New Financial Health Genome identifies
proven strategies that help nonprofits address financial challenges
of the individuals they serve
Lincoln Financial Foundation and The Impact Genome Project®
today announced the findings of the Financial Health Genome, an
initiative that measures, defines and tracks “what works” when it
comes to delivering nonprofit programs that successfully address
low-income households’ financial health challenges. The Financial
Health Genome is especially relevant given that nearly 30% of
adults living below the poverty line before the pandemic are in
worse financial shape than a year ago, according to the AP-NORC
Center of Public Affairs Research.
“Financially challenged communities are struggling now more than
ever in the wake of COVID-19, and they are looking for help to
navigate the path forward to achieve long-term financial
resilience,” said Nancy Rogers, president of Lincoln Financial
Foundation. “At Lincoln Financial Group, we’re focused on a common
purpose: to help provide financial peace of mind to Americans —
enabling them to plan for and protect their financial futures, and
that extends to the communities we support through our Foundation.
The Financial Health Genome allows us to not only assist our
grantees but to provide resources to all nonprofits working to
improve financial health and support economic mobility.”
The Financial Health Genome was established to help support
nonprofits by creating a shared language and understanding of
financial health across the sector and by identifying the most
successful strategies that nonprofits can use to achieve positive
financial health outcomes. The Financial Health Genome performed an
in-depth analysis of nonprofit programs to identify and define the
outcomes that comprise financial health and what strategies, or
combination of strategies, can be used to deliver on those
outcomes.
“A growing number of nonprofits, funders and government entities
are working to alleviate the financial stresses that many Americans
face,” said Jason Saul, founder and chief executive officer, Impact
Genome. “The Financial Health Genome brings these stakeholders
together through a shared understanding of the meaning of financial
health and the strategies that underlie programs successfully
achieving desired outcomes.”
Financial Stability, Resilience and Security: Defining the
Path to Financial Health
A critical step on the path to improving financial health for
low-income Americans through the work of nonprofit programs is to
coordinate efforts across the financial health sector. The
Financial Health Genome provides a shared language and
understanding of financial health for the nonprofit financial
health sector and its funders by distilling the complex idea of
financial health and wellness into six measurable outcomes.
The six measurable outcomes are split into two categories:
- Status Change Outcomes:
- Current Financial Stability: Ability to manage
day-to-day expenses
- Financial Resilience: Being ready for financial
shocks
- Future Security: Ensuring that long-term needs can be
met
- Supporting Outcomes:
- Financial Literacy and Skills: Knowledge of core
concepts and skills in personal finance
- Financial Access: Access to key resources
- Financial Self-Efficacy: Confidence in ability to make
financial decisions
The six outcomes reflect a progression from more foundational
“supporting outcomes” to the more complex “status change outcomes”
that have the ability to significantly drive behavior and
accelerate individuals on the path to financial health. The
Financial Health Genome shows that not all outcomes are created
equal — some outcomes cost more to reach than others, and some
outcomes have greater efficacy – and that to attain overall
financial health individuals must achieve a combination of multiple
outcomes.
Through its analysis of program components, the Financial Health
Genome identified types of strategies that correlate with
successful programs and aligned those with the six financial health
outcomes. With these findings, nonprofits can examine their
program’s framework, understand where their work fits in the
broader context of the field and show how they are creating an
impact to potential funders.
Putting the Financial Health Genome into Practice
Lincoln Financial Foundation sponsored the Financial Health
Genome as a way to help guide its nonprofit partners to maximize
their impact in the communities that need it most – and the results
have been made public to establish a way for all nonprofits in the
financial health sector to have access to evidence-based best
practices and strategies to achieve the shared goal: building
Americans’ financial resilience and stability.
Lincoln Financial Foundation has put this research into action
in new ways, including helping grantees evaluate their programs for
multiple stakeholder groups. Scott Karol, Deputy Director at
Clarifi, a Lincoln Financial Foundation grantee, shared that, “Last
year, Clarifi’s certified financial counselors helped more than
1,700 individuals and families to overcome barriers and reach their
financial goals. While we know that our relationship-centered,
client-led model is highly effective, it can be difficult to
illustrate to our funders the real costs associated with each
positive outcome. We are excited to see how the Financial Health
Genome can help us continue to deliver efficient financial
resiliency services, but also to improve how we talk about our work
and its impact in underrepresented and underserved communities
across our area.”
The Financial Health Genome findings are available here.
About Lincoln Financial Foundation
The Lincoln Financial Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the
Lincoln Financial Group. The Lincoln Financial Foundation focuses
on building stronger communities through nonprofit partnerships in
financial wellness, education, and human services, with the
long-term goal of helping people build secure financial futures for
themselves and their families. In 2020, Lincoln Financial
Foundation donated approximately $10 million to philanthropic
endeavors that empower and improve the lives of countless in our
communities. To learn more visit our website.
About Lincoln Financial Group
Lincoln Financial Group provides advice and solutions that help
people take charge of their financial lives with confidence and
optimism. Today, more than 17 million customers trust our
retirement, insurance and wealth protection expertise to help
address their lifestyle, savings and income goals, and guard
against long-term care expenses. Headquartered in Radnor,
Pennsylvania, Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for
Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE: LNC) and its affiliates. The
company had $270 billion in end-of-period account values as of June
30, 2020. Lincoln Financial Group is a committed corporate citizen
included on major sustainability indices including the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index North America and FTSE4Good. Dedicated to
diversity and inclusion, we earned perfect 100 percent scores on
the Corporate Equality Index and the Disability Equality Index, and
rank among Forbes’ World’s Best Employers, Best Large Employers,
Best Employers for Diversity, Best Employers for Women and JUST
100, and Newsweek’s Most Responsible Companies. Learn more at:
www.LincolnFinancial.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
and Instagram. Sign up for email alerts at
http://newsroom.lfg.com/.
About The Impact Genome Project®
The Impact Genome Project® (IGP) is a public-private research
initiative to standardize the way social outcomes are measured,
reported, and benchmarked. IGP’s mission is to enable grant makers
and policymakers to use precision data to solve social
determinants. With support from leading corporate and private
philanthropies, it has just announced the Sentinel Outcomes
Initiative, a multi-year effort to track and quantify the unmet
critical human needs of all Americans, spanning financial health,
social capital, food security, housing, employment, and education.
For more information, please visit:
www.impactgenome.org.
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Kelly Capizzi Lincoln Financial Group 484-538-7824
Kelly.Capizzi@lfg.com
Ashley La Fleur Root3 Marketing & Business Development
Accounts Director 312-967-0803 ashley@root3marketing.com
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