FINRA Investor Education Foundation
WHAT WE DO:
The FINRA Investor Education Foundation (www.finrafoundation.org) helps Americans invest carefully, avoid fraud and achieve their financial goals throughout life. FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Foundation's parent organization, is the world's largest non-governmental securities regulator. The Foundation, established in 2003, supports innovative research and educational projects aimed at segments of the investing public that could benefit from additional resources. Our goal is to reach more and more investors each year, educate them on their own terms and in the most effective ways, and protect them in a world that is complex and dynamic.
WHAT WE OFFER:
Our grants allow researchers to explore investor behavior and develop practical ways to help Americans make good financial decisions. Grant funding also helps not-for-profit organizations ensure that reliable financial and investor education is available to all who need it, when they need it - at the workplace, online 24/7, or wherever it works best.
Grantmaking is only part of the Foundation's core activity. Through direct programming, the Foundation educates and protects specific segments of the investor community. One of the directed programs is based on the belief that the financial well-being of the military and their families is a national imperative. To that end, the Foundation reaches members of the armed forces wherever they may serve around the world to educate them on financial matters. In a separate initiative, the Foundation collaborates with partners to help older Americans detect and avoid fraud by understanding and countering persuasion tactics that may lead to financial losses. These initiatives are detailed at SaveAndInvest.org.
WHAT'S NEW:
Smart investing@your library, a jointly administered grant program with the American Library Association, reaches the grassroots level by supporting public libraries in their efforts to provide quality financial and investor education resources to library patrons. Some of the nation's finest libraries have developed model programs and outreach strategies to serve investors wherever and whenever they gather or find learning convenient during their busy lives - in their residential communities, at the county fair, in the virtual spaces of Second Life, and of course at welcoming libraries across the country. To date, participating libraries and library systems include:
- Alliance Library System, Illinois
- Sacramento Public Library, California
- Ames Public Library, Iowa
- Schaumburg Township District Library, Illinois
- Milwaukee Public Library, Wisconsin
- Southeastern Libraries Cooperating, Minnesota
- Naperville Public Library, Illinois
- Timberland Regional Library, Washington
- Natrona County Public Library, Wyoming
- Winfield Public Library, Kansas
- Newton Free Library, Massachusetts
- Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio
- Orange County Library System, Florida
The programs developed under this grant opportunity include a wide variety of resources and outreach initiatives. For example:
The Alliance Library System offers onsite and Web-based workshops to provide investor information, a Smart Investing presence in the virtual world of Second Life, and a Smart Investing outreach van that travels to community events and libraries throughout the 14,000 square miles of the system's service area in central Illinois.
The Naperville Public Library is creating online video tutorials on the use of financial databases, improving the accessibility of investing research tools on the library's Web site, training librarians in investment research strategies, and providing high school and college students with money management skills in preparation for financial independence.
The Orange County Library District is organizing an eight-part bilingual series on basic investing themes for Hispanic families, providing investor education video-on-demand for library patrons and staff, and creating a bilingual "eGuide" on personal finance for users of the library's Web site.
The Schaumburg Township District Library is producing and marketing an investor education Web portal, inclusive of videos introducing teen and adult patrons to investing-related library collections and reference services. Schaumburg is also creating a traveling multimedia exhibit that provides high-impact visual lessons about investing. This exhibit will be shared with other Illinois libraries
Please get more information about Smart investing@your library from the contact listed below.
WHAT WE NEED:
We seek to reach new audiences, especially those long underserved by the financial community. The Foundation welcomes proposals for innovative research and educational projects that give investors the tools and information they need to understand better the markets and the basic principles of saving and investing. We also look for opportunities to partner with entities that share our vision to protect investors by educating Americans to make sound investment decisions.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Robert Ganem
FINRA Investor Education Foundation
1735 K Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20006-1506
Phone: (202) 728-8362
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