CalMoneySmart Grant Program

The grants may be used to:

• Design, develop, or offer free 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.
  
• Provide individualized, free financial coaching to unbanked and underbanked consumers.
• Design, develop, or offer a free 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.

Additionally, every project funded with a CalMoneySmart grant must:

• Promote and enhance the economic security of consumers.
  
• Adhere to the five principles of effective financial education described in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2017 report Effective financial education: Five principles and how to use them:
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.
• 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.

No more than 15 percent of the grant can be used to cover administrative costs, which may include, but are not limited to, costs of workforce overhead, human resources, accounting, finance, business and facility operations, and information technology.

Estimated Total Program Funding: