Creating better versions of ourselves. Annual Report 2014
Our philosophy: Invent, stumble, reinvent and succeed. Patty Hasson, President
“We are always seeking to be better versions of ourselves.”
When you think about it, Clarifi’s basic purpose hasn’t changed in 50 years. We help people overcome financial calamity, build credit worthiness and create secure futures. But financial troubles seem to create new ways to affect people. So we find new technologies and educational strategies to keep up. We continually reinvent our business. Our staff is relentless in the evolution of our solutions. We generate new partnerships with like-minded organizations. We invest in new financial planning tools for everyday people. It’s all how Clarifi helps people reinvent the way they live and transform their relationship with money. Oh sure, we stumble—just like our clients. And like successful clients, we learn from every stumble and move on smarter, with fresh ideas. Reinvention includes our recent affiliation with Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC). Our friends there have allowed us to integrate new ways to help people change
their lives, as well as get the word out to more people who need us. In our offices, we challenge each other to empower transformation in ways that weren’t possible a year or two ago. On these pages you’ll hear from a few changemakers in our organization and from a few clients who have been inspired to create better, more financially healthy versions of themselves.
Clarifi’s culture encourages risk taking. We give ourselves permission to fail, and to learn from our failures. Markita Morris-Louis, Senior Vice President of Community Affairs and General Counsel
This is why we come to work every day, and why I have such gratitude for those who support our mission to help people secure their most important assets. I invite you to join us as we continue our journey of reinvention. — Patty Hasson, President
A lot of little things got me in a lot of trouble. A lot of little victories got me out.
We’re not the heroes, our clients are the heroes. Elaine Jones, Counseling Program Manager, Financial Empowerment Centers
Edward M., Client
Financial Empowerment Centers are Transformational Centers
Edward was so deep in debt he couldn’t imagine a way out; let alone how to buy a home. “I kept saying it was just this and just that,” says Edward. “But it was a whole lot of ‘this-and-that.’ They added up to a world of trouble.” He found his way out at one of our Financial Empowerment Centers. Edward learned how to “reverse engineer” his lifestyle habits. Together, Edward and his counselor made a checklist of things to change. Edward says “My counselor was so enthusiastic, and kept encouraging me to do the next little thing
Through our partnership with the City of Philadelphia, our pioneering Financial Empowerment Centers are reinventing the way people achieve financial literacy. People like Edward set specific goals under our guidance, check off “little victories” and change their financial habits—one by one. Credit scores go up, budgets become lifestyles, and rent, utility and city taxes get paid. People who were down and out are now up and coming.
One good thing can lead to another. Confidence is raised one little victory at a time.
Debt reduced by $4,231,085
4,335 Unique clients
and the next. I now have a home thanks to doing one little thing at a time.”
Hope Katz, Counseling Manager
Average credit score increase: 42 points
We’re in the final year of a three-year grant funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Cities for Financial Empowerment. What we’ve learned in the past two years now helps thousands of people learn new ways of regaining control over their lives.
Clarifi and my coach gave me a way to tackle my debt. I feel free in a way I did not feel four years ago. Karen G., Client
Counseling & Coaching Inspire Immersive Clarifi Boot Camps
One-on-one counseling and volunteer coaches are “classic” Clarifi solutions that help folks in debt become better versions of themselves. Our NFCC Client of the Year finalists (and heroes), the Ostroffs, paid off nearly $90,000 in credit card debt. “Our counselor really put us on the right track. We changed every spending habit we had.”
This kind of success inspired us to create sixweek boot camps, where we connect clients to the dual support of counseling and personal coaches. These are intensive, immersive debt management experiences with plenty of communal support. Think of Clarifi boot camps as “Version 2.0” of our ongoing, classic counseling.
We set Karen up with a financial planner who moonlights as a volunteer Clarifi coach. He worked with her for six months and kept her on point. This was all part of our unique 360˚ mix of discipline, motivation, commitment and support. “I’ll never feel the terror of debt again,” says Karen.
Over $6.2 million of Debt Paid back on DMP
DMP = Debt Management Program
Total Counseling Sessions Held for 16,289 Clients Credit, Debt and Budgeting Bankruptcy Housing Appointments
Housing Crisis Appointments Pre-Purchase Reverse Mortgage for Seniors
10,433
63%
579
4%
5,277
33%
3,760 948 434
Great outcomes help set us apart. Anita Brown, Chief Operating Officer
In follow-up surveys, 80% of clients reported improvement in 3 or more financial capabilities: Financial Stress
Savings
Credit Awareness
Money Management
The Evidence is in About Clarifi’s Real-World Effectiveness
The results of what we do inspire our industry, not just our clients. We participate in independent studies and research in order to improve financial literacy initiatives all over the country. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia selected Clarifi to provide housing education and counseling to first-time homeowners for a five-year study. The newly published study shows participants are more likely to qualify for a mortgage, have higher credit scores and enjoy
successful home ownership experiences. In collaboration with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), behavior researchers from Dartmouth and Yale Universities studied the effects of technology tools on Clarifi’s debt management clients. Early results report the use of our small, low-cost nudges, like texting and other peersupport reminders, can encourage positive financial habits with our clients. Yes, we can report on more “little victories” that transform lifestyles.
Technology changes the way people interact. We want our clients to engage with our solutions at a time and place that works for them.
Scott Karol, Vice President, Counseling and Program Evaluation
Financial Health as a Key Factor in Personal Health Health professionals see a potent link between one’s financial health and overall personal health. So we’re excited about our new work inside PHMC’s Rising Sun Health Center in North Philadelphia. Here, we offer patients a new kind of prescription to complement their health care.
