CalMoneySmart 2023-24

Purpose

The CalMoneySmart program awards up to $2 million each year to nonprofits for financial empowerment programs focusing on unbanked and underbanked consumers to access lower-cost financial products and services, establish or improve their credit, increase their savings, or lower their debt. Funds can be used to for free financial education, financial coaching, or financial products or services.

Description

The CalMoneySmart grant program awards up to $2 million per year to eligible nonprofit organizations with a maximum grant award to $200,000 per fiscal year in funding to design, develop, or offer free financial education and empowerment content, provide free financial coaching, or design and develop free financial products or services for unbanked or underbanked households. Black and Hispanic households, single-mothers, working-age households with a disability, and immigrants are also disproportionately represented among the unbanked. Grant funds may only be used for the following financial education and financial empowerment programs and services for the targeted at-risk unbanked and underbanked populations: 1) Designing, developing, or offering, free of charge to consumers, classroom or web-based financial education and empowerment content intended to help unbanked and underbanked consumers achieve, identify, and access lower cost financial products and services, establish or improve their credit, increase their savings, or lower their debt. 2) Providing individualized, free financial coaching to unbanked and underbanked consumers. 3) Designing, developing, or offering, free of charge to consumers, a financial product or service intended to help unbanked and underbanked consumers identify and access responsible financial products and financial services, establish or improve their credit, increase their savings, or lower their debt. Every project funded with a grant from the Financial Empowerment Fund shall meet all of the following criteria: Promote and enhance the economic security of consumers. Adhere to the five principles of effective financial education described in the June 2017 report issued by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau titled "Effective financial education: Five principles and how to use them". These five principles are: 1. Know the individuals and families to be served; 2. Provide actionable, relevant and timely information; 3. Improve key financial skills; 4. Build on motivation; and 5. Make it easy to make good decisions and follow through. Grant recipients must demonstrate positive benefit for at-risk populations. To this end, grant recipients must provide the following: Include one or more specific outcome targets. Include an evaluation component designed to measure and document the extent to which the project achieves its intended outcomes and increases consumers’ financial well-being. Grantees may use no more than 15 percent of the grant to cover administrative costs. Insurance is required, but it is not an eligible expense. Up to $2 million in grant funds will be awarded in 2023-24, with a maximum grant size of $200,000.