Big Picture Financial Literacy Program Planning

On this page you will discover a primary initial program goal and some tips that can help you work toward that objective. It’s our hope that this information will help you build your financial education program more effectively, so you can start making a difference in people’s lives sooner.

When you dive into any new project or subject, it’s easy to get hyper-focused on the details. It’s important to zoom out from time to time and reflect on the big picture vision of your program. This activity will help you plan out each phase of your program development and stay on course toward your personal, business, and philanthropic goals.

This article and 10-minute activity will help you establish your program goals and give you some practical tips for accomplishing those objectives.

Setting Phase Goals

Heres a quick 5-minute lesson to help you understand the big picture of developing a program, identify where you are now, and know the next steps you should take.

  • Directions: Review the image of the 3 phases to building a program.
  • Write or type “Have” in the areas you already have in place.
  • Write or type “Now” in the areas you are working on currently and enter the date by which you want to accomplish each of them.
  • Write or type “Next Step” in the area you need to focus on next, and enter the date by which you want to accomplish this step.
  • Write or type “Step 2” in the area you plan on addressing after your next step, and enter the date by which you want to accomplish this step.
  • Write or type “Step 3” in the area you plan on addressing after your second step, and enter the date by which you want to accomplish this step.
  • Continue with Step 4 or 5 if needed.

Primary Initial Milestone Goal: Proving Your Program’s Impact via Case Study

Completing a case study report that proves your competency as a top-quality provider of financial education programming that makes a measurable impact should be the primary major milestone goal you set for yourself.

In our interviews with thousands of providers of financial education, we’ve learned that only a few make the effort to build out case study reports that demonstrate their impact. By developing case studies about your programs, you will stand out among the crowd.

The process of building case study reports takes more effort on the first few, but gets easier each time. The key is to have a clear plan for what information to gather and collecting those data at established points of your program. Once the information is gathered, it can be easily added to case study report templates and leveraged to help you expand your programming.

In your course, you will find comprehensive training and the report template that will help you build your case study – Check out the case study page training.

All clients are eligible for NFEC sponsorship by completing their case studies – Click here to learn how the NFEC can sponsor your program.

We provide you case study surveys, testing and a template report in your Patron Resource Center to easily complete your case study.

4 Essential Tips for Staying on Track with Your Goals

When we spoke with our successful clients, they shared similar approaches to working toward their program goals. Here are a few tips they suggested:

  • Break down your end goal into smaller phases. Common phases include completion of training, practicing your presentations, locating partner organizations, creating your user experience package, building your case study.
  • Set a completion date for each phase and for the entire project. Working toward a time deadline gives you a clear goal to shoot for. You may need to adjust dates as you gather more information and modify your goals.
  • Commit to a regular schedule. To keep your momentum going, set daily or weekly time commitments and try to make the effort part of your routine. Establishing days of the week and times you set aside to work on financial education is helpful.
  • Reflect upon your reasons for building your program regularly. It’s important to keep why are you championing financial education at the top of your mind. As with any project, there are times your motivation may wane. Reflecting on your reasons for doing it can help you stay inspired.

The NFEC has a vested interest in your success. The more successful you are at accomplishing your personal, business, and philanthropic goals, the more successful we are in promoting financial wellness.