From cutting application times by 80% to an ad campaign that quadrupled website visits, Seattle is making great strides to transform how residents apply for benefits and discounts. At the heart of this effort is CiviForm, a one-stop-shop portal makes applying for multiple benefit programs simpler, faster, and more accessible for all.

What is CiviForm?

CiviForm is an open-source portal designed to make accessing City benefits and discounts faster, easier, and more inclusive. Residents can re-use their information to apply for multiple programs, saving time and effort. Developed with input from community organizations who serve low-income people, CiviForm considers the unique needs of Seattle residents, such as limited internet access or language barriers.

CiviForm’s Key Features

• One-Stop-Shop: Instead of hunting for benefit and discount programs one by one, users can visit Seattle’s centralized Assistance and Discounts site to quickly find out what they qualify for and apply.
• Savings in Time and Money: Applications now take an average of six minutes, down from 30 minutes. Qualifying households can save up to $25,200 per year across available programs.
• Built for Everyone: Caseworkers at trusted community organizations can apply on behalf of clients, ensuring assistance reaches those who might not otherwise apply on their own.
• Open Source: CiviForm was designed to be a free product that any government could adopt to improve resident access to needed benefits. The City of Bloomington, Indiana, the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, and the State of Arkansas have all adopted the platform.

Recent Accomplishments

Two years ago, Mayor Bruce Harrell expanded the Affordable Seattle program by issuing an executive order directing all City benefit and discount programs to migrate onto the platform. Here is some of the Affordable Seattle team’s progress over the last year:

Expanding Access to Benefits

So far in 2025, the city has onboarded 5 more programs onto CiviForm, including:

• Home Repair Loan Program
• Fresh Bucks Waitlist Application  
• Astound Internet First
• Free Toilets for Low Income Homeowners
• 2025 Trees for Neighborhoods

Improved and Accessible Interface

CiviForm launched a new user interface on June 11, 2025. The new UI is a complete overhaul of the previous experience. The design is based on US Web Design Standards and exceeds the highest level of federal accessibility requirements.

The new UI is also expected to make it even faster to apply, improve the accuracy of the information submitted, and reduce the administrative burden required to process applications for City staff.

Bridging Digital and Language Gaps

A new digital marketing effort has also driven a big uptick in benefit applications. A recent multi-lingual ad campaign generated over 1.1 million ad impressions, resulting in thousands of clicks from Spanish and Chinese speakers and quadrupling website visits.

This helped make March and April 2025 the biggest months for benefit applications since the platform launched in 2021: there were 5,149 applications submitted in March and 2,559 applications in April. Affordable Seattle’s focus on reaching people in their preferred language makes benefits more accessible for all residents.

Reducing Administrative Burden for Residents

Last month, City departments that administer benefit and discount programs signed onto a data sharing agreement. When a resident provides proof of eligibility for one program, other City programs will be able to use that same information to approve a resident for other programs they qualify for. This saves time for residents who won’t need to re-submit the same documents, and it makes work more efficient for City staff as well.

Sharing Knowledge at the Code for America Summit

Seattle’s work towards equitable benefits access was recently featured at the Code for America Summit in Washington DC. Matthew Sprenke, part of the Affordable Seattle team, spoke on a panel titled “Integrated service delivery insights from a government led software collaborative.” Matt shared how beyond building a benefit hub, getting applications onto CiviForm has been an opportunity to change the way we qualify applicants. Streamlining requirements across applications reduces administrative burden and removes unnecessary barriers for applicants. Ultimately, it’s not as simple as providing a benefit; it’s key to provide a benefit in a timely manner to interrupt a potential poverty crisis that can spiral.

Matt presented alongside Megan Hussey from the City of Charlotte and Jeremy Herhusky-Schneider from the City of Bloomington, with the panel moderated by Hannah Rachael Smith, Director of Growth at Exygy.

What’s Next for CiviForm?

In the next year, the City aims to onboard three key programs onto CiviForm: the Utility Discount Program, Emergency Bill Pay programs for utility services, and the Emergency Rental Assistance and Economic Displacement Relocation Assistance program. This expansion will make it possible for residents to access more life-changing resources in one place.

Apply for Benefits and Learn More

If you or someone you know lives in Seattle and could benefit from programs like free preschool, discounted recreation programs, or transit passes, check out seattle.gov/affordable to see what benefits you may qualify for.