CONSULTING

The Project

Help AFN Members Make Philanthropic Investments More Strategic

The Asset Funders Network (AFN) advances economic opportunity and prosperity for low and moderate income people through philanthropy. The organization brings together foundations and grant makers passionate about promoting economic opportunity and financial security for all Americans with the goal of alleviating poverty. They engage in a process of continuous improvement to make sure they are maximizing their impact. I worked together with a committee of philanthropic members of AFN to enhance financial coaching and boost strategic alignment of their investments. 

The Plan

We helped make the investments of AFN members as strategic as possible by linking them to the most current research and best practices in the field, and identifying emerging needs that philanthropy can address. When possible, I brought funders together to jointly co-invest in projects, thereby exceeding what any funder could have done on their own.

The Results

The work on financial coaching helped to elevate AFN’s reputation in the financial coaching field. It helped to position AFN as the leading organization working with philanthropic funders who address financial and asset building issues. To position AFN as a leader, I partnered with a university to research and publish papers about financial coaching, educated funders about creative approaches to address economic insecurity issues, and delivered presentations to key stakeholders to influence philanthropists to support this work. As a result, there has been a gravitation of other like-minded leaders to join the committee. Membership of the committee has more than doubled.