Clarifi now delivers money management guidance to those struggling with health challenges. “Reducing financial stress reduces personal stress. Financial health is an essential ingredient in overall personal wellbeing,” says Megan Kiesel, Senior Manager of Program Development at Clarifi.
Just like my lab experiments, not everything I did to fix my credit worked right away. I had to go back and look and fix the problem. Mohammed N., PhD Candidate, Drexel University
Financial Literacy as an Employee Benefit Benefits Employers
This year Clarifi@Work will be a valuable benefit for employees of Home Care Associates (HCA). This pioneering partnership incorporates our financial education and counseling into HCA’s benefits package. Together, we’re out to
eliminate financial challenges that can affect job performance and turnover rates. Financial literacy at work is a win-win for employees and employers.
Financial Literacy Education for 25,318 People
Workshops Hosted Workshop Participants Additional Outreach Events
467 6,044 433
‘Knowledge is Power’ in Community Outreach Community outreach is essential to our mission. We are always teaching financial know-how to different groups in new places— like Drexel University. Mohammed, a third-year PhD candidate and president of the International Graduate Student Association, asked us to visit campus and lead a workshop about credit. As he says, “We didn’t know the little things important for a good credit score. Or when you go for a job interview, good credit can be important.”
Lots of light bulbs went off for even the brightest grad students, and Mohammed raised his credit score 80 points by trying things, fixing what didn’t work at first and plugging away—just like in his chemistry lab. And all with our guidance. “Knowledge is power,” Mohammed says. “The more you know about money—the better. We plan to make this Clarifi graduate course a regular event on campus.”
Our Board Drives Our Success Our board of directors brings a wealth of financial and professional smarts to the table. Most important, the members bring the commitment of their respective companies and organizations to our mission of lifelong financial literacy. We love them for that. Board Officers Patty Hasson Roger Wilson Peter Conners Stephen Delaney Kathleen Leonik
Clarifi, President Campbell Soup Company, Chairman CFA Society of Philadelphia, Vice Chairman Deloitte, Treasurer Barclays, Secretary
Board of Directors Wayne Anglace Bob Bernard Peter Burns John Carey Ellen Crain Joel Dickson Tine Hansen-Turton
Delaware Investments Comcast Heartland Payment Systems CitiCard Susquehanna Bank The Vanguard Group PHMC
Tim Hunter Denise Mason Mark Parsells Allan Stevens Catherine Ulozas Karen Walters
Radian Guaranty Inc. Consultant Global Debt Registry Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union Drexel University Independence Blue Cross
Patty Hasson’s not just a great leader. She’s a great forward thinker, and keeps our board thinking deep into the future. Roger Wilson, Chairman, Clarifi Board of Directors
Partners, Funders and Friends of Clarifi
American Express Ascena Retail Group Inc. Bank of America Bank of America Charitable Foundation Barclays Beneficial Bank Bloomberg Philanthropies Boeing Employees Community Fund Boeing Global Corporate Citizenship Camden County Dept. of Econ. and Workforce Development Campbell Soup Company Capital One Citi Foundation Citibank Cities for Financial Empowerment Citizens Bank Comcast Consumer Federation of America Customers Bank Delaware County Council Deloitte First Niagara Bank Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union Fulton Bank Global Debt Registry Haverford Trust Company HSBC Independence Blue Cross JP Morgan Chase
KML Law Group, P.C. Macquarie Group M&T Bank National Community Reinvestment Coalition National Penn PECO Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency PNC Foundation Points of Light Foundation Public Health Fund Public Health Management Corporation Radian Guaranty Inc. Republic Bank RML Investments Inc. Santander Bank State Farm Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP Sun National Bank Susquehanna Bank TD Charitable Foundation The Bancorp Bank The Pew Charitable Trusts The Philadelphia Foundation United Way of Chester County United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey VantageScore Solutions Wells Fargo Wells Fargo Housing Foundation W.K. Kellogg Foundation
2014 Client Demographics (includes counseling clients and education participants)
Gender
Ethnicity
33%
2%
50% Black
64% No Response = 3%
7%
26-35
20%
36-45
19%
46-55
22%
56-65
17%
66+
10%
No Response
5%
2%
Black/African American & White
6%
Latino/Latina
30% White Caucasian
Age Range 18-25
Asian
4%
Other/Other Multiple Race
6%
Chose Not to Respond/ No Response
9% responded “Yes” as Hispanic/Latino
Income
Marital Status
28 % Married 17%
Divorced separated “Other” = 2%
48 % Single 5%
Widowed
50%
17%
17%
7%
9%
Extremely Low Income
Very Low Income
Low Income
Moderate Income
Not Low-Mod. Income
2014 Client Demographics (includes counseling clients and education participants)
Region
PENNSYLVANIA
77%
NEW JERSEY
14%
DELAWARE
7%
Top counties Philadelphia Delaware Montgomery Chester Bucks
73% 11% 6% 4% 3%
Top counties Camden Burlington Gloucester Atlantic Mercer
37% 30% 12% 6% 4%
OTHER
2%
2014 Financials Revenue 34% Government Contracts 39% Grants 11% Earned Income 7%
Client Fees
5%
Creditor Fees
4%
Other*
Total: 6.2 million *All donations, fundraising event, contributed service & non-oper. revenue grouped as “Other�
Expenses 83%
Program and Services
12% Administration & Management 5%
Fundraising
Financial literacy is a lifelong transformation.
NON PROFIT
Clarifi is an affiliate of
COMMUNITY PARTNER
1608 Walnut St., 10th Fl. Philadelphia, PA 19103 P 800.989.2227 F 215.563.7020 W clarifi.org