Agency Classes Educate 7,000 Consumers On Important Money Matters
August 12, 2010, 11:05 am
Free Seminars, Online Instruction, and Social Networking Help Improve Financial Literacy
Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management is pleased to announce the agency has logged more than 460 instructional hours this year and educated more than 7,000 consumers through its Mobile Outreach Valuable Education (MOVE) initiative and its Financial Instructional Training (FIT) Academy, an online financial education center designed to help consumers become more knowledgeable about financial matters. The agency offers seminars, workshops and educational materials to youth and adults on topics such as budgeting and money management, identity theft, and understanding credit.
“Springboard is dedicated to providing and promoting financial literacy education classes to all consumers,” said Melinda Opperman, Springboard’s senior vice president of community outreach and industry relations. “We are thrilled that we are reaching a record number of consumers with services that promote financial literacy, homeownership and a healthy economy,” said Opperman.
In 2009, Springboard conducted more than 450 financial literacy seminars and educated more than 11,000 consumers throughout California. Springboard’s MOVE initiative is a comprehensive series of face-to-face workshops available to youth and adults residing in California. Springboard’s FIT Academy is available to consumers nationwide and may be accessed by logging onto http://fit.credit.org. The online financial training courses teach practical skill-sets to manage credit, debt, household expenses and personal finance. Each course is taught by a certified financial education counselor.
“The FIT Academy allows consumers to work at their own pace while using the convenience of the Internet to obtain knowledge,” said Opperman. “Our pre and post-test data indicates a 102% increase in knowledge gained,” said Opperman.
Springboard also communicates important financial literacy education on the social media web page, Twitter. Springboard's main goal, in alliance with Twitter, is to reach online consumers interested in family budgeting, money management and personal finance help - in a platform convenient to them. Springboard's "tweet" messages include financial education tips, upcoming community events, press releases, and new website postings.
"The more consumers understand about their finances, the more they will be able to manage them effectively," said Opperman. "With frequent posts on Twitter, we're able to demonstrate that understanding money matters does not have to be difficult," said Opperman.
Springboard's Twitter followers receive daily “tweets” like the following:
"Bottled water costs almost 2,000 times more than tap water. Get a water filter pitcher and save hundreds of dollars per year."
To receive Springboard's financial education daily “tweets”, follow these instructions:
1.) Go to Springboard's Twitter Web Page.
2.) Log into your account or create a new account.
3.) Select follow CreditDotOrg.
4.) Everyday Springboard’s Financial Education "tweets" will appear on your Twitter homepage.
For more information, contact: Sheri Stuart, Senior Communications Specialist
