Purpose
To help schools partner with local banks to bring Intertwined into their school.
Background
In addition to our work with K-12 schools, we also have a team that works closely with the banking industry in the area of bank management training. Well-managed banks and savings associations work closely with all areas of their communities. In fact, banks are required to serve all segments of their community including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods within their communities. This was codified by the United States Congress in 1977 as the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). There have been some changes to the Community Reinvestment Act over the years, but the importance of it has remained strong. Most banks now work diligently to ensure that they are serving all segments of their communities with equality. Most banks also invest educational and support resources into low- and moderate-income neighborhoods as part of meeting their CRA requirements. Federal bank examiners
look at all aspects of a bank’s records in providing services to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and assign a CRA rating that ranges from “outstanding” to “substantial non-compliance.”
One common method a bank uses to improve and raise its CRA rating is involvement in organizations that provide services and financial education to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and schools. Banks recognize that a better-educated person is a better banking customer. The Intertwined program is a great tool specifically designed for use in the classroom and at home.
Additionally, the Intertwined website has support for a sponsorship thank-you. This can be seen by every user (teachers, administrators, students, and parents) each time they access Intertwined’s website. This is completely optional but could be seen as beneficial to a banking institution that partners with your school to help with Intertwined funding.
Action Plan
Evaluate the banks in your community and determine which of them seem to be the most committed to community involvement. Also, evaluate any natural relationships that may already exist. You may have a teacher whose spouse works at a local bank or you may have a student whose parent works at a local bank. These could be great first connection points for approaching a bank. Studies show that most people utilize banks that are within a 5-mile radius, so proximity to your school is a major plus to attracting a bank as your partner.
Through your connection points, try to learn who at the bank may be the point person for community involvement, especially regarding CRA performance.
Make sure you understand your overall budget for Intertwined.
Deliver your message, which is a request for funding support for your Intertwined program and involvement. Most banks take great pride in their volunteer efforts and charitable donations. Explain how Intertwined is an important part of your financial literacy initiatives and can help change the financial literacy rates within your school. Talk about how the program works and how it motivates students to learn and apply financial concepts through personalized and gamified content.
In order to ensure the sustainability of your Intertwined program, you need to be committed to providing a year-end report to the bank so that the bank can see (and report) that their involvement is having a positive impact. We at Intertwined will give you direction on writing a report, giving you step-by-step instructions so that you can put together a report with minimal time and effort.
Resources
To learn more about the Community Reinvestment Act, the following websites provide some good information: