April 29 - May 1, 2015

Partnerships to Fight Poverty and Improve Opportunities for All – Workplace Engagement

Agenda

• Introduction

• Why Workplace Engagement

• Program Design/Lessons Learned

• Impact and Evaluation

• Next Steps

• Q & A

• UW-led Community Coalition with 70+ partners

• Twelve (12) Years Young

• Six (6) full-time staff & primarily grant-funded

• Core Services

• Tax Prep (VITA & AARP) – 20,000 returns filed annually

• Financial Literacy – Approx. 10,000 participant hours annually

• Integrated Service Delivery – RealSense Prosperity Place

• Began employer-based Tax Prep & Financial Workshops 6 years ago

Why Workplace Engagement?

• Wanted to reach target audience

• CBO workshops had low-turnout

• ALICE was underserved

• Connect CI more intentionally/strategically with RD

• Year-long engagement vs. campaign only

• Deeper connection with workplace donors

• Greater ability to promote CI agenda

• Enhanced volunteer recruitment capabilities

Program Design/Lessons Learned

• Empower employers to take lead and offer options (be flexible)

• Get the right facilitators on board up front

• Relatively inexpensive model

• Evaluation is critical to sustainability and promotion

• Workplace participants can differ from community workshop participants

• Corporate connections are great, but don’t forget the non-profit community

• Make workshops engaging and fun (as much as humanly possible)

• Providing lunch makes people happy…and more likely to attend!

Impact

Outputs

•Tax Prep (2015) – Ten employers – most also provided workshops

•Financial Workshops (2014-2015) - 56 Employers hosted 99 workshops to 1,359 employees

• Most employers hosted at least 3 workshops

Participant Profile – Day of Class

•98% had checking and 90% had savings accounts

•60% checked credit during previous 12 months

•Only 51% had a written budget

•Only 36% had paid all bills on time during previous six months

•Generally less satisfied with current financial condition than average American

Evaluation

Methodology – Ulrich Research Services, Inc.

Behavioral Changes – 72% of participants achieved a positive outcome in at least one of the following measures

•41% did not have a budget on the day-of-class, but said they had a written budget in the follow-up survey.

•21% had not checked their credit report on the day-of-class survey, but said they had done so on the follow-up survey.

•18% reported having overdraft fees in the 6 months prior to the day-of-class survey, and reported none in the follow-up survey.

•15% reported increased or stable debt on the day-of-class survey, and reported decreased debt on the follow-up survey.

•10% did not have a savings account on the day-of-class survey, but had obtained one by the follow-up survey.

Next Steps

• Seeking support/partnerships to allow expansion to rural communities

• Planning to broaden service options to include financial counseling and coaching

• Explore targeted delivery options around campaign

• Host Center for Excellence in Jacksonville in November 2015

• Please Join Us!

Average Temperature in November •High – 74º•Low - 51º