Sheryl Lane from EARN presents on Sparking Savings and Financial Capability at Neighborhood Partnerships' 2016 RE:Conference

1. Sparking Savings and Financial
Capability
Re:Conference
11/15/16

2. Agenda
 Introducing EARN
 Who are we serving
 What have we learned
 What are the impacts
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3. Introducing EARN
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4. 4
EARN’s Mission and Impact
Our mission is to create prosperity for working families by helping them
save and invest in their futures.
Since 2001, EARN has helped thousands of low-income workers save and
invest over $7 million of their own money in 6,500 savings accounts.
They’ve invested in assets such as emergency savings, small businesses,
educations, and first-time homes.

5. 5
Boosting Saving and Assets:
Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)
 Opened IDAs from July 2002 – June 2013
 Opened ~3,000 accounts lifetime
Program Features
 Savers deposit up to $2,000 of their own money
 2:1 match, Savers receive up to $4,000 in match funds
 1/2 of match comes from the federal gov’t, 1/2 from local sources
 Monthly deposits required or Savers are kicked out of program
 In-person fin. ed. workshops req’d, plus classes for home & biz savers
 Match is only received when the Saver invests in a 1st home, small
business, or higher education for themselves.

6. 6
Boosting Saving for Education
Resources:
EARN Children's Savings Accounts
 SAFE Accounts - SAFE Accounts (paper implementation), Oct 2003 – Oct
2012 and TripleBoost Accounts (online model), July 2012 – Nov 2014
 Opened ~2,800 accounts lifetime
Program Features
 Savers must deposit $500 of their own money
 3:1 match, Savers receive $1,500 in match (all private funds, no gov’t)
 Save for 6-24 months, workshops & monthly deposits are not required
 One account per child (age 10-18 at sign up), up to 5 accounts per
family
 Match is only received when the Saver invests in child’s education.
 Allowable expenses: tutoring, test prep, college tuition, enrichment
activities (e.g. language or music classes), one computer & printer, and
rollovers to 529 accounts.

7. 7
EARN’s Major Pivot:
In 2011, after running savings programs for 10 years, we
knew small-dollar savings had big impacts. We wanted to
make our programs available to more people!
Service Delivery Model
Change:
From a Case Manager approach
to an online delivery model.
Congratulations, you’re in
Software Development!

8. 8
EARN Starter Saving Program
A first step to lifelong savings
EARN Starter
Savings Program
Individual
Development
Accounts
Child Savings
Accounts
Retirement Plans
Build Habits
and Gain
Confidence
Invest in
Wealth-
Building
Prepare for the
Future

9. 9
Boosting Saving and accessibility
EARN Starter Savings Program
Keep Saving!
After 6 months,
you'll be able to
claim your rewards
and keep saving on
your own.
Earn
For every month
you reach your
goal, you'll earn
up to $10 in
rewards.
Connect
Connect your
savings account to
EARN's secure
online platform.
1. 2. 3. 4.
Save
Save at least $20
each month for 6
months.
Launched pilot in 2014; Beta version in 2015
Opened to date ~1300 accounts throughout the United States

10. Who are we serving
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11. 11
Who saves with EARN?
90%
Self-identified as
a person of color
71
%
Women
73
%
Parents
63%Do not have a
bachelor’s degree
70%
Are unmarried

12. Source: EARN Business Intelligence (IDA Saver Study: EARN Tripleboost Dashboard, data for Jan-Dec, 2013) and
EARN_Innovation_Symposium Scaling_Savings_vF.pdf] and EARN Starter Savings Program early results, August 2016
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EARN Savers can and do save
Even with limited incomes, households using EARN’s
programs are able to save, often through making
spending changes.
per month$21,100
Average annual household
income at enrollment for
all EARN accounts
EARN Starter Savings Program
average deposit
$50
per month
Savers on average deposit
using our savings accounts
amounting to 6% of their
monthly incomes

13. 13
Geographic Reach
We currently serve Savers in 35 states, D.C. and the
US Virgin Islands.

14. What have we learned
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15. Lesson: Building Long-Term Savings
Habits
Monthly deposit goals sustain the savings
habit
15
18% 20% 25%
22%
32%
54%
60%
48%
21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
IDA Post Program EARN Starter Post Program TripleBoost Post Program
Post‐Program Savings Habits by EARN Program
Non-Saver Sporadic Saver Consistent Saver

16. Lesson: Incentivize monthly deposits
Incentives are important and can get people interested and motivate behavior
change. Smaller incentives and match ratios are well received.
We asked Savers an open ended question: Looking back, what do you
most value about the IDA?
 Learning how to save every month through thick & thin
 Learning new things about finances
 A new, can-do approach to their financial life
 A more positive attitude about their financial future
 Strategies for saving and budgeting
 A sense of not being alone in their situation
These impacts aren’t about the MATCH or the ASSETS, they’re about changed
BEHAVIORS & ATTITUDES.
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Lesson: Savers succeed by changing
spending habits
Families saved through a variety of strategies, the most
depositing money in small amounts and making
spending changes.
 68% of successful IDA Savers made spending changes
 56% of all TripleBoost Savers made spending changes
 85% of EARN Starter Savers are spending within their
means
Our Savers succeed through many different strategies,
but this is the most common way Savers are able to
make deposits

18. Online engagement works
 Even without minimum monthly deposit requirement, ~75% of TripleBoost Savers deposited at
least $21 month on average and EARN Starter Savers are depositing on average per month
$50
 Eliminated paper applications and surveys which reduced errors due to poor handwriting and
reduced phone calls to busy savers
 Savers no longer need to visit our office or call during business hours to get simple questions
answered which makes it convenient and reduces transportation, childcare and related costs
 Savers can access the program when convenient
Features that meet Saver Needs
 Allow Savers to access their savings in case of emergency without penalty on personal
deposits.
 Make minimum deposit goal a manageable amount
 Consider a program length that is achievable from the outset and extend as needed
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Lesson: Meet Saver Needs

19. EARN’s Impact
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20. Post EARN Savings Program Results
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83%
of Savers continue to
save after program
incentives end
92%
of Savers have a
strategy for handling
financial emergencies
at program end
80%
of Savers report an
increase in confidence
and self-esteem

21. Thank You
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22. 2016 NEW ASSET CLASS PILOT
RE:Conference | 15 November | Salem, OR
Presented by Rebekah Barger
Family Economic Opportunity Program Director

23. Pilot Projects
•Vehicle IDA
•Rental IDA
•Retirement IDA
•Manufactured Housing
Replacement IDA

24. Program Modifications
•Credit Builder
•Debt Repayment
•Small Business Employees

25. Pilot Project: Vehicle IDA
Statute:
The purchase or repair of a
vehicle, as specified in the
account holder’s personal
development plan for
increasing the independence
of the person.
Snapshot:
8 people enrolled
Average savings goal $1900
Average age is 36
6 women and 2 men
Average net worth $-24700
County Representation: 3
Clackamas, 4 Multnomah, 1 Lane

26. Pilot Project: Rental IDA
Statute:
The rental of a primary residence
when housing stability is essential
to achieve state policy goals.
Account moneys may be used for
security deposits, first and last
months’ rent, application fees and
other expenses necessary to move
into the primary residence, as
specified in the account holder’s
personal development plan for
increasing the independence of
the person.
Snapshot:
3 people enrolled
Average savings goal $700
Average age 62
2 men and 1 woman
Average net worth $-11220
County Representation: 1 Marion,
1 Lane, 1 Multnomah

27. Pilot Project: MFH Replacement
CASA will be working with manufactured home parks that are
resident-owned, and non-profit owned parks
Replacing dilapidated homes with newer or new options,
including costs associated with placing homes
USDA and FHA are adapting to allow MFH in parks to be
financed like single family homes (currently under development)

28. Pilot Project: Credit Builder
• Recruits, enrolls, and coaches saversIDA Provider
• Manages IDA accounts
• Works with financial institutions to ensure loan transactions
are accepted
• Supports relationship between lender and saver
Fiduciary
Organization
• Originates the credit-building loan and provides related
transactional support
• Reports loan payments to the credit bureaus
• Provides credit coaching
Lender

29. Pilot Project: Credit Builder
• CDFI partner orients saver to the loan product. Submits loan application. Loan value
does not exceed $360 and loan term will not be less than 6 months.
• Saver opens IDA account. Each future deposit will consist of the scheduled IDA deposit
(which is matched) and the loan payment (which is not matched).
• CDFI funds the loan into the IDA via ACH transaction. These funds are not matched but sit
in the account. CDFI takes an ACH payment from the IDA monthly
• When IDA is fully funded the loan should be paid in full. Saver can not be matched on
the loan proceeds at this time.
• CDFI will report to credit monthly and provide coaching regularly, depending and the
loan term.

30. Pilot Project: Credit Builder
11 ppl enrolled
Average savings goal $1870
Average loan amount $222
Average loan payment $18
Average age 25
7 women and 4 men
Average net worth $-15000
4 saving for Home Purchase
7 saving for Education
County Representation: 1 Clackamas, 10 Multnomah

31. Pilot Projects: Debt Repayment &
Small Business Employees
Small Business Employees
Plan to hire needs to be added to the
business plan
Allowed for new or existing savers
Exploring whether it's a reimbursement for
payroll, or actually paying employees
Business plans include position descriptions,
worker’s compensation and SAIF
Questions include paying oneself and paying
family members; recommendation to create
employee handbook
Debt Repayment
Statute only allows medical and student loan
debt
No more than 30-50% of funds can be used
Must demonstrate other resources for asset
purchase
First identify, validate, dispute or settle any
debts before paying
Debts must be old enough to appear on a
credit report but not so old that they will fall off
of credit due to statute of limitations

32. Karen Saxe
Director of Asset Building Programs

33. IDA Successes
 Special Populations
 Survivors of intimate partner violence
 Non-traditional microenterprise IDAs
 Foster youth
 High school students in Career Technical Education
programs
 Leveraging Dollars

34. Lessons Learned
 Flexibility is key
 Length of savings; asset goals
 Supportive, wraparound services
 Transitioning through goals with clients

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Asset Building Among the
Incarcerated and Post-
incarcerated
Laura Locker, Ph.D.
Mercy Corps Northwest
Portland, Oregon
Llocker@mercycorpsnw.org

36. -Providing IDAs in Oregon for 15 years
- 1280 participants
-IDAs for justice-involved individuals through our
Reentry Transition Program and to youth
incarcerated in the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA)
system.
MCNW: Working together to build more just,
productive and resilient communities in the Pacific
Northwest

37. Lessons Learned:
-the importance of social capital
-risk for participants
-take small steps, favor reversibility, plan on
surprises, and plan on human inventiveness.
Through our programs, We demonstrate our belief that all people should have the
chance to succeed and grow to their highest potential. We tackle poverty and injustice
from multiple sides and meet our clients where they are in their life journey.