Seattle’s One-Stop-Shop Benefits Portal Named One of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025

CiviForm has received over 50,000 applications for City benefit and discount programs to connect families with everything from fresh food and childcare to transit passes and home repairs 

Seattle – This fall, the City of Seattle’s CiviForm platform was named one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025 and also reached the major milestone of over 50,000 applications for benefit and discount programs. The CiviForm platform was developed by the City of Seattle in collaboration with Exygy, Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org, and community organizations. It allows residents to re-use their information to apply for multiple programs at once, making it faster and easier for people to access resources. Following Seattle’s lead, the platform has since been adopted by the cities of Bloomington, Indiana and Charlotte, North Carolina, and the state of Arkansas, a reflection of innovation and convenience the tool brings to connecting residents with benefits and programs.  

“Making Seattle more affordable for everyone is a top priority for my administration, and the CiviForm portal is a key part of our strategy to deliver tangible savings for our residents. Reaching 50,000 applications on top of this national recognition shows we are effectively breaking down barriers to access critical City programs, helping families save time and money,” said Mayor Harrell. “This tool exemplifies our commitment to good governance and innovative public service, creating a model of success that is now being adopted by other jurisdictions across the nation. We will continue to build on this progress, ensuring our government works efficiently and effectively for the people it serves.” 

CiviForm has helped thousands of Seattle residents save money with City discount and benefit programs. By the numbers:  

• The City has received over 19,000 benefit and discount applications this year alone, making 2025 the platform’s biggest year so far, even with two months left to go. 

• Completing an application on CiviForm takes an average of 7 minutes, down from 30 minutes before the tool launched.  

• Qualifying households could save up to $65,000 through programs available on CiviForm, including saving up to $3,300 on childcare, $13,000 on the Seattle Preschool Program, and up to $24,000 on home repair.  

“We heard directly from residents and the community-based organizations who serve them how frustrating it is to give the same information over and over again in different places when applying for benefits,” said Leah Tivoli, Seattle Innovation & Performance Director. “That’s why we started working together across government, non-profits, and tech, including Google.org and Exygy, to create an integrated system designed for and with the people we serve. I am incredibly proud of how far CiviForm has come, and I hope that what we’ve achieved in Seattle continues to inspire even more jurisdictions to join in on this game-changing open-source tool.”  

One key goal of the Affordable Seattle program is to ensure that residents have equitable access to public benefits and discounts. Information and applications on the platform are translated into seven languages in addition to English, and earlier this year, the City ran a multi-lingual marketing campaign which quadrupled website visits. Almost 15% of applications were submitted by residents who prefer a language other than English. CiviForm also launched a new user interface in June that exceeds the highest level of federal accessibility requirements and is expected to make it even faster and easier to apply. 

This year, all City departments that administer benefit and discount programs signed onto a data sharing agreement. This is a huge milestone for CiviForm because this means that 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. 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. 

One of the City’s most popular benefit programs is Fresh Bucks, which helps low-income residents afford fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and other local retailers. A Fresh Bucks waitlist launched on CiviForm in March 2025, and over 4,000 people have applied so far. To meet this significant demand, Mayor Harrell’s proposed budget nearly doubles Seattle’s Fresh Bucks investments by adding an additional $6 million to the program. 

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 

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 Emergency Rental Assistance and Economic Displacement Relocation Assistance. This expansion will make it possible for residents to access more life-changing resources in one place. 

If you or someone you know lives in Seattle and could benefit from programs like free preschool, discounted recreation programs, or home repair, check out seattle.gov/affordable and find out how much you could save in just two minutes. 

What People are Saying 

Rob Lloyd, City of Seattle Information Technology Director

“CiviForm shows what’s possible when we build technology around people and with purpose. It turns complexity into connection, access, and equity by linking residents to benefits they need. Reaching 50,000 applications isn’t just scale, it’s trust and collaboration made real. In that it now helps over eight million people beyond Seattle, it reflects what’s possible when partnership guides innovation. Google.org, Exygy, and the Seattle should be proud of this impact.” 

Zach Berke, Exygy Chief Strategy Officer and Founder 

​“Working with Seattle has been a shining example of how successful government partnerships can open the door to innovative solutions that positively impact real people. We're so incredibly proud of the work that Settle has accomplished with CiviForm and how it has paved the way for other governments like Arkansas, Bloomington, Indiana, and the City of Charlotte. They are pushing the whole benefits ecosystem forward, which ultimately means more critical services for those who need them most.” 

Jen Carter, Global Head of Technology, Google.org 

"The City of Seattle has been a true pioneer in civic technology. We are incredibly proud of the work our Google.org Fellows did with the city and Exygy to develop CiviForm – a tool that is now being used across the country and was recently recognized by TIME as a best-in-class invention. This 50,000-application milestone is a testament to Seattle's leadership and unwavering commitment to making government work better for everyone." 

Kerry, North Helpline: 

"CiviForm is a great platform. I use it a lot to help SHA [Seattle Housing Authority] residents to apply or replace their transit pass and homeowners to apply to the weatherization program. It has a lot of potential once more programs are connected to it, especially the utility discount program."