This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject , potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral.(June 2016) |
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Formation | 1979 |
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Type | Public Policy Think Tank |
Headquarters | 1200 G Street NW |
Location | |
President | Andrea Levere |
Revenue (2015) | $11,675,289 [1] |
Expenses (2015) | $13,020,430 [1] |
Website | prosperitynow |
Prosperity Now, formerly known as the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), [2] is a national nonprofit based in Washington, DC, dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for low-income families and communities in the United States. CFED uses an approach grounded in community practice, public policy and private markets. CFED publishes research, partners with local practitioners to carry out demonstration projects, and engages in policy advocacy work at the local, state and national levels. The organization works domestically with satellite offices in San Francisco, California, and Durham, North Carolina.
CFED was founded in 1979 by Bob Friedman. The organization was initially focused on economic development and microenterprise. It worked to reduce unemployment and expand opportunity by advocating for policies that would make it easier for entrepreneurs to start or expand a small business. In 1988, CFED launched the Development Report Card (DRC) for the States, a broad-based report that used multiple indicators to rate the economies of all 50 states. The DRC was widely used across the field and provided policymakers and businesses a comparative measure to assess each state's business climate. [3] The DRC was retired in 2007 [4] and was replaced with the Assets & Opportunity Scorecard. [5]
CFED was one of the first champions of Individual Development Accounts (IDA) – matched savings accounts that help low-income people save for a particular goal, such as buying a home, paying for post-secondary education, or starting or expanding a small business. [6] In 1997, CFED launched the American Dream Demonstration, which was the first large-scale test of IDAs as a social and economic development tool. After seeing the success of IDAs, Congress passed the Assets for Independence Act (AFIA), providing $125 million over five years to fund IDAs. [7] The AFI Program is administered by the Office of Community Services, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. [8] CFED is well known in the field as the expert on Individual Development Accounts, as well as other asset building programs and policies. [9]
CFED holds a biennial Assets Learning Conference. [16] [17] The conference brings together over a thousand leaders in the asset building field to discuss ways that assets can help create prosperity and expand economic opportunity for Americans. [18]
CFED's national Assets & Opportunity Network is a movement-oriented group of advocates, practitioners, policymakers, and others nationwide working to expand the reach and deepen the impact of asset-based strategies. Network members are on the frontlines of state and local policy advocacy, coalition-building and service delivery. The purpose of this Network is to serve as both a learning community and advocacy community – to both enhance member capacity to advocate and deliver asset services, and to foster growth of assets movement leading to opportunities at scale. The Network is a hub of action for local, state and federal policy advocacy as well as program implementation. [19]
The Assets & Opportunity Scorecard gives a comprehensive look at Americans' financial security and assesses all states on their relative ability to provide opportunities for residents to build and retain assets. It assesses the 50 states and the District of Columbia on 135 outcome and policy measures, which describe how well residents are faring and what states can do to help them build and protect assets. These measures are grouped into five issue areas: Financial Assets & Income, Businesses & Jobs, Housing & Homeownership, Health Care, and Education. [20]
The Assets & Opportunity Local Data Center is a resource for local-level household financial security data and information, including estimates of household wealth and financial access for thousands of cities and counties in America as well as more in-depth data profiles for a growing number of cities.[ citation needed ]
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States.
Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems, among other services. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient. ID Ghana is an example of a microfinance institution.
Personal finance is the financial management that an individual or a family unit performs to budget, save, and spend monetary resources in a controlled manner, taking into account various financial risks and future life events.
A 529 plan, also called a Qualified Tuition Program, is a tax-advantaged investment vehicle in the United States designed to encourage saving for the future higher education expenses of a designated beneficiary. In 2017, K–12 public, private, and religious school tuition were included as qualified expenses for 529 plans along with post-secondary education costs after passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
A financial system is a system that allows the exchange of funds between financial market participants such as lenders, investors, and borrowers. Financial systems operate at national and global levels. Financial institutions consist of complex, closely related services, markets, and institutions intended to provide an efficient and regular linkage between investors and borrowers.
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to advance consumer interests through research, education and advocacy.
Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.
KiwiSaver is a New Zealand savings scheme which has been operating since 2 July 2007. Participants can normally access their KiwiSaver funds only after the age of 65, but can withdraw them earlier in certain limited circumstances, for example if undergoing significant financial hardship or to use a deposit for a first home.
An individual development account (IDA) is an asset building tool designed to enable low-income families to save towards a targeted amount usually used for building assets in the form of home ownership, post-secondary education and small business ownership. In principle IDAs work as matched savings accounts that supplement the savings of low-income households with matching funds drawn from a variety of private and public sources.
Asset poverty is an economic and social condition that is more persistent and prevalent than income poverty. It is a household’s inability to access wealth resources that are sufficient to provide for basic needs for a period of three months. Basic needs refer to the minimum standards for consumption and acceptable needs. Wealth resources consist of home ownership, other real estate, net value of farm and business assets, stocks, checking and savings accounts, and other savings. Wealth is measured in three forms: net worth, net worth minus home equity, and liquid assets. Net worth consists of all the aspects mentioned above. Net worth minus home equity is the same except it does not include home ownership in asset calculations. Liquid assets are resources that are readily available such as cash, checking and savings accounts, stocks, and other sources of savings. There are two types of assets: tangible and intangible. Tangible assets most closely resemble liquid assets in that they include stocks, bonds, property, natural resources, and hard assets not in the form of real estate. Intangible assets are simply the access to credit, social capital, cultural capital, political capital, and human capital.
Financial inclusion is the availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services. It refers to processes by which individuals and businesses can access appropriate, affordable, and timely financial products and services - which include banking, loan, equity, and insurance products. It provides paths to enhance inclusiveness in economic growth by enabling the unbanked population to access the means for savings, investment, and insurance towards improving household income and reducing income inequality
In banking, the American Dream Demonstration (ADD) was a program proxy developed to test the potential impact of Individual Development Accounts (IDA) and ran from 1997-2002. During its tenure, the ADD program demonstrated through 2,377 accounts, that IDAs can be delivered effectively by a wide range of community organizations and financial institutions. The ADD initiative was evaluated by eight different research methods including implementation assessment, participant case studies, cross sectional-survey, monitoring, in-depth interviews, cost analysis, experimental impact evaluation and assessment of community effects.
Credit unions in the United States served 100 million members, comprising 43.7% of the economically active population, in 2014. U.S. credit unions are not-for-profit, cooperative, tax-exempt organizations. The clients of the credit unions become partners of the financial institution and their presence focuses in certain neighborhoods because they center their services in one specific community. As of March 2020, the largest American credit union was Navy Federal Credit Union, serving U.S. Department of Defense employees, contractors, and families of servicepeople, with over $125 billion in assets and over 9.1 million members. Total credit union assets in the U.S. reached $1 trillion as of March 2012. Approximately 236,000 people were directly employed by credit unions per data derived from the 2012 National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Credit Union Directory. As of 2019, there were 5,236 federally insured credit unions with 120.4 million members, and deposits of $1.22 trillion.
The Center for Social Development (CSD) is a research center at Washington University's George Warren Brown School of Social Work. Its focus is on innovations in asset-building and social development practice and policy.
A public bank is a bank, a financial institution, in which a state, municipality, or public actors are the owners. It is an enterprise under government control. Prominent among current public banking models are the Bank of North Dakota, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe in Germany, and many nations’ postal bank systems.
Assets for Independence Act (AFIA),, is an American law which provides $125 million over five years to fund Individual Development Accounts (IDA). Individual Development Accounts are matched savings accounts that help low-income people save for a particular goal, such as buying a home, paying for post-secondary education, or starting or expanding a small business.In 2017 no grants were awarded in this act.
Children's Savings Accounts (CSAs) are a type of savings accounts in the United States, usually specifically designed for higher education savings. They are often available through state or local government programs or nonprofit organizations, in partnership with banks and credit unions. CSAs can be based in state-sponsored 529 plans or other investment products such as Coverdell Education Savings Account, and usually allow deposits from children, parents, and relatives as well as third parties such as school districts and scholarship programs. Many CSAs begin with an initial deposit from government or a nonprofit in the name of the child and subsequent family contributions are often encouraged by matching funds. CSAs often incorporate incentives to encourage saving by disadvantaged youth and families. Withdrawals from CSAs are generally limited to higher education expenses, after the child turns 18. Following college graduation, unspent funds can often be used for other asset purchases or for retirement savings. CSA programs can also include financial education to teach children and families about financial institutions' products, smart consuming and saving practices, and strategies for long-term investing.
Assets for Independence (AFI) is a federal program that distributes discretionary grants to help the impoverished achieve one of three goals: (1) homeownership; (2) business ownership; and (3) post-secondary education. AFI was created by the Assets for Independence Act.
National Fire Savers Credit Union Limited is a not-for-profit member-owned financial co-operative, based in the London Borough of Southwark and operating throughout Great Britain. It has assets in excess of £11,000,000.
SaverLife is a nonprofit financial technology company that works to create prosperity for low-income families. The organization's SaverLife platform provides cash prizes, rewards, articles from financial experts, gamified savings activities, and support to incentivize members to build a savings habit.
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