Action Without Borders/Idealist.org
How can a young professional who is just starting out make it in the nonprofit sector?
The National Endowment for Financial Education® and Action Without Borders have put together a 64-page guide that can help young idealists figure out how to live comfortably and secure their own financial future while working for a nonprofit organization.
Making a Difference: A Guide to Personal Profit in a Nonprofit World provided practical information, charts, checklists, and exercises to help them navigate such topics as loan repayment and consolidation, salaries, employee benefits, cost of living, relocation, saving and spending, and investment and retirement.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
NEFE, as part of the first national effort to establish a financial planning program for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (B&GCA), produced a 56-page guidebook that provided teenagers with realistic financial information. Financial Skills for Life: A Money Management Program for Boys & Girls Club Teens focused on helping teens develop the skills to achieve their financial goals.
The guide presented basic financial topics—such as budgeting, saving, and investing—in an engaging way that teens can understand. Incorporating messages of personal responsibility, the booklet encouraged teens to take charge of their finances and make the most of each paycheck.
NEFE printed 200,000 copies of the guidebook for participants in the Keystone Club programs and Teens Supreme Centers, which serve 14- to 18-year-olds.
Camp Fire USA
Youth in Camp Fire programs can explore their financial goals and attitudes toward money with Money Management for Teens, a booklet about personal finance produced by Camp Fire USA and NEFE.
The booklet, which targeted students in middle school and the first two years of high school, educated teens about the basics of personal finance, including income, budgeting, saving, and spending. It also enabled youth to explore how money can provide independence and freedom.
Center for Youth as Resources
Youth have a lot to offer—especially when it comes to giving back to the community.
The Center for Youth as Resources (CYAR) and the National Endowment for Financial Education harnessed that notion in a booklet titled Making the Change for the Better: The Importance of Youth Giving.
This guide taught youth to boost their financial savvy for personal and philanthropic purposes by using the power of time, resourcefulness, and commitment. Young adults learn about money and goals, how to make good choices, and how to make their money grow. They also find out the importance of “owning” community improvements through their donations and good deeds.
The book emphasized the importance of education and the benefits of meeting both financial and educational goals. Part One explained the financial obligations of the Children’s Scholarship Fund’s scholarship recipients' families and described how to break savings goals into weekly or daily contributions. Part Two featured full-page worksheets that helped parents create a family spending plan and identify "spending leaks."
Part Three explained how to organize and store important financial papers. Part Four consisted of tips on saving money. Part Five suggested ways to increase household income and avoid moneymaking scams.
Every year, approximately 1,000 young people from diverse backgrounds enter the City Year corps to spend 10 months in full-time service to communities in major American cities. Many of those in the corps are living independently for the first time—and handling their own money for the first time. To help corps members learn positive financial habits, NEFE worked with City Year to develop a guide to money management entitled Personal Financial Management: A Foundation for a Lifetime of Service.
The 56-page booklet was designed to encourage corps members to act as mentors to other young people, sharing their new financial insights. The booklet guided corps members in developing a spending plan, controlling expenses, preparing tax information, achieving their financial goals, starting a savings plan, and handling debt. Copies of the booklet were distributed through City Year's sites in 13 cities across the United States.
College Access Network
College Access Network (formerly the Colorado Student Loan Program) and NEFE have partnered on a three-phase Internet project aimed at creating an interactive personal financial literacy curriculum for student loan recipients in default or at risk of going into default.
The project addressed the psychological aspects of financial literacy, integrating “head matters” with those of the heart. It included seven modules on such topics as careers, school, and the importance of finishing school; saving; spending; and investing. A testing component also was incorporated.
College Summit
To encourage low-income and academically mid-tier students to enroll and stay in college, the National Endowment for Financial Education teamed up with College Summit to provide Your Future, Your Education, Your Money.
This national online financial education program covered financial aid, budgeting, and other financial planning issues of concern to youth involved with the College Summit program.
Daniels Fund
College life can be hectic, exciting, and a bit crazy. To help Daniels Fund scholars stay on track with their studies, manage campus life, and keep track of their finances, NEFE teamed up with the Daniels Fund to develop a Web site titled College Life for Daniels Scholars.
In five information-packed sections, the Web site tackled key college topics, including choosing a major, arranging schedules, managing time and school work, living with roommates, joining student organizations, eating well and staying healthy, working on and off campus, and more. The Web site is accessible at http://nefe.danielsfund.org/college_life/index.html.
Credit for College: Tools for Managing Your Money was a comprehensive, easy-to-read guide to money management for high school students looking ahead to college. The booklet's material was presented in sections, covering everything from career planning to budgeting. The final pages of the booklet featured "My Handy College Checklist," a list of annual goals for students in grades nine through 12. For additional information, consult the EDFUND Web site at www.edfund.org.
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America
For more than 60 years, Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) has worked with students and communities to enhance their understanding of money, finances, and societal responsibilities. To celebrate that achievement, FCCLA teamed up with NEFE to provide 60 Ways to Serve Your Community Using Financial Fitness.
FCCLA and Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) programs teach students the cognitive, creative, and financial skills they need to live productively, ethically, and responsibly. The 64-page booklet listed 60 volunteer projects on banking basics, cash control, making money, consumer clout, and financing the future that students can complete for their schools, friends, family, and communities.
Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.
Girl Scouts Money Smarts: A Personal Finance Project Resource Guide for Cadet and Senior Girl Scouts and Leaders was an activity-based book designed to foster interest in and comfort with financial language and concepts. Included in the book were 19 learning activities that could be tied to a number of Cadet and Senior Girl Scout interest projects, as well as the Cadet Girl Scout Silver Award and the Senior Girl Scout Gold Award. The learning activities were focused on developing lifelong skills in personal finance, such as creating a budget, starting a business, exploring the stock market, and budgeting for travel or troop activities. The Girl Scouts of the USA distributed this book, a first-of-a-kind effort, to its 324 Girl Scout Councils nationwide.
Joint Action in Community Service, Inc. (JACS) enlisted NEFE to develop specialized material to help the young men leaving the Job Corps training become financially independent. The result was Surviving and Thriving, a 62-page handbook that explained nitty-gritty money matters, from paying bills on time to establishing good credit. The booklet described the financial rules for establishing and maintaining a household and offered insight on common problems like overspending and failing to plan for the future.
JACS, whose volunteers work with more than 30,000 "at risk" youth annually, distributed the booklet through its 10 regional offices. A related online mentoring guide was posted on the JACS Web site.
Learning to Give
Finances and philanthropy are the focus of Philanthropic Financial Education for Youth and Parents, an Internet-based project developed by Learning to Give and the National Endowment for Financial Education. The project also featured a classroom poster.
Aimed at students and their teachers and parents, the program provided insight about the nonprofit world, giving back by volunteering, and the importance of charitable contributions. Youth also learned how building personal financial stability plays a role in donating time, talent, and money for the benefit of the community.
National Collaboration for Youth
Personal Financial Mentoring: A Guide for Youth Development Workers, prepared jointly by NEFE and The National Collaboration for Youth, was a booklet designed to help youth handle their financial futures with independence and confidence. Serving as a mentoring tool for youth development workers or volunteers, the 48-page booklet covered basic financial skills, such as saving, spending, and budgeting, that help young people understand and manage money in today's complex world.
The booklets were being distributed to all the member organizations of The National Collaboration for Youth, including the American Red Cross, Girl Scouts of the USA, United Way of America, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
NEFE and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) joined forces to combat a growing financial problem among young college athletes: sports betting (strictly prohibited by the NCAA bylaws).
Don't Bet On It, Put Your Money on a Real Winner: Yourself, a 24-page publication, addressed the numerous financial repercussions faced by college athletes who gamble, and clearly outlined the risks involved for those who bet on sports or gave information to anyone who places bets. Consequences could include expulsion from school, financial ruin, or even jail. The publication taught college athletes how to manage money appropriately so they could avoid both the need and the temptation to gamble and included a spending and savings plan worksheet, tips on how to avoid credit card debt, and ways to cut unneeded expenses.
NEFE printed 350,000 copies of the Don't Bet On It booklet, which were distributed to colleges and universities throughout the nation. For additional information, visit the NCAA Web site at www.ncaa.org.
National Council for Community and Education Partnerships
Teens who know the language of money—how to earn it, save it, and spend it wisely—are more likely to grow into financially responsible adults. That’s why the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) and the National Endowment for Financial Education designed www.edpartnerships.org for young adults.
This Web site made learning the foundations of financial literacy fun through a series of quizzes, tips, and interactive exercises. Financial topics for youth, teachers, and parents are just a click away and cover doubling your money with the Rule of 72, paying yourself first, setting attainable goals, and paying for higher education.
National Youth Employment Coalition
The better young people become at managing their finances, the more likely they are to reach their goals. That’s why the National Youth Education Coalition (NYEC) and NEFE developed Get Paid and Stay Paid, a Web site designed to teach youth about money.
With information about managing paychecks, spending, saving, paying taxes, and more, the Web site encouraged young people to explore their feelings about money, where it goes, and the role it plays in their lives, work, and leisure. It also provided teens with important tips, tools, and resources for stretching the money they have, getting out of debt, and being prepared for emergencies.
ScholarShop
To help new and future college students with the increased financial responsibilities they face, NEFE partnered with ScholarShop, a program of the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America (CSFA), to develop and produce a special financial handbook: 40 Money Management Tips Every College Freshman Should Know.
The 54-page booklet was a straightforward guide to taking control of one's personal finances, geared to the specific needs and perspectives of students. Tips were grouped into subject areas, which include financial aid, jobs, cutting expenses, and credit and debt. Each tip was supplemented by a step-by-step explanation of how to implement it. The booklet also featured a Monthly Income Worksheet and Monthly Expenses Worksheet, which could be copied and used each month to track finances.
Ventures in Education/Ventures Scholars Program
The Ventures Scholars Program, sponsored by Ventures in Education, provides high-achieving students from historically underrepresented groups with recognition, information, and resources to increase their chances of entering math- and science-based careers.
To reach as many Ventures Scholars as possible with personal financial information, the Ventures Scholars Program and NEFE created an online tool featuring information about budgets and savings plans, deciphering paychecks, savings and checking accounts, credit, wants versus needs, and careers so visitors could create a personal financial action plan for use in college and beyond.
Washington State Department of Financial Institutions
Recognizing that college students are in an ideal position to start mapping out their financial future, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) and NEFE joined forces to publish Right on the Money: Financial Know-How for College Students.
In between studying, taking exams, and writing papers, college students could use the booklet to begin setting and planning how to meet life goals, such as funding graduate school, buying a house, or taking a vacation. The booklet offered lessons on defining personal values, banking, budgeting, finding financial aid, curbing spending, establishing a credit history, and handling identity theft.
Young Americans Education Foundation
The National Endowment and the Young Americans Education Foundation partnered on a project to bring personal finance information to more than 24,000 children and teen-agers throughout the nation. A set of four handouts, tailored to educate today's youth on the responsibility of earning money, was created by NEFE for the Young Americans Bank.
Each of the educational pieces discussed a different aspect of personal finance, offering practical tips about the importance of saving, the responsible use of credit, how to better manage money, and ways to achieve career dreams. The handouts emphasized that money should not be used only to accumulate a large number of possessions; they encouraged young people to focus their energy on personal growth and invest in their dreams and future.
The educational pieces were distributed to all Young Americans Bank customers.
Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA)
The www.ywca.organd the National Endowment combined their resources to create a financial education guide designed for young women embarking upon college and a career. The 49-page booklet, Mind Over Money: A Guide for Young Women, covered topics including how to obtain financial aid, establish good credit, search for careers, use campus services, save, invest, and more.
Toward its objective of empowering women and girls to reach their fullest potential, the YWCA distributed 25,000 copies of the money management guide to YWCAs nationwide, as well as to 14 student associations.
In collaboration with YouthBuild, NEFE developed a 68-page booklet for their program participants. Building Your Money Skills…Taking Charge of Your Future was a specially designed, easy-to-read primer on understanding, making, and saving money. Content of the booklet was largely based on the results of a focus group, consisting of YouthBuild teachers, alumni council, job developers, counselors, and education consultants.
YouthBuild distributed copies of Building Your Money Skills...Taking Charge of Your Future through its headquarters and regional offices.
Youth Service America/State Farm Companies Foundation
Young leaders who serve in an advisory capacity or on boards of nonprofit organizations are in a unique position to do good for themselves, their families, and communities. That’s why Youth Service America, State Farm Companies Foundation, and NEFE collaborated on Service, Leadership, and Money: Financial Management Guide for Youth Decision-Makers, a 54-page booklet that blended personal and nonprofit financial management concepts.
The goal was to teach young people to become better money managers so that they in turn can help the nonprofit organizations they serve enhance their finances. The booklet presented financial concepts, including setting goals, creating budgets and spending plans, paying taxes, saving, and managing debt within personal and organizational contexts. It also discussed ethics at personal and organizational levels.
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