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08/26/2011 Money Matters: Make It Count
Money Matters: Make It Count
WHAT WE DO:
Funded by Charles Schwab Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Money Matters: Make It CountSM program is designed to promote money management skills among teens, ages 13-18. The program consists of fun, interactive activities and exercises on topics such as using a checking account, managing debt, saving for college and learning the basics of investing. The program is targeted primarily at teens from underserved communities.
Nearly 325,000 teens at approximately 1,700 Boys & Girls Clubs across the U.S. have participated in Money Matters since the program’s launch in mid-2004. In addition, since the launch of the program, Charles Schwab Foundation has presented a cumulative total of $390,000 in scholarships to 187 Club teens who completed Money Matters and demonstrated exceptional financial skills from their newly acquired knowledge of personal finance.
WHAT WE OFFER:
- Teen Personal Finance Guide — includes practical tips and activities to help teens learn the important skills of balancing a checkbook, creating a budget and investing for college and retirement. The guide also provides basic entrepreneurial information for teens interested in starting businesses.
- Facilitator’s Guide — contains basic financial concepts that Club staff and volunteers can use to help teens understand the benefits of effective money management. Easy-to-implement small-group activities that are typically completed in less than an hour supplement and reinforce the information in the Teen Personal Finance Guide.
- Money Matters Website — is an interactive, engaging tool that teens can use to make budgeting and investment decisions, understand credit reports and learn about starting a business. The website also features a saving and financial aid calculator to help teens plan for college.
- Schwab Employee Volunteer Program — provides Schwab professionals with an opportunity to volunteer at Clubs and share their financial expertise with teenage Club members and their families. Employees are also encouraged to participate through a variety of other ongoing volunteer opportunities.
- Money Matters Scholarships and Awards — achievements of each participant are recognized with a certificate of completion, and scholarship and award winners are selected based on their performance. Older teens (16-18) are eligible for $2,000 scholarships from Charles Schwab Foundation, and younger teens (13-15) are eligible to receive U.S. savings bonds. Each year a National Money Matters Ambassador is selected among the scholarship winners, earning one outstanding teen a $5,000 college scholarship. This person serves as the official teen spokesperson for Money Matters during the year.
- Money Matters Innovation Awards — recognize Boys & Girls Clubs that have employed highly creative, imaginative techniques to bring the Money Matters curriculum to life. The $3,000 awards are granted annually to one club in each of the country’s five geographic regions, and award winners’ best practices are disseminated to clubs nationwide.
WHAT WE NEED:
We need your support to help reach teens and encourage them to deepen their financial management skills by looking for a Money Matters program at a local Boys & Girls Club. Any teen can access the Money Matters website, so you can also help by sharing the link, http://www.MoneyMattersMakeItCount.com, with the teens involved in your programs and by sharing the link on social media.
WHAT’S NEW:
To keep the Money Matters: Make It Count program fresh, interesting and relevant, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Charles Schwab Foundation have revised its curriculum, expanding upon the program’s existing materials and creating new, interactive activities to bring the program to life. While the personal finance program still focuses on the five key areas of budgeting, saving and investing, planning for college, credit/debt and entrepreneurship, the new Facilitator’s Guide and Teen Personal Finance Guide have been updated to simplify the lessons and provide more thorough examples and activities, making the program even easier to execute.
As a complement to the new curriculum, the program also includes a new website. In addition to its fresh look, MoneyMattersMakeItCount.com not only provides the basic information found in the curriculum, but also includes an array of interactive activities such as budgeting and planning tools and games. Additionally, the website is no longer solely restricted to Club members. The majority of the site is available to the public, making this valuable information accessible to all teens.
Both the website and the curriculum have tools and activities to help young people manage their money and prepare for their futures.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Coco Wolf
404-487-5939
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