Bank On Your Character Campaign Book by Allen Baclig

financial literacy campaign

Created by:

chAPMAn uniVErSitY bAtEMAn tEAM i

AllEn bAclig, briAnnA donAth, kriStEn EntringEr, collEEn EVAnS, SAbrinA oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;donnEll i

tAblE of contEntS

Created by:

chAPMAn uniVErSitY bAtEMAn tEAM i AllEn bAclig, dirEctor of PlAnning briAnnA donAth, dirEctor of rESEArch kriStEn EntringEr, crEAtiVE dirEctor collEEn EVAnS, dirEctor of iMPlEMEntAtion SAbrinA o’donnEll, dirEctor of writing Faculty Advisor: joAn glAdStonE, APr, fEllow PrSA, ASSt. ProfESSor of Public rElAtionS & AdVErtiSing, chAPMAn uniVErSitY

Professional Advisor: jEff gilliS, chiEf StrAtEgY officEr, nAtion’S dirEct MortgAgE

EXEcutiVE SuMMArY

SITUATION ANALYSIS

RESEARCH

TARGET AUDIENCES

KEY MESSAGES & THEMES

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

STRATEGIES & TACTICS

EVALUATION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY introduction The general perception of the Orange County, Calif. woman does not include Veronica. After spending years in foster care, she found it difficult to identify with a role model or learn basic skills that others often take for granted. Despite her bright attitude and potential for success, she had no resources, support or guidance upon being emancipated from foster care at age 18. Here in Orange County, a region with more than three million residents, there are many women facing challenges similar to Veronica’s. These women systematically slip through the cracks due to their low income, lifestyles or unexpected challenges that set them apart from the primarily affluent county population. Even the Orange County organizations designed to assist these women do not always have adequate resources to meet their specific needs, such as unexpected pregnancy, job loss, substance abuse or lack of education. Working with Ally Financial to address the need for financial literacy was a great opportunity for our team to respond to the needs of under-served women in Orange County. We identified four key audiences: young mothers, female high school students, women living in transitional housing and women recovering from substance abuse. To reach these key audiences, we partnered with local nonprofit organizations. We offered training sessions at the Santa Ana Library, YWCA of Central Orange County First Steps Program— Beverly’s House, the Sure Haven sober living program, the American Red Cross of Orange County, and Valley Vista Continuation High School. We also worked with financial experts within the community to help us better understand the needs of our audience and enhance the campaign’s credibility. With the help of these experts, we built value and credibility for the Bank On Your Character campaign by creating videos and communication tools that Ally could use for further outreach. 1

Paired with the urgent and obvious need to close financial gaps in Orange County, our identified target audiences often lack the knowledge and skills required to successfully face financial challenges. Budgeting and credit can affect other aspects of these women’s lives, from renting an apartment to obtaining gainful employment, all of which is included in the concept of character. Character is an essential part of not only financial responsibility, but it is also a person’s morals, qualities and behavior. Character, with its many facets, was the spark for our campaign. Chapman University Bateman Team I saw an opportunity to develop our grassroots financial literacy campaign with the theme Bank On Your Character. By connecting with our audiences on a personal level and using Ally Financial’s curriculum, we empowered women to have confidence in their character and the skills to plan for their financial futures.

“

Our customers are at the heart of

everything we do. Whether talking to each other or our customers,

we believe in saying what we mean

”

and meaning what we say. —ally financial

Realizing that Ally’s fundamental brand concept is that a bank should create a personal partnership with customers, we developed Bank On Your Character to embody the company’s personalized approach to finances. We brought our presentations to environments where the women already felt comfortable. This developed a level of trust that allowed us to engage in a dialogue at each session, understand which financial issues each group needed to discuss most and customize each presentation to fit each

group of women. With our grassroots campaign, we showed women in Orange County that they could trust themselves to handle their own finances.

Situation Analysis A Look at Financial Literacy and Our Campaign The recent financial crisis in the U.S. has made it difficult for many Americans to prove their character as their credit was severely damaged. Where borrowing on credit used to be the norm, families now struggle to pay for daily necessities. With lower average incomes, women are finding it especially challenging to find the funds necessary to support themselves and their dependents. Nationwide, nearly half (47 percent) of single women report having trouble meeting their basic living expenses (Pew Research Center, 2007). A lack of financial literacy stands as one of the obstacles hindering many Americans on the road to financial recovery. Those just leaving home to begin their own families in an unwelcoming economic climate may not have the skills to save up for basics such as affordable housing and transportation. Research conducted by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy shows that about three in four workers do not understand how much money they must save for a comfortable retirement, and only half are able to correctly answer two basic questions about interest rates and inflation. The re-working of the overextended California tax system has hit Californians hard regardless of their socioeconomic status. Financial expert Meredith Whitney has ranked California as being the state in the worst financial condition in the nation, while Bloomberg. com reports that the state of California faces an estimated $28 billion budget deficit through June 2012. With Bureau of Labor Statistics currently placing the California unemployment rate at 12.4 percent, the individual Californian now faces harsh new tax increases. According to the San Jose Mercury News,

residents have recently seen increases in retail tax, personal income tax and vehicle licensing fees as well as a reduction of the state’s child tax credit to $99 from $309. Many Californians are experiencing a serious decline in income while contributing large amounts of taxes they cannot afford to pay. Orange County has had a unique local translation of this crisis. As part of a state that is currently experiencing a complete financial overhaul, Orange County has not only fallen victim to the general economic issues facing the U.S., it has also faced a record number of home foreclosures. There were 20,513 foreclosed homes and 3,527 new foreclosure filings in July 2010 (Realty Trac). With the clear stratification of various income levels, repercussions of the economic downturn have varied from lessening some families’ disposable income to pushing others into poverty or homelessness. Although Orange County was in the highest income bracket for the state with a median household income of $73,738, 10 percent of county residents live in poverty, with the majority of them being women. In 2005, 17 percent of families with a female head of household and no husband present had incomes below the poverty level (American Community Survey). This equates to about 350,138 single women in the State of California, including 310,533 single mothers, at the poverty level (CA Dept. of Finance). Those transitioning from one home or life stage to another are often left even further behind. The highest poverty rates in Orange County are among young adults age 18 to 24, the ages at which many individuals leave their families to form their own households. Almost half of single women in this critical stage —whether just learning to support themselves either independently or with children—find themselves living in poverty before age 25 (CA Dept. of Finance, 2005). An interview with Orange County Treasurer Shari Freidenrich helped us confirm that local low-income 2

Freidenrich also explained that targeting lowincome women and single mothers would benefit the community on the whole. “These women are such a critical group to target because if they don’t learn, they will rely on government to take care of them their whole lives,” she said. The Bank On Your Character campaign provided the opportunity to educate and empower women to make a difference in their own communities. According to Freidenrich, “women who benefit from financial literacy then come back and teach other women. This type of information motivates them, makes them feel a sense of self-worth.” By tailoring Ally’s credit and budget modules to the specific needs of our target audiences, we hoped that our grassroots campaign could inspire our session attendees to share their knowledge with their friends, family and children.

Research Secondary Research We examined over 25 recent articles in Orange County news, several blogs and over 35 published studies on the state of financial literacy at the county, state and national levels. Following an extensive analysis of these sources, we identified four target audiences, developed unique themes and campaign messaging for them and tailored Ally Financial’s SmartEdge curriculum to the audiences’ specific needs and experiences. 3

Secondary research and the subsequent selection of target audiences followed a funnel model in which we conducted broad research on several audiences in Orange County and then examined specific groups who would most benefit from our campaign. Read more about the funnel model on page 17.

Phase 1: Understand Orange County research state of financial literacy in the area

Phase 2: identify needs in orange county identify possible target audiences & their self-interests

Phase 3: Understand possible audiences

focus on specific groups & explore ways to reach them

Phase 4: Segment target audiences

create list of potential partners & influentials to start plan During our first two phases of secondary research, we examined financial studies and programs locally and nationwide. A 2010 study by Orange County United Way showed that there are 225,000 unbanked families living in Orange County. In addition, up to 25 percent of the county’s eligible tax payers do not claim tax credits, totaling $65 million in unclaimed credit. This helped our team understand the general level of financial literacy in the area so we could target specific groups and tailor the SmartEdge curriculum to their needs. We created a pro and con list for each potential target audience to help us decide who to target. We narrowed our focus from over 30 potential groups down to 10 and then selected our four target groups of underserved women. Read more about this step in the process on page 18. For the third phase, we analyzed news articles and websites to learn about those in our four target audiences and the organizations that currently serve them. We researched channels that would be most successful to promote financial literacy sessions. Read more about Phase 3 findings on page 24.

Number of survey respondents who have attended a financial literacy session in the past:

Number of credit cards survey respondents report having: ZERO

no: 39

yes: 14

Number of survey respondents who believe they know specific ways to improve their credit scores:

yes: 20

maybe/not sure: 20

NUMBER OF CARDS

women in transitional stages of life would benefit from Ally’s financial literacy program. “These women, more than most, need someone to assist them because they might not have had that structure growing up where they would have learned about finances. Now they are on their own, maybe with a child, and need to have financial knowledge,” said Freidenrich. Helping women create structure for themselves, such as developing a budget, was a specific way for our team to connect with the needs of local women as they take on more responsibilities such as motherhood.

NO AN

no: 13 During the fourth phase of secondary research, we identified an underlying tie between members of the three possible groups to develop key target audiences and formalize our key publics. With the addition of primary research findings, we were able to develop demographic and psychographic profiles and articulate the groups’ self-interests in regards to financial literacy. At this point, we focused research on organizations with which we could partner to reach our target audiences. Read more on page 25.

Primary Research We conducted primary research to understand the demographics and level of financial literacy among our target audiences. We distributed surveys in English and Spanish using SurveyMonkey.com and printed copies provided to local organizations such as several local Boys and Girls Clubs. Of the 53 completed surveys, we found that 45 percent of respondents were Caucasian, while 43 percent were Latino/Hispanic, 8 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander, and 4 percent were of mixed race. Of the 53 people who completed our survey, 24 percent had an annual household income of less than $10,000 and 36 percent had an annual household income of over $45,000, showing a range of economic

SWER

0369

4 NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS12

diversity in Orange County. We found that 49 percent were single, but 72 percent had dependents. We also learned that 72 percent rent their homes. Our survey revealed important information about the financial aspects of our target audiences’ lives. We discovered that 74 percent of respondents had never attended a financial literacy class or training session. Our survey also revealed that 92 percent have checking accounts, 58 percent have credit cards, 62 percent have savings accounts, and 17 percent have investments. Nearly 30 percent did not have any credit cards, but another 52 percent had between one and four credit cards. Our survey also showed that only 6 percent check their credit score as regularly as every three to six months. Further, 38 percent rarely check and 24 percent never check their credit score. We also found that 24 percent did not know specific ways to improve their credit score and another 38 percent were not sure if they knew how to improve their credit score. These results helped us understand what subjects we needed to focus on to best fit the needs of our four target audiences as we planned our financial training sessions. 4

tArgEt AudiEncES We identified four key audiences across various age ranges in low- to moderate-income areas in Orange County. Our research indicated that women are marginalized in terms of financial literacy, and we hoped to increase their knowledge and active participation in personal finance. Our four identified groups were all low- to moderate-income women in transitional stages in life.

Young Mothers The U.S. Bureau of Labor reports that single mothers account for five percent of the total California population, and their income may be below up to 200 percent of the poverty threshold. Young mothers in low-income areas may even be without a high school degree, and so it is difficult for them to attain a steady job to provide for a growing family. These women have specific needs that could be clearly addressed with Ally’s tools, and the resulting confidence they would develop would hopefully allow them to take a more proactive role in managing their finances for their families.

Female High School Students With 39 percent of adolescents in California coming from low-income families, many 13- to 18-year-olds in the area are opting out of college due to its high cost. Some may never even graduate high school due to a lack of family funding. For high school girls, financial literacy may help them want to attend college (Luna De La Rosa, 2006).

Women Living in Transitional Housing Girls who find themselves with no mentor or solid family structures often have a hard time with the transition into adulthood, including gaining the necessary life skills to maintain a steady income and save for the future. Those who leave home with no money and possibly little education may find themselves homeless. Women in transitional housing are traditionally those who were homeless or previously 5

lived in foster care. According to the California Department of Social Services, this is an issue faced by 65 percent of youth emancipated from foster care.

Women Recovering from Substance Abuse Insecurities stemming from confusion about finances can often contribute to substance abuse, during which individuals seek instant gratification. The lives and families of nearly 70,000 women in California are affected by substance abuse, and these women may fear that since finances do not offer instant satisfaction, goals such as buying a house or a car are unrealistic and not worth pursuing. By empowering women on the path to recovery to understand the concepts in Ally’s curriculum, our team would allow them to start a new life with confidence.

in fragile stages of their lives, the organizations serving them strictly protect their privacy, so we found it difficult to partner with organizations and encourage women to attend. To show sensitivity to this issue, our team met with groups ahead of time to allow them to meet us, ask questions, and help us tailor each session to their audiences. Some organizations voiced a need for bilingual presentations, so we arranged for a translator to help overcome the language barrier when reaching out to Spanish-speaking groups.

Several challenges emerged as we reached out to nonprofits. We faced initial skepticism as nonprofit management did not view us as credible finance professionals. To overcome this challenge, we presented ourselves as an approachable grassroots coalition of students working to educate the community on behalf of Ally. We personally met with dozens of organizations to promote our goals, messaging and sessions. Because our identified target audiences are

“

The optimistic message,

all the ‘You deserve it’ stuff,

is completely wrong right now. What is right is saying, ‘You’re smart. You can handle this. You can make the right decisions,

chAllEngES Chapman University’s campus would have been a great location for hosting sessions; however the campus’ profile did not fit Ally’s requirements to teach low- to moderate-income residents. While some Chapman students receive scholarships, most are from moderate- to high-income families who can afford the average annual cost of $51,481. With the knowledge that our team could not rely on our own community for outreach or attendance, we reached out to dozens of local nonprofit organizations as third party influentials and community opinion leaders who could help us gain the trust of our target audiences.

Research confirmed that assuring women that they can take control of their actions is the most empowering message to convey today. By injecting a more personal call to action with the word “your,” our team was able to adjust the theme to connect on an individual level with women.

kEY MESSAgES & thEMES Theme Bank On Your Character speaks directly to the experiences of women currently in a transitional life stage. Women who are looking to move forward with their lives are working to take on more responsibility and prove to themselves and others that they can be trusted with new, complex roles. Bank On Your Character means to trust in yourself to make smart, sound financial decisions. Inspiration for Bank On Your Character came during the train-the-trainer sessions in which Beth Coggins and Jacqueline Howard from Ally Financial emphasized the concept of having character. In terms of credit, character is an individual’s ability and willingness to pay back his or her debts. Our team found this at the core of our message to low-income women who are seeking the tools to make the right decisions for themselves. We wanted our theme and messages to connect with women rather than speak down to them.

