data and technology were $1.4m and $1.6m respectively. More specifically, Data and technology investments focus on the ability to scale operations with the goal to be more efficient and effective, thereby reducing the expenses necessary to sustain, and eventually increase, the number of benefit eligible people bdt helps. Throughout 2023 bdt's vision to pivot operations and diversify its revenue streams through technology enhancements and ta/consulting services required continued investment in those strategies. Technology engineering and development are expensive and were largely underfunded from 2020 through 2023 with cumulative deficits totaling $9.8m. However, in 2023 philanthropic interest in Data and technology work peaked and a significant increase in program service revenue from 2022-2023 was realized. In 2023 cash reserves were used to supplement funding gap of the operations related to the Data and technology program.