 
Susan S. Shockey, Ph.D., CFCS, CPFFE USDA, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
George Barany, Consumer Federation of America
Andrea Pellegrini, University of Illinois, USFSCO, Student Money Management Center
Kathy Sweedler, University of Illinois Extension

George Barany
Director or Financial Education,
Consumer Federation of America
Susan Shockey
Susan S. Shockey, Ph.D., CFCS, CPFFE
Kathy Sweedler USDA, National Institute of Food and Andrea Pellegrini
Consumer Economics Educator, Agriculture Visiting Assistant Director, Student
University of Illinois Extension Money Management Center,
University Student Financial
Services and Cashier Operations,
University of Illinois
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3

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 College students and savings
 America Saves and America Saves
Week
A successful pilot model for reaching
college students and staff
 How you can replicate the University
of Illinois model
 Questions and answers
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6

 What type of organization are you affiliated with?
a. Higher education
b. Military
c. Government
d. Non-profit
e. For-profit
7

 To what degree have you been involved in an
America Saves campaign?
a. None
b. Participant
c. Partner
d. Campaign Coordinator
e. Other _________
8

 

 Students now foot an expanding share of the college tuition
bill, while parents scale back.
 Difficult job market
 Increasing student loan loads
Source: Sallie Mae, 2012, https://www1.salliemae.com/about/news_info/research/how_america_pays_2012/
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 84% of undergraduates admitted the need for more
financial management education. Of these, 64% would
have preferred some type of financial literacy education in
high school and 40% as college freshman.
(Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit
Cards: Sallie Mae's National Study of Usage Rates and Trends
2009")
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In a CFA/Financial Services Roundtable 2009 Study:
 68% of low income
households do not have a
saving or money market account
 52% of moderate income
households do not have a
saving or money market account
 42% of middle income
households do not have a
saving or money market account
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 The average employee spends 28 hours each month
worried about, calculating, or stressed over finances,
costing employers $5,000 a year in lost productivity.
The Federal Reserve, 2010
8 out of 10 people identify money as a significant
source of stress. American Psychological Association, 2009
 Personal finance is the number one personal issue
causing stress in the workplace. ComPsych printed in USA Today, 2010
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 Think like a Saver
o – what do I need and where can I get it for the lowest price
 Shop like a Saver
o Buy what is on sale, wait until it goes on sale, use coupons, pay in
cash not credit
 Act like a Saver
o Save a minimum amount every month even if it is only $25
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 
an opportunity to respond to the need for savings

 An opportunity for Americans to assess their financial
condition and goals
 A dedicated time for financial action
 A time for organizations and institutions to emphasize
Automatic Saving and make it easy to start
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A national initiative with thousands of local partners including:
 Organizations encourage and assist Americans, especially lower-
income households, to start saving and build wealth
 Over 300,000 Savers and growing
 Annual reach of more than 30 million people
Collaborators/Partners
 FDIC -- Federal Reserve Board
 JumpStart -- Social Security Administration
 OCC -- Department of Defense
 Cooperative Extension -- ABA Educational Foundation
 CUNA -- Many others
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America Saves Week 2012 Results
America Saves Week 2012 saw the largest
organization participation since its inception
 815 organizations signed up on AmericaSavesWeek.org
 An estimated 2,000 organizations involved in America Save
Week activities across 48 states
 Reached over 31,000,000 people.
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 

 1) Embed an annual time for
college students and staff to be
motivated to save
 2) Create a replicable model
 3) Motivate people to set a savings
goal.
 4) Connect people to continuing
financial education
 5) Encourage the development of
positive financial behaviors
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 People Want to Save Money
o UI Saves provides an easy way to set goal and take step towards
saving
 Competition between University Campuses
o University of Illinois at Chicago, at Urbana-Champaign, at Springfield
o Included students, staff and faculty
o Winner determined by percent of participants
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 Prizes
o Weekly drawings for $15 gift cards from TCF Bank
o Prizes at end of competition for winning campus participants
• An iPad 2 from TCF Bank
• Three $500 Gift Cards from Chase
• $500 Gift Card from University of Illinois Employees Credit Union
• Two $250 Gift Cards from PNC Bank
• $100 Visa Gift Card from Busey Bank
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 Competition began
February 19th (during
America Saves Week
 Competition ended April
19th (during Money Smart
Week)
 Nine weeks for the
competition
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www.universityillinoissaves.org
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 To create a competition you need a natural competitor.
25

