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NEFE 2024
Our goal is simple - better understand the financial ecosystem and improve it.
Effecting wide-spread change is an overwhelming principle when the problem and resources are disproportionate. Helping all Americans increase their financial well-being is an enormous, complex challenge. We are one of many organizations working on solutions to this challenge and understand our responsibility to evolve as needs transform.
We've provided financial education for nearly 40 years.
As one of the first organizations to wholly dedicate its efforts to delivering free, quality financial education, NEFE continues to embrace and contribute to best practices in research, programs and evaluation.
Strategic Plan Highlights
Evaluating Progress
All strategic plans should include progressive goals — here are ours.
NEFE executes innovative initiatives and takes bold stances.
State of play:
NEFE has a unique opportunity—and responsibility—to provide a bold voice within the financial well-being movement, because we are not driven by the agenda of donors, politicians or commercial interests. Instead, as an independently funded foundation, we can pursue theories and interventions based on their suitability and success instead of their legacies or popularity. This has always been our approach, but going forward we want to be even more intentional, and enhance our ability and reputation to do so.
What you can expect from us:
- NEFE is redefining financial education, differentiating it from financial information and showing its place within the financial well-being landscape.
- NEFE is amplifying its voice as a champion of financial education, including discussing its limitations, by pursuing op-ed pieces in national media and publishing its own articles.
- NEFE will continue to clearly and emphatically communicate the factors that make financial education effective.
NEFE creates and supports spaces for the field to explore, debate and discuss critical issues and research.
State of play:
NEFE’s core activities have always included originating and participating in collaborative activities. In addition to convenings driven by experts, NEFE develops its research agenda with input from academics, practitioners and policymakers, and contributes its expertise to development of the research agendas of other funders and academic centers.
What you can expect from us:
- NEFE will expand its research efforts to include a robust directed research agenda, beyond its open grant cycles.
- NEFE will work to grow the number of researchers pursuing a research agenda that includes financial education topics.
- NEFE will continue to host, sponsor or partner on convenings that bring together diverse voices from within and outside the field.
Educators, administrators and media know and trust NEFE to be a research and programmatic authority related to building personal financial well-being.
State of play:
Although NEFE is self-funded, which allows us to offer all curricula and resources at no charge, we build, test, evaluate and revise them rigorously. Educational and behavioral change theories are tested for validity through research and practice, so that the guidance we offer originates from proven results. We strive to build our authority on failures as well as successes so that we can speak authentically and transparently about what works and what doesn’t in building financial well-being.
What you can expect from us:
- NEFE will place new focus on sharing our expertise in program design, delivery and evaluation.
- NEFE will engage with individuals from nonprofits and foundations for a collaborative sharing of operational best practices.
- NEFE initiatives will exemplify a new level of strategic thoughtfulness in their design and evidence of impact and lessons learned will be shared more broadly with others.
NEFE demonstrates operational excellence as a nonprofit and foundation, executes exemplary initiatives, and is an expert in best practices for design, administration and evaluation of educational programming.
State of play:
NEFE invests heavily in the training and professional development of its staff to maintain and improve excellence in all aspect of programming and operations. NEFE also stays current with the latest research findings so that it can improve its educational offerings by incorporating proven outcomes into its curricula and resources. Sharing expertise, research and experience is the most efficient path to better outcomes. We will learn from others and freely share what we have learned.
What you can expect from us:
- NEFE will place new focus on sharing our expertise in program design, delivery and evaluation.
- NEFE will engage with individuals from nonprofits and foundations for a collaborative sharing of operational best practices.
- NEFE initiatives will exemplify a new level of strategic thoughtfulness in their design and evidence of impact and lessons learned will be shared more broadly with others.
NEFE takes an intentional and reflective approach to accountability, and continuous improvement is the norm.
State of play:
NEFE has a culture of adaptive and thoughtful evolution, both in our work and how our organization functions. We constantly strive to improve our effectiveness and efficiency through integrating new information on best practices and monitoring actual outcomes against expectations. Our willingness to share our impact is important to the advancement of the field.
What you can expect from us:
- NEFE will work to quantify its impact in the field and will publish that information.
- NEFE is taking a critical eye to all internal processes, policies and practices with the aim of capitalizing on efficiencies, leveraging staff talents and sustainably allocating our resources.
Our Commitment
NEFE will continue to evolve operationally and in how we best serve our field. We also will share our progress with you regularly. What good is a plan without accountability? While we cannot say yes to every idea that has merit, we will endeavor to help financial well-being advocates thrive. NEFE seeks to be a catalyst for growth, impact and change for our field. Every person deserves opportunity to increase their financial well-being. We believe our strategic goals will help us increase momentum for positive transformation.