”

and here’s how we can help.’ —marti barletta, author of marketing to women Primary Message

You can trust your own ability to make smart financial decisions for your future if you equip yourself with the necessary knowledge of basic fundamental concepts.

Secondary Messages • Understanding financial concepts and building good credit can help you in many areas of life, such as securing a job, loan or home rental. Your family and its livelihood may be at stake if you make poor financial decisions. • Attending a financial literacy session hosted by Ally Financial and Chapman University students in Orange County can help you learn fundamental financial concepts that will help you make smart financial decisions. • You are a smart and capable woman who must overcome challenges to reduce and avoid financial trouble. Taking the proactive step toward 6

•

financial education is one way to overcome these challenges. Organizations that you already trust in Orange County have partnered with Chapman University students and Ally Financial to bring financial literacy sessions directly to you. The need for financial education has never been greater, as the United States is emerging from the credit crisis and consumers are facing damaged credit, job loss, foreclosures and bankruptcy. Many women like you need to take control of their finances to secure a bright future, regardless of their marital status. Whether buying a home, balancing a checkbook, or purchasing a vehicle, all consumers should understand the basics of personal finance. Buying a home or car, researching insurance, managing a budget and credit and choosing banking and savings products that are right for you can be complex, but with a little extra effort, many resources exist that can help consumers become well-versed in these areas.

goals & Objectives Goal: Deliver Ally Financial’s financial literacy modules to low-income Orange County women in transitional life stages • Objective: Identify three low- to moderate-income groups in Orange County with a need for financial literacy education by January 13, 2011 • Objective: Develop partnerships with five local organizations to create five tailored financial literacy sessions by March 8, 2011 • Objective: Provide a minimum of five opportunities for financial literacy education by March 8, 2011 • Objective: Plan and implement sessions with a target of educating a total of 150 low- to moderate-income women by March 8, 2011

• Objective: Collect the data required to earn CRA credits from our financial literacy sessions in the Orange County community by March 8, 2011

Goal: Provide a private, comfortable environment for dialogue surrounding financial concepts • Objective: Bring five financial literacy sessions to locations in Orange County where audiences already feel comfortable by March 8, 2011 • Objective: Allow five opportunities for audiences to interact with our team during sessions in the time frame of 1 hour per session • Objective: Use two forms of multimedia to share information with target audiences inside and outside of sessions from February 1—March 8, 2011

Strategies & Tactics Strategy: Use grassroots efforts and partnerships to host financial literacy sessions for low-income women in transitional life stages Tactics: • Identify low- to moderate-income groups in Orange County with a need for financial literacy education • Partner with local organizations that currently address the needs of target audiences • Create a theme and messaging that speaks to identified groups of women • Create a logo and other graphic design elements that appeal to identified target audiences and tie theme and messaging to all communications • Create printed materials to distribute throughout communities to promote sessions, messaging and Bank On Your Character campaign awareness

Strategy: Create a comfortable, private setting for sessions that allow attendees to open up about the issues and become active members of the discussion

•

Tactics: • Bring financial literacy sessions to locations where women already feel comfortable • Present ourselves as relatable peers rather than as an authority • Train ourselves as speakers for our presentations rather than an appointee • Provide food and beverages to create a welcoming environment • Reach out to local businesses that are invested in the local community to donate refreshments or space for sessions • Utilize individual information cards rather than a general session roster to allow for attendees’ privacy protection • Bring real stories of our own and that of other Orange County locals to each session to share several personal perspectives on the importance of financial literacy • Ask attendees what their experiences are with credit and budgeting so they can share with others in a private setting and receive feedback • Allow attendees several opportunities to ask questions and share stories at sessions

Strategy: Tailor financial literacy sessions specifically to our target audiences, including young mothers, high school students, women living in transitional housing and women recovering from substance abuse

•

presentation in whichever language is more comfortable to them Utilize a spokesperson with whom target audiences can relate to help them see how financial success is possible with the right tools Use example financial scenarios that match those each specific audience may encounter on a regular basis so they can better envision and understand each concept Ask attendees what they most want to learn and emphasize the aspects of the presentation that will most benefit them Allow attendees several opportunities to ask questions and share stories at sessions

Strategy: Use multimedia to share information with target audiences Tactics: • Create a visually engaging slideshow utilizing campaign colors and themes • Create a presentation that captivates audience members and relates to their interests • Develop a teaser trailer video to promote sessions and Ally brand awareness • Develop an educational video to launch sessions and share key messaging, including interviews with financial experts in Orange County • Utilize social media to promote financial literacy sessions and important information and advice from sessions

Tactics: • Offer child supervision and activities so children learn to save in a fun way at session with parents • Provide a Spanish translator to give Spanishspeaking attendees the option to listen to the

evaluation

women about financial literacy. While two opportunities that we heavily promoted did not attract attendees, we did hold five successful financial literacy sessions. In order to promote these sessions, we created flyers, videos, posters and social media communications connected with our Bank On Your Character campaign.

Goal: Deliver Ally Financial’s financial literacy modules to low-income Orange County women in transitional life stages • Objective: Identify three low- to moderate-income groups in Orange County with a need for financial literacy education by January 13, 2011

Outcome: EXCEEDED In the course of the research phase, our team identified four low- to moderate-income groups who would benefit from the budget and credit modules of Ally Financial’s SmartEdge curriculum. We decided to help Orange County women in need including young mothers, high school students, women living in transitional housing and women recovering from substance abuse. • Objective: Develop partnerships with five local organizations to create five tailored financial literacy sessions by March 8, 2011

Outcome: SUCCEEDED During the planning stage, our team reached out to organizations that support women in various life stages. We partnered with a transitional home for women recently emancipated from foster car, a continuation high school for young mothers, a library after-school program for low-income teens and a transition home for women recovering from substance abuse. Our team developed relationships with each organization to create a comfortable, engaging environment. • Objective: Provide a minimum of five opportunities for financial literacy education by March 8, 2011

Outcome: EXCEEDED Throughout the implementation phase the team offered seven opportunities to educate 9

• Objective: Plan and implement sessions with a target of educating a total of 150 low- to moderate-income women by March 8, 2011

Outcome: DID NOT MEET

Given that our target audiences are in fragile stages in their lives, privacy issues became a major obstacle. Many nonprofit organizations were reluctant to promote or host one of our sessions because they were not familiar with Ally’s curriculum and therefore did not want to endorse our campaign. Some nonprofits made it clear that they would not be interested while others implied that they did not welcome outside groups as guest speakers. Although we showed we were willing to work with nonprofits to tailor our sessions to the needs of those they serve, Ally’s implementation deadline was often a hindrance. Multiple organizations expressed an interest in our campaign, but were unable to participate or meet with us due to schedule constraints or previous commitments. We were able to create tailored, personalized educational sessions that touched the lives of 51 women, but we did not meet the attendance goal. • Objective: Collect the data required to earn CRA credits from our financial literacy sessions in the Orange County community by March 8, 2011

Outcome: SUCCEEDED We created information cards to collect identification and location data from each

session attendee. Understanding that discussing personal finances can be a sensitive subject, we ensured confidentiality by asking each attendee to fill out an individual card rather than add to a general roster that everyone would be able to see. In this way, we collected CRA credit data faster and still maintained the secure, comfortable learning environment that was so crucial to our campaign. While we were unable to retrieve CRA credit data from 150 individuals, we did collect the CRA credit data from all 51 attendees at our sessions, and we did this in a manner that protected their privacy.

Outcome: SUCCEEDED To ensure our presentations were held in a comfortable environment for our audience, we brought the sessions to them. We put on two presentations at Valley Vista Continuation High School, where young mothers work toward a high school diploma or GED. The sessions we held at the YWCA transitional housing program and at the Sure Haven sober living program were located in intimate living room settings where residents regularly meet. Our final session took place at an after-school program at the Santa Ana Public Library, where we met students at TeenSpace, an area where dozens of local teens meet with tutors and friends on weekday evenings. • Objective: Allow five opportunities for audiences to interact with our team during sessions in the time frame of one hour per session

Outcome: EXCEEDED During our sessions we provided multiple opportunities for our audience to interact with our team. We kept our presentation conversational, which encouraged our audience to ask questions throughout the process. We asked them to share their experiences with others and focused on the lessons learned from each story. During the credit portion of our presentation, we paused and asked our audience to fill out the credit assessment before we discussed ways to improve credit. At the end of our slideshow, we asked if there were any additional questions. Finally, audiences responded with feedback cards so we knew if they felt the sessions were educational and comfortable. • Objective: Use two forms of multimedia to share information with target audiences inside and outside of sessions from February 1—March 8, 2011

Outcome: EXCEEDED We interviewed local financial experts and a single mother from Orange County. We used their responses to create one teaser video, which we posted on our YouTube channel, Facebook and Twitter accounts. The video explained to our audiences the importance of financial literacy and what they could gain from attending a session. We also used additional interview responses to create an in-depth video to use as an introduction for our presentations. Another multimedia tool we used to make our sessions dynamic was Prezi, an interactive slideshow program, which allowed us to illustrate connections between the concepts we discussed. We used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to promote sessions and share financial information with audiences online. 10

tAblE of contEntS

APPEndiX

WHY WE GOT INVOLVED

INTRODUCTION TO ORANGE COUNTY

CAMPAIGN PLAN & CALENDAR

SECONDARY RESEARCH

PRIMARY RESEARCH

CAMPAIGN PLANNING

DEVELOPING THEME & MESSAGES

VISUALIZING BANK ON YOUR CHARACTER

PROMOTIONS AND OUTREACH

IMPLEMENTATION

EVALUATION

BUDGET

CRA INFORMATION

DOCUMENTS

WHAT IT MEANT TO US

Appendix why we got involved

introduction to orange county

A Look into What Financial Literacy Means to Our Team

Orange County is well known for being among the most affluent counties in the United States. With a median household income of $74,862 and many reality TV shows portraying what appears to be the norm of glamorous and expensive lifestyles, Orange County has earned a distinct reputation even among many of its residents. We discovered that there are large numbers of people living below the poverty line in cities surrounding us. By communicating with our four identified target audiences and using grassroots promotional efforts, we were able to successfully reach out to some of the county’s most disadvantaged areas.

Allen When I was a freshman in college, I was a victim of identity theft. My credit report showed that I had bad credit because I had a large quantity of money owed on a credit card, so I had to contact all three credit agencies to dispute them. It was emotional for me since my school loans had to be held back, and I was late on my tuition. It took three months to fix the problem. Now, I check my credit score every six months and understand how important credit is. When I heard that the Bateman competition was about financial literacy, I applied without hesitation knowing I wanted to help others who needed it.

Bri Financial literacy is an issue that’s held a lot of weight in my life. My mother got pregnant with me in her teens and was forced to plan financially for both of us at a very young age. We had many financial hurdles when I was growing up that could have been avoided with the right resources, and my mother instilled in me an appreciation for financial planning. Because of her influence, I am passionate about spreading financial knowledge. I understand the stress that finances can cause and how it can be hard to ask questions. My hope was that our campaign could make the topic of finances less intimidating.

Kristen My parents brought me up to think that hard work alone leads to stability, but sometimes the unexpected happens. When my dad got a better job out of state, my family sold our house and had to sell or give away many of our belongings—including one of our dogs—to relocate. After only a few months, my dad’s employer went bankrupt. With no savings, we could not afford to stay. We were homeless. We moved back home to Arizona and spent three years living with family to make ends meet. Now that I’ve learned how scary it can be without savings, I want to help others learn how to prepare for the unexpected.

Colleen I used to have an issue with spending money that I did not have. I was $3,000 dollars in debt, and I was afraid to tell my parents. I tried to hide my bills but realized that by not paying them I was only harming my family. It was time for me to educate myself on budgeting and my credit, but I feared that my family would be mad at me. After educating myself I realized that the financial implications would be much greater. I wanted to teach people to learn how to budget and plan for the future. I saw the Bateman Competition on behalf of Ally as an opportunity to educate women so that they can avoid my mistakes.

Sabrina When I was growing up, my parents never had a problem discussing our family’s finances with me. My father is a union machinist, and every few years his contract comes up for renewal. As each renewal period approached, my parents limited their spending and saved up in case my father had to go on strike. I saw that saving was important, so I took a personal finance class at Chapman that showed me how to save, create a budget, calculate interest, and manage credit. The class made me realize how little I knew about finances. I wanted to join the Bateman team to share what I have learned with others.

1 Santa Ana: 19.8 percent below poverty level Santa Ana is the city with the second highest percentage of people living below the poverty level in Orange County. Due to our university’s proximity to Santa Ana, we concentrated our campaign efforts in this area. We offered two of our financial literacy sessions at the American Red Cross of Orange County in Santa Ana and reached out to numerous churches groups, non-profits, schools, and parenting organizations surrounding the venue. We created a partnership with the Santa Ana Public Library, where we held a session for low-income high school students.

2 Costa Mesa: 12.6 percent below poverty level We chose to focus on Costa Mesa as another area of interest for our campaign. We reached out to various organizations within the Costa Mesa community. We held a Bank On Your Character financial literacy session at Sure Haven, a substance abuse recovery center for women located in the heart of Costa Mesa.

3 Anaheim: 14.1 percent below poverty level 4 Garden Grove: 13.9 percent below poverty level 5 Placentia: 8.7 percent below poverty level

Other areas that we targeted for partnerships and research include Anaheim (14.1 percent), Garden Grove (13.9 percent), and Placentia (8.7 percent). We distributed bilingual surveys to low- to moderate-

Areas in Orange County with High Numbers of Residents Living Below the Poverty Level that We Targeted

4 2

CALIFORNIA

ORANGE COUNTY

income parents at the Boys and Girls Clubs of these three cities to better understand the financial challenges families face in these areas. We used the demographic findings from these surveys to determine the types of families who live in these areas.

6 Orange: 10 percent below poverty level Our team included the city of Orange (10 percent) as a focus for our campaign. Chapman University is located in Orange, so our proximity allowed us to easily connect with the YWCA—Beverly’s House. Management at the transition home welcomed the opportunity to work with us and develop a session for the women it serves, including mostly young, low-come women in transition between foster care and being independent. 14

cAMPAign PlAn & cAlEndAr

Chapman University semester begins Jan. 31

An overview of our campaign process dEcEMbEr

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Bateman campaign implementation begins Feb. 1

jAnuArY

fEbruArY

MArch

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Secondary Research Primary Research Planning & Strategy Community Outreach Promotions Sessions

Our campaign followed a basic structure as outlined in the above calendar. Below are highlights of the steps taken throughout the process, which will be detailed throughout the appendix.

Secondary Research 1. PHASE 1: Research financial literacy, its importance in Orange County and specific needs in the area: Dec. 1—3 2. Develop a list of groups of interest: Dec. 3—10 3. Research possible contacts or partners to reach groups of interest with a need: Dec 3—10 4. PHASE 2: Identify Possible Audiences: Dec. 27—31 5. Identify self-interest of each possible target audience, including their economic standing: Dec. 27—31 6. Develop SWOT analysis for our team to see our abilities in relation to possible target audiences: Dec. 31 7. Create list of pros and cons for possible target audiences: Jan. 1—Jan. 2 8. PHASE 3: Narrow down possible target audiences to top choices: Jan. 5—6

9. Research local/regional news coverage of top audiences: Jan. 7—12 10. Research ways to communicate with the three top audiences: Jan. 7—12 11. Develop options for strategies and tactics as part of a grassroots campaign with the three top audiences: Jan. 7—12 12. Meet with advisor for feedback: Jan. 13 13. Develop list of organizations to contact for top audiences: Jan. 14—19 14. PHASE 4: Find underlying tie between members of top audiences to develop four target audiences: Jan. 20 15. Meeting to create plan for contacting four identified target audiences: Jan. 20 16. Develop list of organizations to reach out to for identified target audiences: Jan. 20—21 17. Create project proposal to send out to possible partners and influentials: Jan. 20 18. Contact organizations to partner: Jan. 24—26

Primary Research 19. PHASE 1: Identify groups and individuals to interview/survey regarding the need for financial literacy: Jan. 20—21 20. Identify opinion leaders and spokespersons who would connect with target audiences: Jan. 20—21 21. Create survey: Jan. 28 22.Translate survey to Spanish: Jan. 31 23.Release SurveyMonkey.com and printed surveys: Feb. 1 24. PHASE 2: Reach out to groups and individuals for interviews and surveys: Feb. 2—Feb. 19 25. PHASE 3: Analyze data to plan rest of campaign and create videos for promotion and sessions: Feb. 3—5

Planning & Strategy 26.Develop goals and objectives: Jan. 20—24 27. Develop strategies and tactics: Jan 20—22 28. Develop calendar of events for implementation: Feb. 1—11 29. Meeting with advisor for feedback: Feb. 8 30.Develop budget proposal: Feb. 6—8

Community Outreach 31. Outreach to intervening publics potential partners in person, over the phone and via email and online: Jan. 17—Feb. 11 32. Outreach to potential donors for in-kind donations, including refreshments: Feb. 20—21

Promotions 33.Design Bank On Your Character logo concepts and make revisions to choose official logo: Feb. 10—13 34.Design Bank On Your Character postcards and send to printing service: Feb. 13—16 35.Design Bank On Your Character flyers: Feb. 17—20 36.Create and sustain social media sites: Feb. 23—March 8 37. Design teaser trailer and introduction video: Feb. 11—26

Sessions 38.Valley Vista Continuation High School: Feb. 28 39. The American Red Cross of Orange County: March 5 40.Sure Haven: March 6 41. Santa Ana Public Library: March 8

Secondary research Selecting Target Audiences

Phase 1: Understand Orange County

30+ Possible groups

Examine news coverage, demographic statistics and published studies on financial literacy in the area

Phase 2: identify needs in orange county

10 possible groups

Identify, research and profile 10 potential audiences to determine needs, income and self-interests

Phase 3: Understand possible audiences

3 possible groups

Select three audiences from Phase 2 and research possible strategies and tactics for each before final selection.

Phase 4: Segment target audiences Determine connection between three audiences and pair with research findings to develop four final target audiences

Beginning in December 2010, our team narrowed down our potential target audiences in Orange County in order to focus on those who would best benefit from our campaign. We followed a specific channeling strategy during the four phases of our secondary research and selection of target audiences. This funnel model, as seen above, was a guide for our research.

Phase 1: Understand Orange County Before our team could research any specific audiences, we sought to understand the financial needs of Orange County on the whole. We examined recent articles in Orange County news, statistics from the U.S. Census and published studies on the state of financial literacy on county, state and national levels.

final 4 key publics

We looked into Orange County areas with the lowest income and recognized that we would need to reach out to a community that was a distance away from our university. We researched groups living in surrounding, statistically low-income cities of Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Anaheim, Garden Grove, Placentia and Orange. We identified several opportunities and challenges for groups in these areas: • Although research by the California Jump$tart Coalition shows that 75 percent of young American adults are likely to lack the skills needed to make beneficial financial decisions, California is one of only six states that have not adopted requirements for youth financial education

programming in schools. We saw an opportunity to reach young adults in high school and college. • It is estimated that there are 225,000 unbanked families living in Orange County. Our team saw an opportunity to reach to low- to moderate-income families or single parents who are not yet part of the financial mainstream. • Latino business owners and women consistently showed up in our research as groups with an apparent lack of financial literacy education. We saw this as a local group who would greatly benefit from our campaign. However, with 27 percent of Orange County Latino households linguistically isolated, our team would have a hard time reaching them without a translator. • We identified several other cultural and language barriers as we looked into minority groups in the area. For example, we saw older Orange County residents and their caregivers as a potential audience, especially since nearly 7 percent of Orange County residents age 65 and over have incomes below the poverty line. Although financial literacy seminars would benefit this group, we had to consider what our credibility as young college students would be with a more mature audience. With a general understanding of low- and moderate-income groups in Orange County, our group was ready to identify possible target audiences.

seminars, keeping in mind our youth and linguistic barriers as a whole. Many of the groups identified in Phase 2 were divided by psychographics, such as stage in life, specific needs or age rather than being divided by race, ethnicity or primary language. The groups we identified were:

Phase 2: Identify Needs in Orange County

The following few pages include our findings summary for each of the ten groups we identified in Phase 2.

At the end of December and into early January, our team pushed forward to Phase 2 of our secondary research in which we identified and researched ten specific groups that could most benefit from financial literacy education. We focused on those who would be most interested in listening to our group present

1. Low-income high school students 2. Low-income college-age young adults 3. Low-income mothers or pregnant women 4. Low-income newlyweds or new parents 5. Female business owners 6. Parents of college-bound students 7. K-12 teachers in low-income schools 8. Hispanic business owners 9. Low-income students as drop-out risks 10. “Unbanked” low-income families Once we identified these groups, we developed a list of arguments for why we should or should not select each group as a target audience. We paired this information with research findings on the size and significance of each group in Orange County and an estimate of their income level. We also developed a checklist of potential self-interests each group may have regarding their finances. Finally, we found several local organizations that could be potential partners throughout our campaign reach individuals in the community.

Low-income High School Students

12. Planning ahead 13. Saving 14. Interest

Potential partners:

• Students looking to obtain vehicles, pursue jobs and Pros of selecting this group: possibly college • Can connect with them • Audience size: 39 percent of • Financial literacy can help adolescents in California come them want to attend college from low-income families (Luna De La Rosa, 2006) • Audience income: <$15,000 • May be actively seeking help Audience interests: • Students failed Jump$tart’s 1. Having good credit financial literacy quiz with an 2. Leasing or buying cars average score of 47 percent 3. Credit cards • Over 64% of college students 4. Everyday budgeting would have liked to learn 5. School loans financial literacy in high school 6. Balancing a checkbook Cons of selecting this group: 7. Making smart purchases • Not specific to Orange County 8. Bank accounts • Some may not be interested in 9. Insurance saving for college 10. Negotiating prices without Insurance • Generally short attention span 11. Understanding financial risks

1. Orange County high schools 2. Big Brothers Big Sisters 3. Orange County Community Housing Corporation: helps lowincome teens with workshops 4. Boys and Girls Club after-school programs 5. QUESTBRIDGE 6. Religious organizations’ after-school and youth groups 7. Know How 2 Go California: currently hosts FAFSA workshops 8. National School Lunch Program 9. Taller San Jose: equips undereducated young adults with skills for the future 10. Youth Employment Service (YES): teaches young adults ages 14 to 22 how to work and handle money

Low-income College-Age Adults:

• They do not respond well to events at schools, especially at community colleges where students live off campus

• 70 percent said parents failed to educate them on finances • Audience size: 29 percent of students in California for-profit colleges are low-income • Audience income: <$25,000

Audience interests: 1. Having good credit 2. Leasing or buying cars 3. Credit cards 4. Everyday budgeting 5. School loans 6. Balancing a checkbook 7. Making smart purchases 8. Financial rights 9. Bank accounts 10. Insurance 11. Negotiating prices without Insurance 12. Reading fine print 19

13. Understanding financial risks 14. Planning ahead 15. Saving 16. Interest

Pros of selecting this group: • Can connect with them • 1,030 students scored an average of 62 percent on a national financial literacy quiz • Nationwide, their median credit card debt is $1,645 • May be actively seeking help • 91 percent have at least one credit card; their average number of cards is 4.65 • Half graduate college with credit card debt of over $4,100

Cons of selecting this group: • Not specific to Orange County

Potential partners: 1. Local colleges and their clubs 2. Taller San Jose 3. North Orange County Regional Occupational Program: offers career and technical training 4. College Bound Academics: hosts counseling, prep and seminars 5. Central County Regional Occupational Program: prepares students for high-skill careers and general life skills 6. California College Pathways: programs for former foster youth 7. Youth Employment Service (YES)

“Unbanked” Low-income Families

10. Financial rights 11. Insurance and negotiating without it 12. Tax forms 13. Reading fine print 14. Understanding financial risks 15. Planning ahead 16. Saving 17. Interest

• Cannot build credit without joining financial mainstream • Audience size: 9.2 percent in Orange County are unbanked and 14.4 percent are under-banked • Audience income: below up to 200% of the poverty threshold Pros of selecting this group: • They have specific needs that Audience interests: we could clearly address with 1. Bank accounts Ally’s SmartEdge curriculum 2. Having good credit • 71 percent of households 3. Leasing or buying cars without a bank account have 4. Credit cards and identity protection an income under $30,000 5. Financing plans • 225,000 unbanked families 6. Everyday budgeting are living in Orange County 7. Credit consolidation • Most are low-income and live 8. Balancing a checkbook in our targeted areas 9. Making smart purchases

Low- to Moderate-income Mothers or Pregnant Women

11. Insurance and negotiating without it 12. Tax forms and reading fine print 13. Understanding financial risks 14. Planning ahead 15. Saving 16. Interest 17. Debt recovery

• Preparing to raise a family, possibly facing other issues • Audience size: Single mothers account for 5 percent of the total California population • Audience income: below up to Pros of selecting this group: • Ample grassroots groups 200% of the poverty threshold addressing their needs would Audience interests: be great partners for us 1. Having good credit • May be actively seeking help 2. Leasing or buying cars • They have specific needs that 3. Credit cards and identity protection we could clearly address with 4. Financing plans and legal rights Ally’s SmartEdge curriculum 5. Everyday budgeting 6. Credit consolidation 7. Balancing a checkbook 8. Making smart purchases 9. Financial rights 10. Bank accounts

Cons of selecting this group: • Not specific to Orange County • Needs are also emotional and time sensitive • May not have much free time

Cons of selecting this group: • Difficult to find those out of the system • May not be interested in learning about banking due to social issues or family traditions of not banking • 34 percent of all unbanked in the U.S. do not have enough funds to justify an account, which could mean they won’t participate

Potential partners: 18. United Way: programs assist Orange County’s unbanked to open accounts 19. Orange County Community Housing Corporation: helps local residents considered extremely low income become more independent

Potential partners: 18. MOMS Orange County: helps a targeted, local group of low-income pregnant women and mothers 19. Casa Teresa: provides counseling and career education for pregnant women and single mothers 20. CPSP Providers: help low-income women prepare for parenthood 21. Adolescent Family Life Program: provides resources to pregnant or parenting teenagers 22. CalWORKs: welfare program that gives cash aid and services to eligible needy California families 23. Women Helping Women: provides apparel and support 24. Various local “mommy groups”

Low-income Newlyweds or new parents

13. Tax forms and reading fine print 14. Understanding financial risks 15. Planning ahead and saving 16. Interest 17. Debt recovery

• Preparing to raise a family, possibly facing other issues • Audience size: unknown • Audience income: below up to Pros of selecting this group: • Ample grassroots groups 200% of the poverty threshold addressing their needs would Audience interests: be great partners for us 1. Having good credit • May be actively seeking help 2. Home buying • They have specific needs that 3. Leasing or buying cars we could clearly address with 4. Credit cards and identity protection Ally’s SmartEdge curriculum 5. Financing plans and legal rights Cons of selecting this group: 6. Everyday budgeting • Not specific to Orange County 7. Credit consolidation • May have to rely on religious 8. Balancing a checkbook groups or counselors to 9. Making smart purchases connect with couples, which 10. Financial rights could affect the group’s 11. Mortgages psychographic makeup 12. Insurance and negotiating without it

Female Business Owners • California has the largest number of women-owned firms in the U.S. • Audience size: 29.9 percent of all business owners in california; 27.9 percent in Orange County • Audience income: varies

Audience interests: 1. Having good credit 2. Leasing or buying cars 3. Identity protection 4. Financing plans and legal rights 5. Everyday budgeting 6. Credit consolidation 7. Making smart purchases 8. Financial rights 9. Bank accounts 10. Tax forms and reading fine print 21

11. Understanding financial risks 12. Planning ahead and saving 13. Interest 14. Stocks, bonds and mutual funds 15. Debt recovery 16. Investment returns

Pros of selecting this group: • Ample partners to reach them • Importance of group is specific to California • They must be able to balance personal finance with finance for their companies • May be actively seeking help • Can be opinion leaders in their community

Cons of selecting this group: • They may have too complex of needs for our purposes and may be more interested

Potential partners: 1. Orange County Community Housing Corporation: helps local residents considered extremely low income become more independent 2. Marriage Education Resources 3. The California Healthy Marriages Coalition: provides marriage education and skills classes 4. Catholic charities in Orange County: helps couples with workshops 5. Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter: helps families learn budgeting to recover from financial troubles 6. Religious institutions and grassroots credit counseling services 7. Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County: promotes sound financial management in their business finances than personal financial literacy • Professional associations may be too advanced for basic financial literacy lessons • May be too busy for seminars

Potential partners: 1. National Association of Women Business Owners, Orange County 2. California Women Business Owners 3. Asian Women in Business 4. National Association of Black Female Entrepreneurs 5. National Hispanic Business Women Association 6. National Latina Women Business Association 7. Other Professional Womens Associations in Orange County

Parents of College-bound Students • 40 percent expect to take 10 or more years to pay off children’s student loans • Audience size: unknown • Audience income: unknown

Audience interests: 1. Having good credit 2. Financial rights 3. Credit cards 4. Identity protection 5. Financing plans 6. Everyday budgeting 7. Credit consolidation 8. Balancing a checkbook 9. Making smart purchases 10. Bank accounts 11. Insurance and negotiating without it 12. Tax forms

K-12 Teachers Working at Low-income Schools • 53 percent are not confident with financial literacy (Teacher Financial Literacy Project) • Audience size: unknown • Audience income: unknown

Audience interests: 1. Having good credit 2. Credit cards 3. Identity protection 4. Financing plans 5. Financial rights 6. Everyday budgeting 7. Credit consolidation 8. Balancing a checkbook 9. Making smart purchases 10. Tax forms 11. Financial rights