 Economic Awareness
Council
o Planning
o Sponsor of I Save Conference
 Consumer Federation of
America
o Planning
o Website development
o America Saves
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Urbana-Champaign Chicago Springfield
Human Resources Human Resources Human Resources
Wellness Center College of Medicine- Housing
Financial Aid
Housing Division Student Activities
Undergraduate Student
Daily Illini Newspaper Government The Journal
Career Center College of Business
Campus Recreation Campus Programs
Financial Aid Project CHANCE
Graduate College
UIC Calendar
Athletics
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 

 

UIUC Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Competition Close
Staff/Faculty 83 97 115 130 150 157 159 161 164
Student 8 44 65 84 93 110 114 164 195
Total 91 141 180 214 243 267 273 325 359
% Population 0.170% 0.264% 0.337% 0.400% 0.455% 0.500% 0.511% 0.608% 0.67%
UIC Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Competition Close
Staff/Faculty 39 53 63 64 69 71 71 71 74
Student 13 47 64 67 72 74 78 89 193
Total 52 100 127 131 141 145 149 160 267
% Population 0.130% 0.256% 0.325% 0.335% 0.361% 0.371% 0.381% 0.409% 0.68%
UIS Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Competition Close
Staff/Faculty 7 9 9 26 31 33 35 35 35
Student 1 1 1 36 44 48 49 50 50
Total 8 10 10 62 75 81 84 85 85
% Population 0.136% 0.169% 0.169% 1.033% 1.271% 1.372% 1.423% 1.440% 1.44%
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 Facebook
 Twitter
 Posters
 Newspaper Articles
 E-list Announcements
 Financial Fairs
 In-Person Events
 Posters
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Engagement!
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@ILStudentMoney
@FinWellnessUIE 38


Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2012 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: UI Saves wrap up brief

 Thanks, Michele. I don't want Springfield to win either! So I'll do my best!
 Doris
Subject: UI Saves wrap up brief

 Hi Doris,

 Here’s a brief announcing the wrap up of the UI Saves competition. I realize you’ve already
promoted this, but if you have room, we’d really appreciate a last burst of promotion –
Springfield’s ahead right now, and we just can’t have that!

 Please let me know if you have any questions or want any changes made.

 Thanks so much,

 -Michele
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 Credible sources helped promote competition
 Competition provided immediacy to set goal
 Competition motivated people to spread the
word
 Images had most impact with social media
 Human Resources was an important partner
for staff participation
41

 Change prize structure
 Plan for images/photos to be used with
social media
 Have email notes, news releases and
partners ready to go prior to kick-off
42

 

 Find a competitor
o How to calculate winner fairly
 Create a planning and implementation team
 Define structure of competition
o Targeted audience
o Length and dates of competition
o Main messages
 Identifyand approach partners
 America Saves staff available for technical
assistance and support
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 Websites
o America Saves, www.americasaves.org
o University of Illinois Saves, http://www.universityillinoissaves.org/
o Student Money Management Center, http://studentmoney.uillinois.edu/
o Financial Wellness for College Students, http://web.extension.illinois.edu/financialwellness/
 Twitter
o https://twitter.com/AmericaSaves
o https://twitter.com/ILStudentMoney
o https://twitter.com/finwellnessuie
 Facebook
o https://www.facebook.com/AmericaSaves
o https://www.facebook.com/FinancialWellnessUIE
o https://www.facebook.com/ILStudentMoney
 YouTube
o http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericaSaves11
o http://www.youtube.com/user/ILStudentMoney/
o http://www.youtube.com/user/financialwellness
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 

George Barany, Director of Financial Education
Consumer Federation of America
gbarany@consumerfed.org
Kathy Sweedler, Consumer Economics Educator
University of Illinois Extension
sweedler@illinois.edu
Andrea Pellegrini, Visiting Assistant Director Student Money Management Center
USFSCO, University of Illinois
apelleg3@uillinois.edu
Susan S. Shockey, Ph.D., CFCS, CPFFE, National Program Leader -
Family & Consumer Economics
USDA, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Division of Family and Consumer Sciences
sshockey@nifa.usda.gov
Download this presentation and a resource kit at
www.AmericaSaves.org
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