Money Does Matter

SiMPACT has recently been working with ABC Life Literacy to determine the social value of its Money Matters program through a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis. Money Matters is a free financial literacy and education savings program that is designed for adult learners and was created to raise financial literacy and encourage registered education savings bonds (RESB). The Money Matters program was developed by ABC Life Literacy Canada, approved with support from LBG Canada Company, TD Bank group, and HRSDC.

We began by helping ABC Life Literacy set up new evaluation tools and a new data collection system for the program. The SROI methodology was then used to forecast the social value created by the program once its evaluation systems were updated. Results demonstrated that for every dollar invested in the Money Matters program, $2.21 of social value is created. SiMPACT found that 71% of this value was attributed to participants, 11 % of the value was attributed to the children of participants and 7% of the value was attributed to TD volunteers.

The Money Matters program enlists skilled TD volunteer tutors, in a ‘during working hours’ volunteer program, to teach numeracy and financial skills in community learning centres across Canada. The experience with Money Matters reinforces to volunteers that their skills and knowledge are valued and useful. Having this volunteer opportunity available for staff during working hours contributes to employee employee satisfaction, which contributes to the value that can be created through `during working hours` volunteer programs.