All About NEFE’s Grants and Research Program

NEFE Grants and Research Program Themes

In April 2006, the Board of Trustees approved a redesign of NEFE’s grantmaking program to better reflect its unique role in supporting NEFE’s philanthropic framework including its mission, initiatives, and program areas. Since implementing the redesigned program, NEFE’s philanthropic framework has been enhanced with the adoption of internal long-term strategic goals within an all-encompassing organizational framework of “create demand.” Funding requests are assessed within the parameters of this framework.

The following three key grant themes emerged from internal review of past and present grant projects that included outcomes we desired.

Understand Financial Behavior
A fundamental element in all projects is the necessity to address optimal financial behaviors. Projects should include outcomes relevant to understanding or improving financial behaviors of specific segments of the American public or the public in general. NEFE encourages inquiry within the physical, social, and psychological sciences to facilitate the public’s ability to improve personal financial well-being. Findings must be presented in a manner that engages educators, policy makers, segments of the public, and/or individuals to adopt policies, practices, attitudes, and skills that result in positive public and personal outcomes.
Advance Innovative Thinking
NEFE encourages projects that spawn rigorous, proactive research initiated from a broad spectrum of scholarly disciplines where potential findings indicate strong possibilities to advance critical thinking, cultivate vigorous debate, challenge the status quo, and/or illuminate trends likely to affect the personal financial well-being of the American public.
Assure Significance to Society
Projects should provide evidence that outcomes are likely to produce practical benefit for primary stakeholders such as financial education intermediaries, researchers, practitioners, decision makers, and/or entities who can achieve effective educational outreach to a population segment with an unmet financial literacy need or the public in general, especially as it pertains to solutions with traction and scale sufficient to make a measurable difference in financial responsibility, stability, and/or well-being.

Research findings are expected to result in actionable recommendations or make a profound and credible contribution to the financial literacy body of knowledge.

Development projects must be research-based and include front-end collaboration with entities capable of broad targeted outreach and commitment to implementation that includes quantitative and qualitative evaluation.

Annual Grant Amounts Vary

There are two NEFE grants cycles each year and the total amount granted each year varies, based on:

Number and type of requests received.
Size and scope of projects for which funding is requested.
Financial commitments needed to support NEFE’s other activities. All grants are made at NEFE’s sole discretion.

What NEFE Does Not Fund

New or ongoing financial education programs of individual community organizations
Administrative and operating expenses required to conduct financial education classes, seminars, or workshops

NEFE does more than just act as a funding resource. Its Grants staff regularly communicates with grantees as projects progress.

Learn About Other Grants Programs Administered by NEFE

In keeping with its emphasis on partnering, NEFE administers other grants programs whose missions are compatible with NEFE, but whose funding priorities and parameters consider different types of projects.

To learn more about other grants programs NEFE administers, click on the options below: