Stay Informed!

Contact:

Jan 14, 2009

CFED Wins 2007 Motley Fool’s ‘Foolanthropy’ Campaign

CFED Wins 2007 Motley Fool’s ‘Foolanthropy’ Campaign

Contact: Kristin Lawton, 202.408.9788

Nonprofit Pioneers Innovative Programs Tying Financial Education with Personal Savings to Eradicate Poverty

Washington. D.C. — The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) announced today it has finished in first place in the 2007 Foolanthropy campaign, sponsored by the Motley Fool, the world’s premier multimedia financial education company, which for the first time was dedicated to charities that are committed to eradicate financial illiteracy. By the generous support from the Motley Fool community, CFED, a national nonprofit organization that has pioneered revolutionary programs that combine financial education with personal savings, will receive a combined total of $33,865 in donations from the community that includes an additional $10,000 bonus from the Fool as the organization receiving the most donations.

CFED was chosen as one of five charities by the Motley Fool to take part in the 2007 campaign that ran from November 21, 2007 through January 7, 2008. Through this interactive charity drive, visitors to the Foolanthropy site could donate directly to the charity of their choice and the Motley Fool also awards $10,000 to the organization grossing the highest amount of donations. The other finalists included Junior Achievement Worldwide, Mercy Corps’ Silent Disasters Program, Operation HOPE and Share Our Strength’s Operation Frontline.

“We are honored and thankful to the Foolanthropy community for their support of CFED and their dedication to financial literacy,” said CFED President Andrea Levere. “The generous donations will help drive CFED’s work in transforming low-income children’s financial trajectories by giving them the opportunity to save money, learn about finances, build nest eggs and achieve their dreams.”

“We’ve decided to align Foolanthropy’s goals more closely with those of The Motley Fool, and we’d like to help spread the financial knowledge we have in as many ways as possible, to as many people as possible,” said Carrie Crockett, Foolanthropy Co-Chair. “In fact, our new long-term goal is to help every young person in the world receive a basic financial education. CFED was a natural choice as a partner in this, and we’re delighted they’ve garnered such support from our community.”

CFED has been combining financial education with the practical discipline of savings through its Savings for Education, Entrepreneurship and Downpayment (SEED) Initiative. Through SEED, 1,400 young people and their parents across the country are participating in financial education classes and saving in matched-savings accounts, which can be used at age 18 for post-secondary education, a downpayment on a home or to start their own business. These youngsters are proving that when given the opportunity and financial education, they will and can save for their futures.

Dena Jo Squyres, a SEED accountholder attests, “I wasn’t sure if it was possible to pay for college on my own and I had almost given up hope. However, now, thanks to the SEED program, I am well on my way to saving for college.” Thanks to the SEED program, Dena Jo and many other young savers are learning about the importance of savings while becoming financially literate.

The idea of matched-savings accounts for children is also catching on with several of the 2008 Presidential candidates as well as state and local policymakers across the country.

###

CFED expands economic opportunity by helping Americans start and grow businesses, go to college, own a home and save for their children’s and their own economic futures. We identify promising ideas, test and refine them in communities to find out what works, craft policies and products to help good ideas reach scale, and develop partnerships to promote lasting change. We bring together community practice, public policy and private markets in new and effective ways to achieve greater economic impact.

Established in 1979 as the Corporation for Enterprise Development, CFED works nationally and internationally through its offices in Washington, DC; Durham, NC; and San Francisco, CA.