Training 2016

Lindsay Ferguson America Saves America Saves Local Campaign Coordinator Melissa Goldberg Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund Innovation Strategist

Agenda  WHO IS D2D FUND?  WHO IS AMERICA SAVES?  WHAT IS SaveYourRefund (SYR)?  WHY IS SYR IMPORTANT?  HOW DOES SYR WORK?  WHAT’S NEXT?

D2D Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Boston, Massachusetts D2D strengthens the financial opportunity and security of financially vulnerable consumers by discovering ideas, designing solutions, pilot testing and evaluating, and driving to scale Discover and generate new ideas Design and build solutions Pilot and evaluate designs Drive innovations to scale

D2D Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Boston, Massachusetts You may know us from:  Prize-Linked Savings Products  Save to Win™, CSAs, Prepaid Cards  Policy Work  Form 8888, American Savings Promotion Act (2014), SAVINGS Act (2015)  Financial Video Games & Gamified Tools  Financial Entertainment, Ramp It Up!  Consumer Research  ZMET Study, RAND White Paper,  Government-Backed Retirement Product Field Research

Agenda  WHO IS D2D FUND?  WHO IS AMERICA SAVES?  WHAT IS SaveYourRefund (SYR)?  WHY IS SYR IMPORTANT?  HOW DOES SYR WORK?  WHAT’S NEXT?

Lindsay Ferguson Local Campaign Outreach Coordinator

Consumer Federation of America is located in Washington, D.C., and was founded in It is an association of close to 300 nonprofit pro-consumer groups including Consumers Union, AARP, credit unions, housing co-ops, and grassroots organizations. About Us

America Saves seeks to motivate, encourage, and support low- to moderate-income households to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth. The research-based campaign uses the principles of behavioral economics and social marketing to change behavior. About Us

America Saves and Local America Saves Campaigns Seek to motivate individuals to save effectively and build a culture of saving Encourage continued good savings behavior by promoting financial action Act as a trusted source of information for the community Have individuals to Pledge to Save Partner with community organizations to increase reach 66 established and developing local campaigns in 32 states Segment to focus on military & employees

Support the organizing of a wide range of stakeholders and service providers to positively impact their constituents with now more than 440,000 people pledging to save. Top goals over the past 5 years include Emergency fund (25%), Education (17%), Debt Repayment (9%), & Consumer Product (6.34%) Provide materials, resources, website, data base and infrastructure to support the organizational effort and to individual savers Work with financial institutions to provide no fee and low opening balance savings accounts Organize America Saves Week, the last week in February, as a national call to positive financial action How America Saves Encourages Saving

The Pledge I pledge to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth over time. I will encourage my family and friends to do the same.

America Saves Week February 22 – February 27, 2016

America Saves Week Annual opportunity for organizations to encourage savings and individuals to assess their savings. Started in 2007 Over 1,900 participating organizations in 2014 Reaching 35 million individuals

Agenda  WHO IS D2D FUND?  WHO IS AMERICA SAVES?  WHAT IS SaveYourRefund (SYR)?  WHY IS SYR IMPORTANT?  HOW DOES SYR WORK?  WHAT’S NEXT?

SaveYourRefund (SYR) is a national promotion to incentivize tax-time saving 101 chances to WIN! All you need to do? Save a minimum of $50 from your federal tax refund. Weekly Drawings 10 entries are drawn each week for $100 Grand Prize 1 winner from the photo contest will win $25,000 $35,000 in total prizes!

Agenda  WHO IS D2D FUND?  WHAT IS SaveYourRefund (SYR)?  D2D AND AMERICA SAVES PARTNERSHIP  WHY IS SYR IMPORTANT?  HOW DOES SYR WORK?  WHAT’S NEXT?

D2D and America Saves  SYR 2016 will be administered as a partnership between D2D Fund and America Saves  D2D: Technical support and prize administration  Manage website, manage sweepstakes and grand prize contest  America Saves: Partner management, communications, and promotion  Communicate regularly with partners, verify winners, answer questions, social media  Same structure and program from previous years expanded to even more partners  America Saves as main point of contact for partners

Agenda  WHO IS D2D FUND?  WHAT IS SaveYourRefund (SYR)?  WHY IS SYR IMPORTANT?  HOW DOES SYR WORK?  WHAT’S NEXT?

SYR is an opportunity to encourage over 110 million American households to save The ChallengeThe OpportunityThe Outcome  About 27% of people have NO emergency savings  50% have less than 3 months of savings  Most people have already spent their refund before they get it  $300 Billon of federal tax refund are awarded/year  Refund represent up to 20% of income for LMI households  Over 110 Million households receive a refund  Form 8888 lets people save part of their refund  Consumers purchase Series I U.S. Savings Bonds  Consumers have FUN and get INCENTIVES to save!