13. Reading fine print 14. Understanding financial risks 15. Planning ahead 16. Saving 17. Interest 18. Debt recovery

Pros of selecting this group: • Ample groups to partner with • Group is actively seeking help • Group has vast needs and doesn’t understand own rights in college spending • Financial literacy can help their children and families • They have specific needs that we could clearly address with Ally’s SmartEdge curriculum • Group is specific and active

Cons of selecting this group: 12. Bank accounts 13. Insurance 14. Negotiating prices without Insurance 15. Reading fine print 16. Understanding financial risks 17. Planning ahead 18. Saving 19. Interest 20. Debt recovery

Pros of selecting this group: • Can create secondary audience: students • The majority say it’s important to teach financial literacy, but their skills are not well defined. (NFI Inventory Research) • 55 percent are interested in a finance workshop (Teacher Financial Literacy Project)

Cons of selecting this group:

• Not specific to Orange County • They may bring their children to seminars and we need to be able to tailor the message for mixed groups

Potential partners: 19. Orange County high school PTAs, parent groups, information sessions 20. Various local “mommy groups” 21. California State PTA: we could use their listserve or be guests at events 22. Know How 2 Go California: currently hosts FAFSA workshops 23. College Blueprint Orange County: hosts classes on college prep 24. Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County: promotes sound financial management • Must find balance of their needs versus students’ needs • Must communicate the translatability of information • They may not have time for seminars and schools may not make time for events

Potential partners: 21. California Teachers Association: comprised of education employees working in public school districts, community colleges and universities 22. Orange Unified School District: programs though the districts may attract teachers in those schools 23. Orange County Department of Education: professional development programs though the department may attract teachers

Hispanic & Latino Business Owners • California has the most Hispanic-owned firms in U.S. • Audience size: 566,567 Hispanic firms in California • Audience income: varies

Low-income Students who are Drop-out Risks • High school and college students who may not continue with education due to financial concerns • Audience size: Dropout rate for Orange County is 10 percent. • Audience income: <$20,000

Audience interests: 1. Having good credit 2. Credit cards 3. Financing plans and legal rights 4. Everyday budgeting 5. Credit consolidation 6. Balancing a checkbook 7. Making smart purchases 8. Tax forms 23

14. Stocks, bonds and mutual funds 15. Debt recovery 16. Investment returns

Pros of selecting this group:

in their business finances than personal financial literacy • Professional associations may be too advanced for basic financial literacy lessons • May be too busy for seminars

• Importance of group is specific to California • Can be opinion leaders in their Potential partners: 17. National Hispanic Business Women community Association • May be actively seeking help • They must be able to balance 18. National Latina Women personal finance with finance Business Association for their companies 19. Hispanic Business Association • Studies show that they need 20. Hispanic Business Magazine: get on financial literacy education their online calendar of events

Cons of selecting this group:

• Potential language barrier • They may have too complex of needs for our purposes and may be more interested

9. Bank accounts 10. Reading fine print 11. Understanding financial risks 12. Planning ahead 13. Saving 14. Interest 15. Debt recovery

Pros of selecting this group:

21. California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce: represents the interest of over 700,000 Hispanic business owners in the area

Phase 3: Understand Possible Audiences After researching 10 audiences in Orange County, we moved funneled the list of potential target audiences to three main groups:

Low-income High School Students Low-income Mothers or Pregnant Women Low-income College Students For each of the three groups, we examined articles in the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register to find out more about the types of lifestyles the groups lead, the types or organizations currently reaching out to them and the issues facing both the individuals and organizations in Orange County. We looked forward to identify challenges we may have with the groups. We did some preliminary research and brainstorming to develop some grassroots strategies and tactics we could use to communicate with each group in creative ways to see which groups we could most effectively reach.

Example grassroots strategies and tactics: • Present ourselves to appear more like a street team rather than an authority • Go door-to-door or table at schools during lunch • Develop a forward-thinking message about developing a path for after high school • Focus on an upbeat, youthful message that focuses on individuality and respects cultures

Cons of selecting this group:

•

• Difficult to find those at risk • College students do not respond well to events at schools, especially at community colleges where students do not live there • They may be embarrassed to admit they need assistance

• 41 percent of low-income students drop out of college. Potential partners: Most drop out senior year. 1. Orange County Community • Importance of group specific Housing Corporation: helps lowto California income teens with workshops • They must be able to balance 2. Orange County Colleges: student personal finance with finance club meetings, work with academic for their companies advisors and schools’ career centers • May be actively seeking help to create events • Can be opinion leaders in their 3. California Student Aid Commission: community get onto online calendar of events

• Website

• • • • •

Low-income Mothers or Pregnant Women Communications this audience would respond to: Low-income High School Students Communications this audience would respond to: • • • • • •

Posters and flyers at schools Meeting with groups and clubs at schools Getting on events calendars of local groups YouTube videos Social media Emails and direct mail

• Posters and flyers at doctor offices, daycares, schools for teen moms, etc. • Getting on events calendars of local groups • Participating in local events • Meeting with leadership at schools for teen moms • YouTube videos • Social media • Emails and direct mail • Website 24

Example grassroots strategies and tactics: • Pass out flyers at churches, local shopping centers and grocery stores • Present ourselves as children of those who have had to make tough decisions and proving that parents’ actions do affect their families • Develop ourselves to appear more like an empowering team helping them arm themselves • Develop messaging that explains what is in it for them; focus on providing a solution

Creative ways to present information: • Identify a female spokesperson • Create videos and other multimedia • Involve the audience with engaged conversation • •

Creative ways to present information: • Identify a community leader, teacher or other individual to help us host sessions • Identify a young or celebrity spokesperson • Create videos and other multimedia • Address several different types of learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic • Involve the audience with activities Phase 4 of secondary research was a culmination of all our previous efforts as we worked to develop our main target audiences for the campaign. We felt that the three groups we identified in Phase 3 were too general and unlike one another, and we wanted one theme to connect with all our target audiences.

• • • • • •

Low-income College Students Communications this audience would respond to:

• Develop a forward-thinking message about staying in college and focusing on a career • Present ourselves to appear more like a street team rather than an authority • Go door-to-door or table at college campuses • Focus on an upbeat, more mature message that focuses on individuality and respects cultures

Phase 4: Segment Target Audiences

•

• • • • • • • • •

Example grassroots strategies and tactics:

Posters and flyers at colleges Meeting with leadership groups at colleges Participating in fairs at schools Getting on events calendars of local groups YouTube videos Social media Emails and direct mail Website Participating in community events

We identified an underlying tie between members of the three possible groups to formalize our key target audiences. Women continued to come to the forefront of our research findings throughout, and we saw an opportunity to target women specifically in some of the age groups and life stages we had researched so thoroughly during Phase 2 and Phase 3. It is important for women to develop financial skills early on so they can save and invest to secure a solid financial future for themselves and their families. Women can often face more financial challenges than men due to lower incomes. The 2009 ACS median earnings for full-time, year-round female workers were 78.2 percent of men’s earnings; while women earned

$35,549, their male counterparts made $45,485. If women choose to have children, their income is impacted once again as family obligations can cause them to spend less time in the work force.

Women must learn at a very early age how to get the most out of their money. They must learn to manage their finances, avoid excessive debt and save and invest to the maximum extent possible —susan keating, chief executive, national foundation of credit counseling Women and girls with unexpected pregnancies often do not have sufficient time to plan for motherhood, which can affect their financial decisions and cause them to depend on external support. According to “No Time for Complacency: Teen Births in California,” by the Public Health Institute, the current annual cost to taxpayers for teens births in California is $1.5 billion. Teenage girls who are most likely to become mothers are often at poverty level. In fact, poverty is one of the best predictors of teen pregnancy in California. The higher the poverty rate one year, the higher teen birth rates tend to be the next year. Janet Bodnar, deputy editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, emphasized in an Orange County Register article the importance of financial literacy for women. She said that women “might be different in confidence, but not in competence,” emphasizing that if they have access to the right financial tools and education, they can be just as successful as men with their money. According to the article, 90 percent of women manage money independently at some point of their lives.

The concept of confidence in relation to women and their personal finances is fairly prominent in the news and on book shelves. The market for financial advice books targeted toward women reflects the idea that women have very low confidence with their money even if they are equally capable as men to handle their finances on their own. According to Ramit Sethi, published author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, 58 percent of men surveyed described themselves as confident with their money compared with 44 percent of women. In many cases, authors of women-focused financial books reinforce these insecurities and fail to empower women with bright pink book covers and patronizing messaging. Despite not being as confident as men, women are not likely to actively seek a financial education. According to a 2007 study on gender differences by Tahira Hira of Iowa State University and Cäzilia Loibl of Ohio State University, it often takes a life event to prompt women to save and invest. Men, on the other hand, seem to do so gradually.

Putting It All Together With this information, our team decided to target low-income women in Orange County in transitional life stages such as being newly independent, a new mother or entering a new stage of life such as changing jobs. Our four target audiences—young mothers, female high school students, women living in transitional housing and women recovering from substance abuse—are all groups that our research showed have an immediate need for financial literacy. As our research showed, women prefer to learn about money in person or in groups with others in their situation rather than by reading a self-help book. Combining a personal approach to finances with an empowering message assuring our audiences that they are capable, we developed a campaign that boosted confidence and changed the lives of 51 women.

primary research

Target Audience Survey To gain a deeper understanding of the level of financial literacy in Orange County, we created a 17-question survey. We offered the survey in both English and Spanish. The survey was available online at SurveyMonkey.com and was distributed in print form at several Orange County Boys and Girls Clubs. One of our biggest findings from our survey was that almost 75 percent of survey-takers had never attended any sort of financial literacy training session before. 38 percent rarely checked their credit score and another 24 percent never checked their credit score. Only 38 percent knew specific ways to improve their credit score. This information helped us create our presentation because it showed areas we needed to emphasize about how to build and maintain credit.

female: 38

Question: What is your marital status?

WHIT

male: 12

Did not answer: 3

Gender: Most of our respondents were female. Those who were male were mostly respondents at the Boys and Girls Clubs, indicating that they are also low- to middleincome parents in Orange County.

Language: Of the 53 collected responses, 44 took the survey in English and nine took the survey in Spanish. In the survey, 36 respondents (68 percent) said that English was their native language while 15 (28 percent) said no and two (4 percent) did not answer the question.

LA /HISTPINO ANIC ASIAN /PA ISLAN CIFIC DER

MIXE RACED Race:

Question: Do you have any children/dependents?

no: 15

When asked how they self-identify, 24 (45 percent) identified as White, 23 (43 percent) identified as Latino/ Hispanic, four (8 percent) identified as Asian/Pacific Islander and two respondents (4 percent) selected more than one, indicating that they are of mixed race. <18: 2 (4 percent) 18—21: 9 (17 percent) 22—25: 2 (4 percent) 26—30: 6 (11 percent) 31—35: 8 (15 percent) 36—40: 11 (21 percent) 41—45: 10 (19 percent) 46—50: 5 (9 percent) 51+: 0

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Question: If you do have any children/dependents, how old are they?

own: 11

Question: What is the highest level of education you have received? The majority of respondents (27 people; 51 percent) had completed some college. Three respondents (6 percent) had completed some high school, two (4 percent) had attended vocational school, one (2 percent) had done some graduate school, and three respondents (6 percent) had completed graduate school.

Question: Have you ever attended any sort of financial literacy training session/class?

rent: 38 no: 39

yes: 14

Did not answer: 7

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Question: Do you rent or own your home?

Question: What is your annual household income, from all sources (including public benefits, child support, etc.)?

$10,0 $24,90099 $25,0 $39,90099 $40,0 $44,90099

yes: 72

Those who responded that they had children or other dependents primarily cared for children ages 6—15. Ten survey respondents said they have children ages 0—10, 21 respondents said they have children ages 6—10, 24 said they have children ages 11—15, 6 said they have children ages 16—21 and one said he or she has children over the age of 22.

Question: What is your age? • • • • • • • • •

Married: 17 (32 percent) Single: 26 (49 percent) Divorced: 8 (15 percent) Widowed: 1 (2 percent) Did not answer: 1 (2 percent)

DID N ANSWOT ER

• • • • •

Question: How many people live in your household?

Respondents were more likely to rent their house or apartment than own. In total, 38 (72 percent) rent their home and 11 (21 percent) own their home. Seven participants did not answer the question. Important to note is that some of the surveys were dispersed to women at the YWCA First Steps Program—Beverly’s House, which is a transition home, so those women may not have known how to answer the question.

We were surprised to find that the majority (74 percent) of respondents had never attended a financial literacy training session or similar class despite the fact 49 percent of them were over the age of 35. This showed that young women as well as adult women in our target audiences in Orange County may have a need for a financial literacy session.

Question: What is your biggest financial concern?

ge: 18

Question: How many credit cards do you currently have?

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The survey results surprised us again when respondents shared with us what they are most concerned about covering in their budget. Seventeen said they are worried about their credit cards and 13 said they are concerned about their mortgages. The most common response was from 18 respondents who

said they are concerned about saving for their children’s college education. Several survey respondents who filled out the printed survey marked more than one answer, causing totals to add up to 69 and despite the fact that only 53 unique individuals completed the survey. Three did not address the question.

Question: Do you have any of the following?

9 of 53 have investments 49 of 53 have checking accounts

7 of 53 have mortgages 10 of 53 have student loans

Interviews

NO AN

SWER

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4 NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS 12

Question: How often do you check your credit score? We discovered through our survey that we would need to address the issue of checking credit scores during our financial literacy sessions. Although three respondents (6 percent) said they check their score every three to six months and 10 (19 percent) check their score once every year, seven respondents (13 percent) check scores every couple of years. Twenty respondents (38 percent) reported that they rarely check their credit score and 13 respondents (24 percent) said they never do so.

yes: 20

maybe/not sure: 20

31 of 53 have credit cards no: 13

12 of 53 have auto loans 29

Question: Do you know specific ways to improve your credit score?

33 of 53 have savings accounts

9 of 53 have savings for children’s college

audience would benefit from our campaign because their answers indicated a need for financial literacy education. The collected information helped us build our theme and messaging. Since 75 percent of respondents had no experience attending a financial literacy training session before, we found that our messaging may be unique and encourage attendance.

Summary In total, the survey helped us understand the needs of local residents. We knew that our target

Conducting interviews was another critical component of our primary research process. We used this research opportunity to fill in our gaps in knowledge after analyzing our quantifiable data. We interviewed Orange County Treasurer Shari Freidenrich to gain a more qualified explanation of the initial statistics we discovered about California and Orange County. Freidenrich was able to give a closer analysis on this data which gave us insight into why women in transitional stages of life would benefit from Ally’s financial literacy program. She also explained that targeting low-income women and single mothers would benefit the community as a whole. We also spoke to financial expert, Hank Adler; 23-year-old single mother, Janelle Maluenda; and director of development at a local non-profit, Jeanette Storey, who has an MBA in finance. Hank Adler explained his take on the importance of financial literacy and gave advice based on his experiences in financial planning. Janelle Maluenda gave us a detailed look into some central financial struggles she experienced as a young, single mother in Orange County and this allowed us an inside look into what our target audiences may have struggled with or may be struggling with in their financial lives. Also a single mother, Jeanette Storey was able to express her opinions about what obstacles hinder women in the area from acquiring a financial education, and told us of her own experiences and struggles. The responses we received from these figures in the community proved to be an invaluable resource throughout our campaign. 30

campaign planning Identifying Influentials Because it was evident that we are college students and not financial experts, a major challenge for our team was to establish credibility. However, it was also vital to our team to connect and relate to our audience members. To overcome these two challenges, we contacted people who would be influential to our audience members and who could help us gain credibility by utilizing their titles and experiences. Beyond helping us conduct our research, these individuals helped us create a video and other content to share at our sessions. We chose Hank Adler as our financial expert to express the importance of being educated on finances. Additionally, we wanted to have an influential woman as a part our campaign who could be open and share her experiences with finances. We also sought to recruit a spokesperson to strongly relate to the single mothers in our target audience. We identified Janelle Maluenda and Jeannette Storey as two spokespeople for the campaign because they are both single mothers who have had very different financial experiences and backgrounds. We also interviewed Orange County Treasurer Shari Freidenrich due to her position as a community leader and financial expert. We knew it would be critical to get a closer look at the statistics we discovered during secondary research about California and Orange County, and Freidenrich was able to specify those statistics and give us a much closer analysis as a financial authority in the area. She helped us connect statistics with specific stories of what she has seen Orange County residents face. She also gave us insight into what the state government and local nonprofits are doing to increase financial literacy in the area.

and other organizations that could serve as potential partners for the Bank On Your Character campaign. The following is a list of the most prominent groups we contacted in hopes of creating a partnership for the Bank On Your Character campaign.

of our key publics. Through constant communication we were able to come into the home of these women and teach them the fundamentals of maintaining good credit and how to build and maintain a budget.

1. Santa Ana Library at the Civic Center

THINK Together! is a nonprofit organization that is one of California’s leading providers of after-school programs. THINK Together! serves over 50,000 students at more than 200 schools and community centers throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Since the group focuses on partnering with parents and the community to help develop the education of children, we reached out to them to contact parents who are looking for tools to provide a brighter future for their children.

The Santa Ana Library offers educational programming for the community. The library’s common visitors from the nearby neighborhood includes lowincome high school students from Santa Ana. It hosts TeenSpace, a program for high school students that celebrated its second year this January. TeenSpace offers tutoring and after-school classes and activities for students seven days a week.

2. Sure Haven Sure Haven, a residential drug and alcohol addiction treatment program, provides a healthy environment where women can rebuild their lives. We reached out to this target audience because it works directly with our key audience of women recovering from substance abuse. We developed a great partnership with them and hosted a session at their location.

7. California Coast University in Santa Ana

3. The American Red Cross of Orange County

The overall mission of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America is to enable all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. These club locations provide activities, childcare, and educational programs for children in need. We connected with Nathan Chappelle, a Boys and Girls Clubs board member, to help us communicate with all the local Boys and Girls Clubs in the surrounding lowincome areas. This connection allowed us to distribute surveys to parents and to encourage financial literacy session attendance.

This is a humanitarian organization that provides relief from disasters and offers programs such as CPR and First Aid training. We reached out to this organization because of their reputation and available space in close proximity to our target zip codes.

4. Valley Vista Continuation High School This high school focuses on educating all students through individualized pathways. This allow students to succeed as they enter the real world. We reached out Valley Vista because its students include young mothers who are a part of CALSafe, a program for pregnant and parenting teens and their children.

Identifying Nonprofits & Organizations for Partnerships

5. YWCA Central Orange County First Steps Program— Beverly’s House

Prior to our financial literacy sessions, our team researched local nonprofits, schools, daycare centers

We reached out to Beverly’s House where women are in transitional stages in their life, which was one

6. THINK Together!

This college provides educational opportunities to people who have professional or personal commitments outside of college. We contacted this group to help us reach out to mothers who have limited access to financial literacy resources.

8. Boys and Girls Clubs of Orange County

9. Irvine Valley College This community college offers a gateway for students to complete their general requirements for an associates degree. By contacting Irvine Valley we tried to reach low-income women who are transitioning into adulthood and possibly taking on new responsibilities.

10. Santiago Canyon College in Orange Santiago Canyon’s goals are to plan, implement and evaluate educational progress within the college and the community. We reached out this college because it provides young women and potential young mothers, especially in the parent education classes.

11. Cypress College This college is committed to students education and success. Cypress encourages students to interact with the community. We decided to reach out this college because we could potentially reach young women and potential mothers.

12. Lincoln Continuation School This high school focuses on student goals’ with specialty regional occupational classes on topics such as nursing, finance, teaching and technology. Women enrolled at Lincoln Continuation are either pregnant or have children. We contacted Lincoln Continuation to try to build a partnership for financial literacy sessions.

13. Working Wardrobes Working Wardrobes empowers women who are in a transitional crisis, including those with little to no income. We contact this group because providing its women with a financial education would help them feel more confident working with their personal finances.

14. Addictions Victorious This is an organization that assists Christians who have suffered from substance abuse directly or indirectly. We contacted this program because its participants were a part of one of our target audiences.

15. Celebrate Recovery Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered program that provides men and women with a safe place to receive counseling for problems with substance abuse. This program is located in many churches within Orange County. We contacted churches with this organization in order to help people regain confidence in their finances and provide home for a stable future. 32

• Calvary Church of Santa Ana • Pacific Church of Irvine

group because we wanted to help these victims feel independent and be confident with their finances.

16. Orange County Adult Children of Alcoholics

22. WHW (Women Helping Women/Men2Work)

This is an organization that helps those who have been raised in a household where substance abuse was present. Through sharing experiences, they support one another to break through emotional barriers. We decided to contact ACA because we wanted to help people who have been affected by substances in order to help them grow.

The mission of Women Helping Women is to help low-income individuals become self-sufficient by developing life skills. We contacted this organization because we wanted to help these women learn to control their finances. We sought to develop a partnership that it would provide them with a great opportunity for a financial literacy session to help them take on new responsibilities with financial confidence.

17. Milestone Sober Living in Dana Point Milestone Sober Living assists people who are trying to break a substance abuse addiction. We contacted this group because it strives to improve its members’ lives to succeed in the real world.

18. Community Action Partnership of Orange County This is an organization that strives to eliminate poverty by educating members to become selfsufficient members of society. We contacted Community Action Partnership to reach women who are currently in a transitional stage of life.

19. Human Options Human Options strives to assist families and their community in order to break the cycle of domestic violence toward women. We tried to create a partnership to reach this group because they are going through a major transitional period within their life as they learn to live independently. It is important for them to feel confident with their finances.

23. Alano Club The Alano Club seeks to strengthen and educate those who have suffered from substance abuse. We reached out to this community because these women are likely transitioning into a new set of responsibilities as they learn to live differently. Our goal was to help these women through a partnership with Alano Club.

24. Casa Teresa Casa Teresa offers a transition home for women that also educates nonresident members on topics such as life skills, careers and budgeting. By contacting Casa Teresa, we hoped to enhance the group’s current program using the SmartEdge curriculum.

25. Orange County One Stop OC One Stop is a facility that offers training and workshops to benefit young people in planning for their future. We were in constant contact build a partnership with this group and its but were unsuccessful.

20. Women’s Opportunities Center

26. Mariposa Women and Family Center

The Women’s Opportunities Center assists women in advancing their career, educational and personal goals. This was the type of organization that was ideal for our team to reach our target audiences.

Mariposa Family Center provides mental health and substance abuse counseling while teaching life skills to its members. We contacted the center to provide these women with the skills they need to manage their finances and prepare to live independently.

21. Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County This organization has a program called DASH domestic violence clinics. These clinics help victims free themselves from domestic violence. We contacted this 33

27. Single Moms Making Ends Meet (Fountain Valley) Shannon Deane leads the Single Moms Making Ends Meet group in Fountain Valley, which offers

support and activities for families. This inspirational group is made up of single mothers faced with the challenge of raising and caring for a child in a singleparent household. The group provides tips on how to earn extra income and where to go for financial assistance. It allows mothers to develop a community of mutual support and understanding.

37. South Orange County Family Resource Center (SOCFRC)

28. MOMS Orange County

Other Groups:

MOMS Orange County’s goal is to assist new mothers in developing skills to enhance their parenting. We contacted this organization because one of our key publics includes single mothers. By reaching out to this community we hoped to educate new mothers about the importance of financial literacy.

The following is a list of preschools in low-income areas of Orange County that we contacted to help us promote our sessions. We spoke to key individuals at each site who could help spread our message to mothers who utilize their services. Overall, these groups were very receptive and willing to spread the word.

29. Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church MOPS helps mothers from various backgrounds understand their relationship with their child in their fundamental preschool years. Our goal was to reach out to MOPS to develop a financial literacy session for these women to help them support their families.

30. Orange Coast Mothers of Multiples This support group for mothers in Orange County provides great opportunities to develop skills and relationships with other mothers of twins, triplets or other multiples. We contacted this group because its members may be young, single or low-income.

35. The Beacon Church CommUNITY Resource Center The Beacon Church CommUNITY Resource Center in Santa Ana serves as a place for groups served by the church to gain guidance, assistance and access to resources that will improve their lives.

36. Parents Institute for Quality The Parents Institute for Quality is an organization that connects families, schools and the community as partners to advance the education of every child through parent engagement. The organization was created by Latino parents who wanted to make their children’s future education a priority.

SOCFRC focuses on the improvement of families and their communities by educating and providing resources. By contacting this center, we reached out to young mothers and their families who perhaps do not have the available resources to learn how to build good credit and create a budget.

• C athy’s Kids Club Preschool 1735 North Grand Avenue Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 832-2669 cathyskids.com • Plumfield Preschool & Kindergarten 2112 East Santa Clara Avenue Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 547-5771 plumfieldschool.com • A New Step Daycare and Preschool 2209 Richmond Street Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 648-0472 anewstepdaycare.com • Childtime 13881 North Prospect Avenue Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 544-6820 childtime.com Other groups we contacted for partnerships or promotions included mothers’ groups, parent education centers and community centers. These groups were either online clubs or structured support groups that met regularly. Many groups in this list were not as 34

responsive to our messaging as others. The groups we reached out to in this category include: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Laura’s House Catalina House for Women in Dana Point Orange County Rescue Mission in Tustin Friendship Shelter in Laguna Beach Adolescent and Family Life Program Mocha Moms Multiple Miracle Moms of Orange County Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program Parent Education Classes at the Orange Education Center Orange County Adoptive Parents Association Anaheim MOMS Club Irvine Central MOMS Club Westminster MOMS Club Melting Pot Moms OC Working Moms Group Mothers’ Club Family Learning Center St. John’s Lutheran of Orange Mesa Verde United Methodist Church College Hospital Costa Mesa

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Valley High School Century High School Cesar E. Chavez High School Godinez Fundamental High School Santa Ana High School Anaheim High school Cypress High School Gilbert High School (Continuation) Katella High School Kennedy High School Loara High School Magnolia High School Savanna High School

Identifying Companies for In-Kind Donations Our team viewed in-kind donations as an opportunity to further connect with the community by bringing companies and our target audiences together. 35

Offering donated refreshments for the sessions was part of our strategy for creating a comfortable, private setting for sessions that allowed attendees to open up about financial issues. We asked local companies near the session venues to donate what they could in an effort to bring them into the conversation and help them give back to their local communities. In addition, the companies that donated would be able to attract residents of the local communities to our sessions. We allowed the businesses to offer coupons next to their donated refreshments in a hope that attendees would be more attracted to support the local businesses as well. This created a mutually beneficial partnership.

gallons of lemonade, pitchers and cups. In addition, they offered extra discounts for people who attended our sessions. By collaborating with this company, we potentially created more awareness of this local business for people in the community to enjoy.

Polly’s Pies Restaurant Polly’s Pies is a family franchise that has been active in Southern California for many years. The restaurant is known for its home style cooking and helping the communities in which they reside. Our team reached out this company in order to promote their business. They were more than willing to assist us in our efforts on educating the community; however, due to time constraints they were unable to donate.

Alto Italia Alto Italia is a gourmet “fast food” Italian restaurant affiliated with Orange County’s top catering company Crème de la Crème. We contacted this restaurant as an incentive for people of the community to come to our session to receive a treat. They were willing to donate baked goods; however, they were unable to donate due to the time constraints.

Other local business we contacted include: Coffee Grinder The Coffee Grinder is a small café located in Tustin. We reached out to this café because it was located near a session that we held at the Red Cross. The café donated cups, coffee and thermoses to provide for over 50 people.

Cheesecakes by Jay Business owner and chef Jason Carrillo sells unique, gourmet cheesecakes to the Orange County area. He donated two gourmet cheesecakes to serve 20 attendees at our sessions.

Camille’s Sidewalk Café Camille’s Sidewalk Café is a casual restaurant located in Santa Ana. The café provided us with eight

• Pumper Pickle • Kean Coffee

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Tommy Pastrami Philly’s Best Thasos Greek Island Grille Round Table Pizza Paradise Bakery & Cafe Buccaneer Pizza Taqueria Carniceria Tapatia Z Pizza Rubino’s Pizza One More Pizza Yellow Basket Jaspers Bar and Grill Which Wich? Gail’s Grand Ave Lunch Co Pinehill Sandwiches Sandella’s Flatbread Cafe

Tailoring Sessions for Mothers: Offering Child Supervision In an effort to tailor our sessions to our attendees at certain sessions, we recognized the need to accommodate their children because many of our target audience members were young, single mothers. We provided children with a chance to learn about savings by creating a piggy bank that they were able to decorate, while talking about reasons they would like to save their money. Art materials were donated by a local Placentia preschool so that children could be engaged while their mothers participated in the sessions nearby. We provided a child supervision waiver to be sure that we took the necessary precautions to ensure the children’s safety. We branded the waiver to feature Ally and maintain the Bank On Your Character theme. To be sure that we followed the necessary precautions, we arranged for two CPR certified individuals with childcare experience to be available for the children. This served as extra comfort to the mothers. See a copy of the child supervision waiver on page 64. Our goal in providing the child supervision service was to remove the obstacle of needing to find a babysitter so mothers could feel free to come to a session. Offering child supervision was also important to allow mothers who brought their children to focus on the presentation and fully absorb the material. 36

dEVEloPing thEME & MESSAgES The core of our campaign was our theme and messaging. We were first inspired to use the Bank On Your Character theme when Beth Coggins and Jacqueline Howard from Ally Financial emphasized the concept of having character in terms of credit during the train-the-trainer session on January 25. Research into Marketing to Women by Marti Barletta confirmed that assuring women of their ability to take control of their actions is the most empowering message to convey in current times. Over the course of two team meetings, we developed a list of themes that included the word character in an inspirational phrase. These potential themes often included financial terms as well to tie in financial literacy and having character. Other theme concepts we explored include: Build Character

Power through Character

Have Character

Claim Character

Change Your Character

Establish Character

Your Character

Capitalize Character

Character Transition Bank on Character

Accumulate Character

Count on Character

Character Boost

Character Interest

Smart Character

Crediting Character Value of Character Character Value Worth of Character Character Confidence Formulate Character

Carrying Character Cashing in Character Honest Character Character Boost Cashing in Character Smart Character

Bargain for Character

Carrying Character

Forge Character

Live with Character

Generate Character

Bank with Character

Active Character

Stockpile Character

Compound Character Bankroll Character Build your Character Stock 37

Amass Character

We decided on Bank On Your Character because it communicated three key messages in one theme:

Bank On: to count on, trust in or depend on • It was important for us to connect with and empower women rather than speak down to them. Bank On Your Character is a theme that assures these women that they can take control of their actions and trust in themselves to make the right financial decisions for their families. These words also included a play on the word bank, which connected with Ally Financial.

ViSuAliZing bAnk on Your chArActEr Once we decided on our theme, we created a logo that would influence the rest of the promotional materials and multimedia. Our intent was to speak to women without talking down to them or being insensitive to their needs. We wanted our color

Your: indicating ownership; belonging to a single person • By injecting a more personal call to action with the word your, our team was able to connect on an individual level with women. The campaign is talking to each woman rather than a group, as was the focus of our campaign from beginning to end. The theme says that they can trust in themselves and do not need anyone else to make financial decisions for them.

Character: moral or ethical qualities or other traits of a person; In terms of credit, character is an individual’s ability and willingness to pay back his or her debts • Focusing on our audiences’ character was an opportunity to connect financial responsibility with personal responsibility, morals and qualities. We proved the significance of financial literacy by showing that it is part of a self-sufficient lifestyle. This connection was the core of our message for low-income Orange County women who are seeking the tools to make the right decisions for themselves.

officiAl bAnk on Your chArActEr logo 2

Invest in Character Coined Character Character Transaction

palette to be bold yet feminine without resorting to pinks. We also rejected the color red because it can be associated with debt. Following a few meetings about colors and imagery, we developed several logo concepts to choose the best one:

3 5

Each of the above explorations had merit, but many included shapes that appeared too juvenile or typography that was too thin or thick to balance feminine and bold. We chose our logo for its ability to strike this balance: 1. Title stands out in a tall, bold sans serif font set in a deep purple, which is feminine without being childish. 2. The number one emphasizes individual responsibility. As it points

up and to the right, it stands moving forward with confidence. 3. Coin imagery connects with banking and the silver offers a contrasting background for the bold arrows. 4. Arrows wrap around coin to point back to the word your, signifying that financial literacy and responsibility all come back to your decisions. 5. The word your is key for our theme. It stands out in bright green and a feminine but bold script font. 38

ProMotionS And outrEAch Flyers & Postcards Bank On Your Character was built around the concept of creating face-to-face contact and establishing relationships with our female target audiences. By personally distributing postcards and flyers to organizations in Orange County, we reached out to specific community leaders. For example, while at the Church of the Nazarene, we were able to speak with the two pastors and their wives about our

SociAl MEdiA sessions. By creating relationships with these leaders we were able to gain the trust of community members and increase our credibility. By using postcards we were able to tailor the information for each session. We used the overall theme of Bank On Your Character on the glossy front sides of each card and then used stickers on the backs to provide information about the time and location of individual sessions closest to the postcard recipients. POSTCARD FRONT

FLYER

POSTCARD BACK

Our team used social media as a promotional and educational tool to communicate with target audiences and expand our campaign during the two weeks of our sessions from February 24—March 8. We did not choose to make social media as much of a heavy influence in our campaign as face-to-face meetings, phone calls and printed flyers because our research showed that many of our target audiences could be difficult to reach online. According to the Department of Library and Information Sciences University of North Texas, “low-income communities are often only able to access the Internet through public library outlets [because] they may not have the financial resources to set up a computer at home and install Internet service” (Du, 2010). Many members of our low-income audiences in Orange County were Latinos, who are statistically less likely (55 percent) than whites (75 percent) to have a home internet connection (Pew Hispanic Center, 2011). In addition, women living in transitional housing may also have limited access to the Internet due to restrictions placed on them by the homes and recovery management teams. However, we did see an opportunity to use online communication tools to reach groups who use their cell phones, libraries or other inexpensive resources to access the Internet. Latinos and other minorities are more likely to use their cell phones for Internet access, with 40 percent reporting that they do so regularly due to the affordability of cell phone data plans (Pew Hispanic Center, 2011). In order to reach these resourceful Internet users, we used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to share promotional messaging about our sessions as well as real-time financial advice from the SmartEdge curriculum.

could contribute to our online conversations from one easy-to-manage multiple user social network account. This was a unique time-saving tool that allowed us to quantify our message output and track followers.

Twitter Account Our Twitter page, @bankoncharacter, was our most heavily used social media outlet. We followed 69 users, and 38 individuals and organizations chose to follow our tweets. We offered 76 tweets to these followers over the course of two weeks between February 23—March 8.

Breakdown of Tweeted Content

We used the HootSuite management client to compose, prioritize and schedule tweets and Facebook updates. With HootSuite, each member of our team 39

Rather than build a network of followers who were not a part of our target audiences or who would not benefit from our messaging, we stayed committed to developing a network of single women, mothers and organizations that fit our target audiences. Most of our followers were single mothers looking to make ends meet for their families.

Photo Courtesy of Life and Loves of Trisha Jones

Photo Courtesy of @CoachJenYoung on TwitPic

Photo Courtesy of 247moms.blogspot.com

Below is a sampling of some of the messages we shared with our followers on Twitter:

Trisha Jones ( ) is a mother of two living in Orange County who runs a blog in which she shares stories of exploring Southern California with her 4-year-old. Her blog and Twitter link to sites such as Parenting OC, OC Mom Activities and SoCal Family Connection, which made her an important connection for our campaign as we sought to

YouTube Channel Below is a sampling of some of the messages we shared with our fans on Facebook:

promote and educate women.

Jennifer Young ( ) is a single mom from Orange County who is also a national child support advocate, author and businesswoman. She often tweets about how to receive child support and how failing to pay child support can affect oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s credit and permanent records.

Facebook Account We were very active on the Bank On Your Character Facebook page, with 38 Facebook updates and messages sent between Feb. 23â&#x20AC;&#x201D;March 8. We garnered a total of 2495 impressions with these updates, with the average update achieving 67 views.

Our team used a branded Bank On Your Character YouTube Channel to showcase our teaser trailer as a promotional and educational tool. The teaser trailer received 228 views and eight Likes. We also received two comments on the video and one comment on our YouTube Channel. Many viewers were referred to the YouTube video page from our other sites. Twenty viewers clicked through to the video from Facebook and nine clicked links on our tweets. Twenty-five viewers reached the YouTube video on their mobile devices, which correlated with our research that showed that many low-income groups more likely to use their cell phones for Internet access.

) is a Trisha Novotny ( mother of five kids ages seven to 19. She hosts the #1 Weekly MOM Live webcast 247moms.blogspot. com that airs each Tuesday night with tips for mothers to save time and money while providing educational opportunities for their children, regardless of age.

multimedia Video Content We aimed to construct a comfortable environment in which our target audiences would be able to fully absorb information at each session. We realized that we needed to tailor sessions to specific audiences and saw an opportunity to overcome this challenge by creating original, relatable content. One tactic for this was to create an introductory video that could engage attendees at the beginning of each session. We interviewed knowledgeable individuals in the community to better understand the importance of financial literacy. Among these interviewees were Hank Adler, a professor of accounting at Chapman University; Jeanette Storey, director of development at an Orange County non-profit who also has an MBA in finance; and Janelle Maluenda, a 23-year-old single mother living in Orange County. We used the responses to create an introduction video for our sessions. By creating this video, we increased credibility for the Bank On Your Character campaign and our team as a financial resource by including the support and advice of finance professionals. Including the thoughts from local mothers also made a personal connection with the young mothers in each audience as we saw them perk up with each mention of motherhood.

Bank On Your Character Introduction Video

We designed our full length intro video to address the importance of being financially educated, why it affects every person, and what trouble areas are specific to women in transition. We inserted various responses from each interviewee and compiled the most compelling ideas about financial education. This resulted in a video that instantly engaged our attendees and set the tone for our sessions.

“

Orange County who don’t have access to information about finances. It’s long been assumed that a woman’s husband is the After spending 35 years as a partner at Deloitte and Touche, Hank Adler is now a professor of Accounting at Chapman University. Adler was also previously a board member of Hoag Hospital Memorial Presbyterian. His extensive financial planning experience in these areas has resulted in a high level of financial expertise. In the video, Adler explained the importance of financial literacy to individuals and how everything in life is related to financial decisions.

“

You really can’t do anything

without knowing the financial

implications. Whether it’s what type of job you get or where you rent your apartment, financial literacy is a baseline for every person to learn

”

how to survive in this country. —hank adler 43

There are a lot of women in

caregiver and maintainer of finances, but a lot of women are single mothers who need to

”

manage the family finances entirely. —jeanette storey

As the director of development for Healthy Smiles OC, a non-profit that provides oral care to children in need, Jeanette Storey has experienced many aspects of financial planning for organizations. As the single mother of a 5-year-old son, she also uses her knowledge from her MBA in finance to make good financial decisions for her family. In the video, Storey discussed her experiences with financial hardships as a young woman and a mother. She compares these experiences to what many women in Orange County experience and advises them about how they should approach the acquisition of a financial education. She makes note of the specific challenges women face in obtaining necessary financial resources.

Janelle Maluenda is a 23-year-old single mother of a 2-year-old daughter. She graduated from Chapman University and is currently an instructional aid at special education school for autistic children. In the video, Maluenda shared details of her financial struggles as a single mother. She discusses taking out a credit card and building up a significant amount of debt when she was younger. Now that she is a mother, she recognizes the need for financial knowledge and responsibility. She has financed a vehicle on her own and is pursuing the goal of buying her daughter a home. She referenced many of the concepts we discussed in the sessions, shared her biggest financial concerns and touched on the most valuable areas of financial literacy in her own life.

“

Understanding financial literacy is important because even though you want to live in a world that revolves around your love for

family and child...it comes down to money. Without that knowledge you aren’t going to be able to make the

”

right financial decisions. —janelle maluenda

Bank On Your Character Teaser Trailer Video Our team developed another video with similar clips from our interviews to use for promotional purposes.

Character YouTube channel so that all other online sources where viewers could be seeking information about the campaign could link to our channel.

This teaser trailer video was sent via email to our contacts, target groups, and potential partnership organizations. It became a critical tool in order to win champions for our campaign. The teaser trailer was also a great way to introduce ourselves and increase familiarity within our targeted communities. We also included the teaser trailer on the Bank On Your

The video included clips of our team defining financial literacy and its importance as well as inviting viewers to attend a session. We supported our statements with clips from our research interviews. The video concludes with one of our team members offering the viewers the opportunity attend a session for a financial education that could improve their livelihood.

What is financial literacy? Team Member: Brianna “Financial literacy is just a fancy way of saying having a financial education. Being able to understand fundamental money— related concepts that will allow you to open bank accounts, manage credit cards, plan for mortgages, car payments and budgeting is all a part of financial literacy. You owe it to yourself and your family to make good, sound financial decisions.”

Why is it so important?

Team Prezi Presentation for Sessions Prezi is an online application that serves as a more interactive presentation. Rather than a traditional, static slide show, Prezi shows audience members how concepts connect with one another through zooming. We built our presentation’s slides in one large circle and were able to zoom in and out as well as around the circle during each session. Zooming helped emphasize

certain points, and the circular motion mirrored our round logo and showed that everything was related. We chose to use Prezi because it served as a creative medium to display information in order to keep the audience engaged. Audience members expressed their curiosity on the innovative presentation that we created through this application.

Team Member: Kristen “Being financial literate and having a basic understanding of how to handle money is extremely important. Being able to prove your character by paying back your debts, making payments on time, and saving for important stages in life is a part of being financially literate. Having character means taking responsibility for your decisions and being able to plan for a successful future.”

How can you improve your life through financial literacy? Team Member: Colleen “You can have this access. Ally Financial is hosting a free financial literacy seminar near you. We’d like to invite you to learn about fundamental financial concepts like how to specifically plan for budgets, manage credit, find specific ways to improve your credit and to learn how to Bank On Your Character.”

third PArtY onlinE ProMotionS

OC Mom Magazine is an independent online publication with more than 16,500 visitors and 50,000 monthly page views. According to the publication’s media kit, its readers include residents of the top six cities we targeted throughout our campaign: Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Anaheim, Garden Grove, Placentia and Orange. The Bank On Your Character campaign had two postings on the website’s event calendar.

OCCityMommy is a membership-only local community website for mothers. The website was started in 2007 and has since developed an active message board and several groups that meet up around the county for playdates and educational opportunities. We posted a promotional message on the group’s message board during one of OCCityMommy’s “free ad days” during which local businesses and organizations are allotted time to promote their upcoming events. The ad received 47 views.

EMAil outrEAch

We emailed clubs, nonprofits and businesses that serve low- to middle-income women and mothers in Orange County to raise awareness about our campaign, messaging and specific sessions. We also sent out our project proposal to educate organizations about the need financial literacy in Orange County and how our team was looking for partnerships to help us reach our target audiences.

We connected with Shannon Deane, the leader of Single Moms Making Ends Meet. This group from Fountain Valley uses Meetup.com to contact each other about chances to get together and ways to ease the financial burdens of caring for a family. group in Fountain Valley, Calif. An email promoting our two sessions at the American Red Cross of Orange County was emailed to the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 178 members.

implementation Valley Vista Continuation High School

• Participation in quiz; group scored 100 percent • Students were especially attentive during video

Challenges • Fitting presentation into short class periods • Restriction on bringing food for the class • Restriction on taking pictures for privacy concerns

The American Red Cross of Orange County

In our two sessions with Valley Vista Continuation High School in Fountain Valley, we found our presentation would need to be tailored to teen mothers who are pregnant or have children. We made our session very interactive rather than just a lecture-style presentation to keep them engaged and to give them examples that relate to their lifestyles. We encouraged our audience to participate if they had questions on anything we were discussing. We used a conversational tone for our presentation. One of the best strategies we used was the topic of mascara versus diapers since it was young mothers who still cared about their looks, but need to budget for essential items like diapers. Before we explained the importance of wants versus needs in the budget section of our presentation, we asked the attendees what the most essential item in their budget was. The two top answers were food and diapers, which was eye-opening for us as we were able to learn a bit about their spending habits and tailor our messaging specifically for their needs. We received detailed feedback about personal concerns from our audience.

