Twenty American nonprofit organizations dedicated to expanding access to pro bono financial planning for people in crisis or need will benefit from $533,000 in grants in 2024, the Foundation for Financial Planning announced this week.
Among pro bono clients served by the grant recipients' programs will be families affected by cancer, military veterans, active service members and their spouses, at-risk older adults and domestic violence survivors.
FFP awards grants to a range of community-based and national nonprofits that serve these constituencies and whose efforts can be scaled.
Helping CFP Aspirants
One recipient organization this year is Texas Tech University, where FFP is working with Dottie Durband, a professor of personal financial planning, and her colleagues, as well as with Sasha Grabenstetter, now at eMoney. Their focus in on updating the Apple Seed curriculum, which prepares college students at CFP Board registered programs to work with low- to middle-income pro bono clients.
FFP made an initial grant to develop the curriculum in 2013. It will now be updated to include new content related to technology advancements; self- and social awareness, inclusivity, empathetic communication, and cultural humility and competence; as well as the six principal knowledge topics covered in the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards' psychology of financial planning domain.
Upon completion, the revised curriculum will be tested among financial planning students from Texas Tech''s Charles Schwab Foundation Personal Financial Planning Clinic.
"The update to this curriculum aims to enhance the comprehensive training and preparation of future financial professionals and pro bono providers," Durband said in the announcement. "Providing students with training on pro bono will build their knowledge, skills and confidence as financial planners, while fostering a commitment to helping those in need."