Incentives make saving FUN and encourage people who otherwise wouldn’t have considered saving their refund 59% said the incentives were “very important” or “extremely important” in leading them to save!

Agenda  WHO IS D2D FUND?  WHAT IS SaveYourRefund (SYR)?  WHY IS SYR IMPORTANT?  HOW DOES SYR WORK?  WHAT’S NEXT?

Agenda  WHO IS D2D FUND?  WHAT IS SaveYourRefund (SYR)?  WHY IS SYR IMPORTANT?  HOW DOES SYR WORK?  HOW DO YOU ENTER?  WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU WIN?  HOW DO WE GET INVOLVED?  HOW DO WE ENSURE SYR IS A SUCCESS?  WHAT’S NEXT?

Most everyone who receives a federal tax refund is eligible for SYR 18% 23%  Over 18 years of age  Eligible for a federal tax refund  Uses Form 8888 to split refund  Saves at least $50 in to one of the following: QUALIFICATIONS Savings Account and CDs IRASavings Bond and Treasury Direct Prepaid Card myRA

The weekly drawing is easy to enter Just visit to enter!  Winners are chosen through random selection  Entrants stay in the pool from the day they enter until the date of the last drawing  Entrants can win both a weekly drawing and the grand prize  Drawings occur every Friday from February 12 – April 15 HOW TO ENTER

Web entry takes less than 2 minutes 1234Contact InfoSaving InfoSurvey InfoConfirmation!

The entry requires little information Fields on the Weekly Sweepstakes entry form: First and last name Phone number AND/OR Zip code State Tax preparation site/method Total amount of refund Amount deposited in each account Type of each account used Amount used to purchase bonds (if applicable)

The grand prize is awarded from a photo contest  There are two ways to enter  $25,000 will be awarded for one photo  To win the grand prize, you MUST enter the weekly drawings 1 Upload your photo to the website: 2 Text SAVE to and follow the instructions to submit HOW TO ENTER

The grand prize winner is selected on several criteria  Photo and brief (250-word) caption must be submitted and will be evaluated based on:  Caption’s relation to the theme  Photo’s connection to the caption and theme  Photo’s composition PHOTO CONTEST WILL FOCUS ON SAVING

Agenda  WHO IS D2D FUND?  WHAT IS SaveYourRefund (SYR)?  WHY IS SYR IMPORTANT?  HOW DOES SYR WORK?  HOW DO YOU ENTER?  WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU WIN?  HOW DO WE ENSURE SYR IS A SUCCESS?  WHAT’S NEXT?

Weekly drawing winners must have their Form 8888 verified Weekly winners (or their tax site) will be contacted by America Saves ( or phone) 1 “Potential Winners” must submit Form 8888 for verification (and be qualified to win) 2 Checks will be sent via mail to all winners 3

Agenda  WHO IS D2D FUND?  WHAT IS SaveYourRefund (SYR)?  WHY IS SYR IMPORTANT?  HOW DOES SYR WORK?  HOW DO YOU ENTER?  WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU WIN?  HOW DO WE ENSURE SYR IS A SUCCESS?  WHAT’S NEXT?

Use the promotional materials available on SaveYourRefund.com Wondering how to for your chance at $25,000 or the weekly $100? #SaveYourRefund We Want to Know: Tell us what you would do with a $25,000 Grand Prize, and don’t forget to enter for your chance to win it! grandprize grandprize

Engage clients in the weekly drawings and grand prize contest  Mailings/ s before and during tax season OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE CLIENTS  Flyers or computer terminals in lobbies  Walk around and sign people up  During quality review  At intake  With tax preparer Savers can then enter at home or at the tax site.

Engage staff and volunteers with vision, training and incentives OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE STAFF Training Contests

Access the different resources in the SYR Tool Kit to promote SaveYourRefund TOOL KIT  Training webinar  Volunteer and Staff cheat sheet  Traditional FAQ document  Marketing material

Agenda  WHO IS D2D FUND?  WHAT IS SaveYourRefund (SYR)?  WHY IS SYR IMPORTANT?  HOW DOES SYR WORK?  WHAT’S NEXT?

How can you get involved? Show your commitment! Become an official Partner or Friend of SaveYourRefund: Stay connected! Follow us on and with any WHAT YOU CAN DO Visit our website! Keep an eye on for updates and marketing materialswww.saveyourrefund.com

Lindsay Ferguson America Save Local Campaign Outreach Coordinator America Saves Questions? Melissa Goldberg Innovation Strategist D2D Fund Thank you!