Successes • Ability to connect with students

Challenges • Location was not connected to an organization that worked specifically with our key audiences

YWCA of Central Orange County First Steps Program—Beverly’s House The session with Beverly’s House in Orange had a intimate setting since it was located in a house. One obstacle we faced was setting up the large projector screen in the living room area in a position that would allow us to properly align it to the projector itself. This session was successful because we were able to create a comfortable and secure atmosphere were the women were able to ask personal questions. Drawing from personal experiences, the women were able to help one another to come up with solutions to their financial issues.

of our presentation to attend our session, but a few of the women who did participate in our training session were also feeling ill. Their willingness to listen to our presentation and interact with us despite feeling sick showed us that they felt it was important to learn how to manage their personal finances.

Successes • Attendees’ willingness to share personal stories • Comfortable atmosphere

Challenges • Many of the residents expected to attend were ill

Santa Ana Public Library

Successes The American Red Cross of Orange County in Santa Ana provided a room for us to hold two sessions on Saturday, March 5. These sessions were promoted through our flyers and our use of social media. A major challenge we faced was the location of the Red Cross facility. Although the facility was in Santa Ana and close to many organizations that served our key audiences, we did not have the advantage of being in a location that our targeted audiences go to on a regular basis. These sessions required people to make a special trip to see our presentation, which we discovered was not the best way to deliver our message. We found that our key audiences responded better to having us bring our presentation to them in an environment where they already felt comfortable.

Successes • Drinks provided by Coffee Grinder and Camille’s Cafe • Translator and child supervision assistant were on time and ready to help

• Ability to connect with our audience • Lively discussion in which attendees shared stories and answered each other’s questions

Challenges • Putting up the projector screen • Restriction on taking pictures for privacy concerns

Sure Haven Sure Haven has three homes for residents in its treatment program, and the women from all three locations come together to meet as an entire group on a regular basis. We held our session at the “Darrell” home in Costa Mesa during one of the large group meeting times. This session was held in the living room, which provided a relaxed atmosphere for our presentation. The residents were very open to sharing their own financial experiences with us as we went through our presentation, which helped illustrate how the concepts we were discussing directly related to them. These young women were outgoing and seemed to feel comfortable talking to us as their equals. A number of the residents were feeling too ill on the day

The library had a community center for high school and college students, where we held our session. This session had a cozy atmosphere as the room was filled to capacity. A major accomplishment of this session was its conversational mood as the students were eager to ask questions about how to build credit, limit credit card debt, and budgeting. Students were willing to ask questions, laugh and learn about something they have never discussed in the classroom. They asked insightful questions and were engaged.

Successes • Ability to connect with the students • Drinks and food provided

Challenges • A small lecture room 52

session structure

Example Presentation Outline

Session Checklist

Additionally, we followed a basic outline to discuss the budget and credit modules of the SmartEdge curriculum. We decided that the budgeting module was more important and immediate for all of our target audiences so we rearranged the presentation. Below is a basic script for our financial literacy sessions.

Although we worked to tailor each financial literacy session to the specific women in attendance, we were sure to follow a basic structure so that every group received the same quality of education as well as opportunities to ask questions and share stories. Below is a list of what we included in each session: • A target audience and partnering organization • Signs and other visual cues (such as balloons) to help attendees find session location • Introduction video • Information cards • Prezi presentation • Anecdotes about ourselves to prove our authenticity and credibility as presenters • SmartEdge workbooks and pens • Promotional material online and offline • A photographer to document both the sessions and the childcare • Evaluation materials, including feedback cards • Confirmation with the organization on the following items three days before sessions: • Confirm time, date and location • Preview the room for the session • Logistical planning for audio and visual setup • Arrangement of tables and chairs to encourage group discussion • Confirm refreshments donations • Confirm child supervision arrangements • Ask for permission for photography • Child supervision including: • CPR certified people to supervise • A financial literacy themed activity of building piggy banks and talking about saving goals • Child-safe materials for the activity, such as paper, crayons and piggy bank supplies • Clean-up materials 53

they change but according to a known schedule like a rent, car, or mortgage payment. • Variable expenses are expenses that take place on a regular basis and are consistent and predictable, but the amounts change, like a utilities bill, a phone bill, or a credit card bill. • Flexible expenses are expenses that occur by choice and will power. These are subject to change based on what you choose to do. For example, choosing whether or not you go to a movie on a Friday night. If you choose to go, do you also buy popcorn? Maybe a soda? These are all expenses you can control.

Bri’s Section: Budgeting What You Need to Know A budget is the building block for everything else you will learn. Learning how to create and manage a budget correctly is very important. • You need to understand the various parts of a budget and how they affect your overall spending. • It’s also very important to understand how any large payments on items like vehicles can affect your monthly budget. Plan for these big expenses first to make sure you have enough budgeted. • The key to budgeting is learning to live within your means. Knowing your budget inside and out so that you are comfortable making purchase decisions and planning successfully for your future is what financial literacy is all about.

Key Terms Here are some key terms that will help you to better understand the process of creating a budget: • Budget: a tool to measure your expenses against your income. It’s a written plan that helps people to manage their money. • Down Payment: This is an initial payment for something, usually a large amount that you will usually put down for a car or a big ticket item. A down payment is used to reduce the amount financed for the item.

Three Types of Expenses • Fixed expenses are expenses that are due at a particular time or on a regular schedule. The amounts for these expenses remain the same or

Two Types of Income • Gross Income: This is the total amount of money you earn before taxes and payroll deductions are subtracted. • Net income: This is your gross income minus taxes and payroll deductions, and this equals your take-home pay.

What to Consider

Creating a budget means asking yourself: • How much income do I have coming in? • How much is going out? • How much is left over for major purposes?

Be sure to consider your net income when putting your budget together. This is your take-home pay. It’s gross income minus taxes and payroll deductions.

Preparing to Create a Budget When you begin to create your budget you need to prepare by collecting all of your bills. This includes credit card statements, your checkbook register and any other receipts from any purchases. Then you need to make a checklist like the one in your workbook.

Kristen’s Section: Budgeting Creating a Budget: Track Your Expenses You will need to collect all your bills and receipts and track it all to see spending patterns over time.

This may take a few months to see patterns in your expenses: fixed, variable and flexible. Even if you buy something small like a latte, make sure to take that receipt and put it away in an envelope to track in a notebook or using computer budgeting software. It’s important to be able to see all your costs, even things that are billed less frequently like taxes or insurance. As you record every receipt, see how you can prioritize your expenses. Make sure you have money set aside for the very bare bones essentials in your life like food and shelter and then move on to other essentials like utilities such as electricity and water for your home. Next see how your income can go toward expenses such as insurance and other less important expenses. [Chart on Prezi] This chart is an example of what the average family spend their money on. As you can see they spend the majority of their money on the top three essentials: housing, food, and a car to transport them to and from work. Everything else is minimized to make space in the budget for essentials. Notice how little they budget for recreational expenses and clothing. If you notice that you are spending too much on something like new clothes each season, think about whether or not it needs to be a priority in your budget.

Understanding Needs vs. Wants This brings us to the next topic of understanding the difference between expenses you need to spend money on and those things you simply want. A want is something that you desire but can live without. Could you live without buying a latte at Starbucks? Yes, you can choose to make your coffee at home. Can you afford to miss the next big movie? Yes. You may want to see it, but you don’t need to. A need is something that you must have for basic survival. This means a roof over your head and food to

eat, plus basic necessities such as running water. You need to be able to provide these things for yourself and your family more than anything else.

“Pay Yourself First” Means “Save, Then Spend” On page 27 in your workbook, it covers the concept of paying yourself first. This means that the best practice is saving money and then spending what you have left only after making sure that some of your take-home pay is securely put into a savings account. Decide on an amount of your income, about 5-10%, to put into a savings account on a regular basis. By paying yourself first, you get an orderly way to make your money grow while sitting in the bank. That can really pay off in the long run! Plan for the unexpected, like if you got sick or lose your job. Financial experts suggest you save about 6 months worth of expenses to have just in case. As you can imagine, this takes time to build up. It’s best to start working toward this goal.

Finding Room in Your Budget This is one of the biggest things people are always interested in learning about when talking about budgeting: how can I make space in my budget for more stuff? First, always research your purchases. If you are going to buy a car, research online and elsewhere to make sure the car you get is the best model for you and to make sure you are getting the best price. Before you head to the grocery store or to Target, look and see if there are any coupons for what you’ll be buying. Know and stick to your budget, especially with larger ticket items. If you are going to get a car, make sure you can afford the payments. You don’t want to buy or rent something if you cannot pay for it. Read the details on all advertisements and coupons before you get to the checkout. Imagine going to the store to save money on soup just to find out you have to buy 30 cans of soup just to get a percentage off! You 55

likely don’t want or need that much soup and it renders the coupon useless. Look through your budget and all your receipts and see if there is an expense that you can cut, such as going to the movies a lot. Or, take your lunch to work or school instead of buying something there.

Budgeting Resources to Help You Build Your Budget Finally you want to make sure you can stick to your budget, and if you have an online program to help you keep track, you’ll likely be more motivated to do it than if you are stuck using a pen and paper. Here are some resources you can use that are free to help you build and maintain your budget: • Mint.com: You use this website to log into your online backing accounts or enter in your expenses annually and it will help you by offering personalized budgeting calculators and suggestions as to how you can save money or how much you should expect to spend based on your past spending habits. • The website for your workbook is the name of your workbook: www.SmartEdgebyGMAC.com. You can go there to learn more, watch videos, learn at your own pace and even take a test to get certified that you mastered all of its information. • Other websites are listed in your book.

Allen’s Section: Credit • What you need to know about credit: • What is involved in applying for credit • Creditworthiness and the purpose of credit records • How creditworthiness affects our and your ability to get credit • How and why credit reporting agencies maintain credit reports • How to obtain your personal credit report • What a credit score is and how it is determined • How to avoid or correct credit problems

• What consumer protection laws are related to credit

Credit has More than One Meaning Credit is defined as allowing you to buying it now and paying for it later. An example would be you try to buy something that you really need but do not have the money in cash to buy it right now. Another definition is a person’s reputation for paying bills when it is due.

Three Types of Credit • Short-term/30-day open account: this is credit that you use to borrow money and promise to repay in equal amounts over a specific period of time. Example: Jennifer signs an auto loan in which he pays the lender $600 each month for six years. • Installment/closed-end credit: This is credit that allows you to borrow a pre-established amount repeatedly as long as your account is in good standing. You repay the amount borrowed in full or make a partial payment that is subject to interest and/or fees. Example: Jennifer signs up for a credit card. She uses it to make purchases and at the end of each month, she receives her bill. She has the option to pay off the balance in full or make the monthly minimum payment. • Revolving/open-end credit: This type of credit requires that all money borrowed must be repaid in full every month. Example: Jennifer has different credit card to pay her rent expenses. Each month, when she receives the bill, she provides it to pay off the entire balance in full amount.

The Importance of Good Credit • Your employment because some employment requires a credit report and also poor credit could mean no offer on a job. • Your living accommodations, landlords regularly request credit information for applicants looking for apartments, and landlords don’t want people who do not pay their bills

• Your Finance Rate, since individuals with better credit histories can deal lower finance rates than those in greater credit risks. • Your Convenience, like renting a car, making hotel reservations are much more easier to handle with a credit card • You need a credit history because creditors have limited basis on which to make decision about whether or not to give you credit

Consequences of Bad credit • You may be charged a late fee ranging from a few dollars to a percentage of the balance due • Your credit card could be frozen since you can’t make any purchase • You could be denied services by being late on utility bills or rent, also will have to pay any unpaid balances and expensive fees to reconnect with your services • You could face legal action like garnishing your wages, where you employer is forced to send a portion of your pay to the creditor before you get your check • You could lose your property such as car or home since creditors have the power to seize, repossess or foreclose them

Key Terms Let’s take turns reading and discussing the definitions of the key terms in your workbook.

What’s a Credit Report? A credit report contains information about you and your payment history, collected and organized by a credit reporting agency. It is available to those who are considering granting you credit.

What Does your Credit Report Say? • Do you pay your bills on time? • How many credit obligations (such as credit cards and loans) do you have? • What is the total amount of credit that been extend to you? 56

• How much do you actually owe on all of your accounts?

How Credit Report Information is Collected? When you are granted with credit or develop a payment history, all your information is collected by three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, Transunion. They collect, sort and sell the information all over the country. Your current and potential creditors can then buy the credit report and evaluate whether or not to approve or deny your credit.

It is important to check your credit report regularly. You can receive a copy of your credit report every 12 months for free. If you look in your workbook, you will be able to see how to contact the three major credit reporting agencies. The easiest way would probably be to visit their websites. It is really important when you receive your credit report that you review all of the information that is provided. It is rare but possible that there could be a mistake and it is essential that you contact the credit reporting agency immediately. You want to include: • Name and address • Identify the incorrect information with a consumer statement with more detailed information • Provide documentation that will serve as proof • Request a correction of the discrepancy

Colleen’s Section: Credit There are several key components that are included in your credit report. They include: • Your personal information for example your name, social security number, address and employment history. • Then there are public records such as tax liens which are imposed if you do not pay income or property taxes, monetary judgments and overdue child support • Included is also your account information about each credit account you have open. They will include information such as debt, balance, and when you make payments. • Your credit report will tell you who is asking for your credit history. Even though your credit report contains some personal information, there are several things that are not included in your credit report include your: • • • • • • •

Race Religion Lifestyle choices Relatives Medical History Criminal Record Information about other accounts

Credit Scores range from 300 to 850, the higher the score you receive the better. Factors that influence your credit score include: • Requests for new credit • Types of credit in use • Length of credit history • Current total debt, and • Payment history If you look on the graph on page 12 on your workbook you are able to see how much each factor contributes to your cumulative score.

In the end you want to make sure that you: • Pay your bills on time • Have a small amount of debt • Don’t have a lot of open credit, like having too many credit cards • Prove your character by paying your bills on time

Sabrina’s Section: Credit Why Creditors Approve or Deny Your Credit Creditors are taking a financial risk when they extend credit to you. They want to know how much

of a financial risk you are, and they look at your credit history to evaluate how your risk level. A co-signer (usually a parent or spouse) may be able to sign the finance contract with you to help make up for any credit weaknesses you may have. If you decide to have a co-signer, the creditor will evaluate your co-signer’s and your creditworthiness both individually and combined. A co-signer is equally responsible for the contract and the account history can be reflected on the co-signer’s credit history as well. When you apply for credit with a co-signer it is even more important that you pay off your loan because it impacts both your credit and your cosigner’s credit. Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act you must be notified within 30 days of completing your application if your request for credit has been approved or not. If credit is denied, you must be notified in writing and specific reasons must be given or you must be told of your right to ask for an explanation. Denial of credit could be from something simple like not being employed or not living long enough in the community, or it could be because you have too many outstanding debts.

ask for a reduced or delayed payment plan. Let your creditors know you are willing to pay your obligations, but don’t make promises you can’t keep. Most creditors are willing to work with you if you give them a realistic payment plan and follow through as promised. Find a professional nonprofit credit counseling service to help you organize your finances, set up a realistic budget, and understand the wise use of credit. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling can help you find the closest Consumer Credit Counseling Service to you. CCCS is a nonprofit organization that offers confidential counseling and helps create a debt management plan for a small fee. Beware of fee-based credit repair clinics because they cannot do anything for you that you cannot do yourself for free.

You can improve your creditworthiness by: • Paying off past due accounts • Bring past due accounts up to date and keep them that way • Close unused accounts, and • Writing a brief explanation (such as long-term unemployment) if you’ve had poor performance so it can be included on future credit reports.

Signs of Credit Problems Exercise

Consumer Protection Laws

Have the audience turn to page 15 in their workbooks and read over the bullet points. Tell them to check any of the statements that apply to them. Once they have checked any applicable statements, explain that if they have checked three or more statements they are probably headed for financial trouble.

There are a number of consumer protection laws in place to protect you. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination related to credit because of your sex, race, color, marital status, religion, national origin, or age, and also prohibits discrimination related to credit if you are receiving public assistance.

How to Get on the Right Track

You can look at pages 18—20 in your workbook to read about other consumer protection laws.

The most important thing you can do to improve your credit is to pay your bills on time. If you feel you are heading toward serious financial difficulty, take action to fix the problem immediately by contacting your creditors to explain your situation and

Credit Review Now that you’ve learned about credit, test your knowledge with the quiz on pages 21 and 22 in your workbook. Let’s go over the quiz together as a group.

EVAluAtion Session Attendance and CRA information A total of 51 people attended Bank On Your Character financial literacy seminars. We distributed individual information cards so that attendees could provide their personal information without feeling as though their privacy was being violated. Those cards indicate that 37 percent of our attendees reside in the zip code 92708, 12 percent live in zip code 92626 and an additional 12 percent reside in zip code 92706. Addresses of attendees are listed on page 62.

Session Feedback from Attendees Our team used small feedback cards collected from each session attendee to evaluate our strengths and weaknesses during the presentations. Feedback cards were small and unintimidating so attendees would be willing to fill them out knowing the task would not take too long.

I learned to start saving, make During this session, were you exposed to any new financial terms or concepts?

98 percent of our audience said yes. Do you feel that you have a better understanding of general financial concepts after attending this session? 100 percent of our audience said yes. Was the atmosphere for this workshop comfortable for you? 100 percent of audience members said yes. These anonymous feedback cards were a precise method of evaluating our successes. With 98 percent of our audiences responding that they were exposed to new financial terms and concepts, we know that we were successful in tailoring the content of the sessions to meet the specific needs of these audience members. Every single attendee reported that they felt comfortable during the sessions, and that they have a better understanding of financial concepts after hearing the presentation. With this level of positive feedback, we are confident that our efforts to tailor the sessions to make these women feel comfortable enough to ask tough questions and truly absorb the material was a success.

I learned how to budget, collect my Overall, we received excellent feedback on our sessions. A full 100 percent of session attendees felt that they had a better understanding of financial concepts after attending our sessions. Most feedback respondents wrote notes to say that they had learned it was more important to spend money on needs, such as food and housing, versus wants, like entertainment. 59

receipts and monitor my spending. —session attendee On the feedback cards near the multiple choice question that asked if they felt comfortable during the sessions, some chose to write in an additional comment expressing that they felt very comfortable and enjoyed the session.

good decisions and not to spend too much on what I cannot afford. —session attendee I learned to start paying off credit cards so my credit will not be ruined for life. —session attendee This positive feedback showed us that we made an impact on the attendees of our training sessions. They learned how important it is to make good financial decisions. We created a dialogue about credit and budgeting that we hope they will continue with others.

Session Feedback from Partners & Contacts Within a week of each session, we followed up with our main contacts at each partnering organization or session venue to ask them what their impression of our sessions was after we left. Many had discussed Bank On Your Character sessions at length with the attendees in our absence and were able to summarize the impact we made on the lives of the women who attended. Their feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

We have been discussing budget, etc. and [students] either bring up what you talked about or we refer to your presentation. You are the first group we have had to speak about financial literacy. Your group seemed to relate to our young mothers and the information you shared was very valuable. It was, of course, an introduction to the “real” world of financial responsibilities for them. It gave them a lot to think about. It was definitely beneficial!

They felt that not only was it very informative but it was straight to the point and they really liked that aspect of it. They felt comfortable with the information given and the presenters as well. Many of them said that they have not had a financial session like that before and the ones that have had financial advice/sessions said they liked the information about alternative budgeting techniques like mint.com. I feel this was a valuable resource that was brought to Beverly’s House and feel that the girls definitely benefited from hearing your presentation. Thank you so much for coming here and sharing this with our residents. We greatly appreciate it.

—lily nguyen, resident advisor, ywca of central orange county first steps program—beverly’s house The girls said they really enjoyed the lecture and that they learned a lot from it! All of them felt very comfortable with you ladies as well. We had not had anyone come do a financial literacy lecture before. As case managers we do try to help the ladies with those things to the best of our abilities but I think it made more of an impact to have you all, who specialize in that area, do the lecture on it. It is a very valuable resource especially because when we begin drinking and using in our diseases, any emotional growth and/or life skills to be learned stops. So when we get sober, we must relearn all of those basic life skills.

—ashley schewe, case manager, sure haven

—kathi richey, calsafe teacher, valley vista continuation high school

budget overview

cra information

Budget Breakdown

budget item

date of receipt

description

estimated amount

SurveyMonkey.com subscription

February 4, 2011

Online survey distributed for original research

Postcards

February 16, 2011

200 ct. printed at www.uprinting. com for promotional purposes.

4 Boxes of cookies (Costco)

March 4, 2011

Refreshments for attendees: Assorted Cookies

$6.79 x 4=$27.16

1 Box of cookies (Costco)

March 8, 2011

Refreshments for attendees: Assorted Cookies

$6.79

Balloons and table clothes

March 5, 2011

Decorations for sessions: PartyCity supplies

$14.10

Label sticker paper from Staples

February 25, 2011

Stickers used for backs of 200 ct. postcards to personalize message

$39.11

$23.99 x 2=$47.98 $56.73

Total: $191.87 In-Kind Donations

donated item

date of donation description

value

Lemonade

March 5, 2011

Drinks and cups provided by Camilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sidewalk Cafe

$128.00

Coffee

March 5, 2011

Coffee and cups provided by Coffee Grinder

$74.75

2 Cheesecakes

March 4, 2011

Assorted cheesecake provided by Cheesecakes by Jay

$60.00

Total: $262.75

1. Nora Mar 417 S. Mountain View St. #B Santa Ana, CA 92704 2. Edwina Thompson 143 North Grand St. Orange, CA 92866 3. Maribel De Lao 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 4. Star Zamudio 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 5. Carly Clement 1965 Orange Ave. Costa Mesa, CA 92726 6. Tania Salmeron 7926 12th St. Westminster, CA 92683 7. Yanet Tlatelpa 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 8. Mario Teller 15520 Tustin Village Way, Tustin, CA 92780 9. Mollie Meyers 924 Dahlia St. Costa Mesa, CA 92626 10. Arronlea Stewart 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 11. Tanya Acosta 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 12. Grace Harlem 871 Darrel St. Costa Mesa CA 92626 13. Tamika Jones 871 Darrel St. Costa Mesa CA 92626 14. Sarah Grantham 871 Darrel St. Costa Mesa CA 92626 15. Brijae Wallace Bryant Circle Westminster, CA 928683 16. Veronica Medrano 143 North Grand St. Orange, CA 92866 17. Dalena Nguyen 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 18. Alma Rodriguez 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 19. Liza Coyazo 143 North Grand St. Orange, CA 92866 20. Cecelia Hortado 2105 N. Forest Ave. Santa Ana, CA 92706 21. Diana Cruz 2102 N. Spruce St. Santa Ana, CA 92706 22. Victor Hugo Ayala 12721 Harbor Blvd. #41 Garden Grove, CA 92840 23. Joanne Luevano 1601 W. Civic Center APT. 40 Santa Ana, CA 92703 24. Ashley Adkins 143 North Grand St. Orange, CA 92866 25. Lisseth Calderon 143 North Grand St. Orange, CA 92866 26. Michelle Culbertson 143 North Grand St. Orange, CA 92866

27. Nancy Velez 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 28. Melissa Luna 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 29. Carmen Torres 639 N. Bristol St. Santa Ana, CA 92703 30. Mikele Linares 227 Van Ness Ave Santa Ana, CA 92701 31. Alex Mendez 809 W. 15th St. Apt. J Santa CA 92706 32. Brian Pozos 1602 N. Ross St. Apt #116 Santa Ana, CA 92706 33. Araceli Cruz 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 34. Jose Tapia 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 35. Lizabeth Herrera 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 36. Brittany Brown 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 37. Katie Randel 924 Dahlia St. Costa Mesa, CA 92626 38. Stacy Montoya 4704 W. Floyd Dr. Santa Ana, CA 92704 39. Samantha Maertz 143 North Grand St. Orange, CA 92866 40. Yolanda Lagunas 143 North Grand St. Orange, CA 92866 41. Rocio Barragah 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 42. Candy Gonzalez 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 43. Alex Forrest 924 Dahlia St. Costa Mesa, CA 92626 44. Victor Gudiel 1327 N. Ross St. Santa Ana, CA 92706 45. Andrea Carino 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 46. Joan Ferguson 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 47. Sumally Moeyn 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 48. Juan Carrillo 1033 W. Highland Street #B Santa Ana, CA 92703 49. Pablo Santos 1502 N. Durant APT. #304 Santa Ana 92706 50. Adriana Lopez 9600 Dolphin St. Fountain Valley, CA 92708 51. Veronica Ramierez 143 North Grand St. Orange, CA 92866

docuMEntS

We distributed the project proposal to potential partners and local groups interested in the campaign. The proposal explains our campaign and their options for partnerships. 63

We used the child supervision waivers for liability reasons to allow our CPR-certified child caregivers to help mothers and children both focus on financial literacy at sessions. 64

what it meant to us A Look into Who We Met and What We Learned Allen One of the girls at the Beverly’s House session told me about her own problems with credit while we were presenting. I explained the importance of following a structured budget and making credit card payments on time as well as checking her credit score regularly. She didn’t seem to quite understand why looking at her credit score was so important if companies would request to look at it if she ever needed to prove her standing for a car loan or apartment lease. Then, I shared my experience with my identity theft and told her how I would have had an even worse issue if I failed to check my credit score on a regular basis. This seemed to really connect with her, and she leaned forward and started asking me more questions. Then, others joined in. I was surprised by how much the group really delved into the topic with very thoughtful questions. My team and I provided answers and attendees began answering each others questions as they shared their own experiences on credit and budgeting. At this point, I felt a strong connection to this group because they were using what they learned in combination with their own experiences to solve their financial troubles. That was probably the greatest moment in the implementation process for me.

Bri During the financial literacy session at Sure Haven recovery center, I had an experience that was representative of many relationships that our team developed during our campaign. Although one young woman was recovering from a substance abuse addiction and was very weak, she was interested a personal experience I shared during the credit discussion. She felt comfortable enough to tell me about a problem she was having with credit and asked how she would be able to build it on her own in pursuit of a vehicle to help maintain a job. I was touched by her concern and the level of trust she placed in me. I got to know her story and learned about the structure of her days during recovery. I was better able to understand her needs. With the materials from Ally Financial, we put together an idea of what she could do to build up credit and to take out that car loan. Our session played an integral role in this young woman’s efforts to rebuild her life and accomplish her goals. The question she felt comfortable enough to ask opened a gateway so she could learn even more at the session. This moment resonated within me and allowed me to experience what pursuing a quality connection can yield for the presenter and the audience.

Kristen The moment I knew we were doing the right thing was actually before our first session. We were casually talking to some girls at Valley Vista Continuation High School as everyone settled in after their lunch break when I spotted some pictures in the clear sleeve of one student’s binder. The photos were of two young children, ages 4 and 10 months, who were the cutest little kids I have ever seen. When I asked her about them, the girl explained how old the photos were and how much they had grown since. She pointed to a photo of the two kids in Santa hats, explaining that the photo was from the most recent Christmas. She spoke with the sense of pride and love that only a mother can have, and she could not have been older than eighteen. Then, when we asked attendees to raise their hands during the session if they had jobs or credit cards, she never once raised her hand. It was clear to me that somewhere between finishing her high school degree and raising her children, this girl needed to look for a paying job to provide for her family. I can’t imagine the kind of struggles she must go through each day as a young mother, but I hope that the information we shared and the connection we made that day will inspire her to make the best financial decisions for her family.

Colleen I connected with an ambitious high school student at the Santa Ana Public Library who was clearly interested in what we had to say. It was surprising to me how invested the student was all throughout the presentation, and so I sparked a casual conversation afterward to learn more about his interests. The student asked me about business and school loans to fund a new proprietary fashion line and boutique that he wanted to launch. As I answered the questions, I could see a bright smile start to grow on the student’s face and I knew that this was exactly the information that he needed to hear. Other students stopped by to listen in on the conversation, and one girl was really excited about the other student’s endeavors, offering to model his original clothing and bag designs to help launch the boutique. Together we discussed the importance of building credit to start preparing for the future. The students were all enthusiastic about learning about finances, and I sincerely wish them the best of luck as their ambition leads them to open their own businesses.

Sabrina I personally felt the greatest connection to the women at the Sure Haven recovery home. Although these young women seemed to come from middle to upperclass families, they had experience making poor financial decisions and often did not have their own source of income. During our presentation we were explaining what could happen if credit cards are not managed properly and one young woman shared a story about how she tried buying a purse on ebay. Because she had maxed out her credit card, she could not purchase the purse with her card and she was denied the “bill me later” option. To me, this showed that just because these young women had grown up with money, they still needed to be taught how to handle their own finances. By the end of this session, I felt that these young women had really absorbed a lot of the information we had shared. I hope that by helping these women feel confident with their ability to handle their finances, our team was able to help them feel more confident in their ability to live on their own once they complete their time at Sure Haven.

The Bank On Your Character Team We want to thank Ally Financial for the amazing opportunity to showcase a financial company that values character and transparency. We enjoyed the experience of bringing Ally’s corporate social responsibility to Orange County and creating relationships by empowering individuals. We set out to build brand awareness for Ally Financial and to spread Ally’s financial literacy program in our local communities, but we feel that we’ve accomplished much more than that. Just as we shared valuable information with our attendees, they shared valuable lessons of courage, hope and strength with us. We hope that we have empowered them to take responsibility for their own actions and feel confident that each financial decision they make will create a brighter future for them and their families. Empowering our attendees means empowering the entire community. We are honored to have partnered with Ally to make such a difference for these women and all of Orange County.

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Thank you for the opportunity!