the 2011 elon university bateman team presents ... -...

Better Luckwith

your Buck

The 2011 Elon University Bateman Team Presents

Molly Cox Alex Harrington Annie Hellweg Liz Moy

Dr. Frances Ward-Johnson, Faculty Advisor

Building a Better Burlington

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Table of ContentsI. And Our Luck Begins...Introduction............................................................................................. page 1

II. An Unlucky SituationSituational Analysis.................................................................................. page 1

III. Our Lucky StoryCampaign Summary................................................................................. page 2

IV. Finding Our Four-Leaf CloverResearch................................................................................................. page 3

V. It Wasn’t Just LuckGoals and Objectives............................................................................... page 5

VI. Our Pot of GoldResults.................................................................................................... page 8

VII. Luck Down the LineConclusion............................................................................................... page 10

VIII. AppendixCampaign Materials................................................................................ page 12


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I. And Our Luck Begins Introduction

The team was lucky to have a great campaign, reaching our goals and helping build a better Burlington.

Better Luck with your Buck was a successful campaign with astounding results: We changed attitudes and shaped future behaviors toward personal finance, inspiring a reluctant community to commit to and care about financial education. In the Burlington, North Carolina, area, students and adults expressed a lack of understanding of three basic financial issues: credit, budgeting and saving. The Elon University Bateman

team realized if financial education was accessible and attainable for all residents, we could build a better Burlington. This drove our team to develop Better Luck with your Buck, a community initiative focused on providing our audiences - Elon students, low-income Burlington residents and minorities - with basic financial knowledge. After conducting primary and secondary research, the targeted audiences displayed the greatest need for financial education. Better Luck with your Buck is defined as using your dollars and cents, regardless of the amount, to stay out of debt while setting aside funds for the future. We assured our audiences they could begin having better luck with their buck by participating in an interactive training session, utilizing our online tools and participating in a virtual financial management simulation. We asked individuals to challenge themselves to have better luck with their buck, engaged a community that had little to no previous exposure to financial education and demonstrated that financial illiteracy knows no bounds. The challenge was individualized- building a better Burlington had to happen one resident at a time. While Ally Financial’s SmartEdge program provided the necessary financial curriculum, our job was to tailor the information to fit the needs of low-income Burlington residents and Elon University students. Our audience was deeply rooted in a pessimistic approach to their finances: Low-income residents and students who were in debt or struggled to manage their personal finances felt hopeless. Better Luck with your Buck empowered our audience and showed individuals from all walks of life that they could take control of their financial future. To accomplish this mission, our team built meaningful relationships with community and campus organizations, seamlessly connecting the goals of the campaign with the localized goals of the community.

II. An Unlucky SituationSituational Analysis

There are many people who are down on their luck when it comes to money. Our research shows the primary issue in Burlington is that individuals are unaware of how to handle their money and unaware of how to gain basic financial knowledge.

Elon University is adjacent to the town of Burlington, North Carolina in Alamance County. This region is noted as one of the most demographically and socioeconomically diverse areas within the state.

The socioeconomic gap between Elon students and Burlington residents continues to provide challenges for the area. Elon is a private university with tuition costs upwards of $33,000 a year; Burlington, on the other hand, has been subject to an economic battering for the past 15 years since the decline of the textile industry. A significant portion of Burlington’s population struggles to pay monthly bills, as well as afford rent and utility payments. In turn, homelessness, illiteracy, unemployment and financial mismanagement continue to impact the city. The American Community survey notes that 20 percent of individuals in Burlington live below the poverty line and 30 percent of the population makes less than $25,000 per year. We determined that in addition to students, the average low-income Burlington resident who falls into that 30 percent, would benefit most from financial education courses. What was more striking, is that we found a large number of minorities, particularly African-Americans, were in deep financial debt without knowledge of how to get out.

A recent study developed by Topics Education and the North Carolina State Board of Education measured the financial literacy of North Carolina high school students. A 20 question survey called $kills $et revealed less than 50 percent of students in Burlington, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill had an understanding of basic financial knowledge and concepts. This deficit of

Strengths• Financial literacy training sessions short, easy to complete• Training available at organizations residents frequent• Only financial literacy program specific to Burlington, NC• Training sessions tailored to audience - college students, community members and high schoolers

Weaknesses• Two distinct audiences - Burlington residents and Elon students, with different needs• Burlington residents difficult to organize• Difficulty motivating college students to take an interest in personal finance

Opportunities• Build a better Burlington by increasing knowledge of personal finance• Drive future interest in financial literacy programs• Offer precautionary financial guidance to college and high school students• Provide organizations tools to carry out future training sessions

Threats• Both students and residents expressed overall apathy towards financial education• Burlington population wary of Elon students as messengers of important financial information

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knowledge among students reflects the communities’ overall lack of focus on financial education. Burlington, North Carolina, does not offer financial education in the public school system and does not have an independent program tailored to the specific needs of the community. There are notable deficiencies, particularly in low-income and African-American residents’ understanding of financial concepts, skills and consequent behaviors that, in turn, can damage their personal financial futures and effect unemployment rates.

There were specific strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats set before us that required in depth analysis before creating and implementing Better Luck with your Buck.

III. Our Lucky Story Campaign Summary

By a stroke of luck, we were in an area that desperately needed financial education.

Burlington, North Carolina, presented a unique opportunity: Our team was faced with a community desperately in need of financial knowledge but reluctant to take the necessary steps to gain that knowledge. The low-income population of the city and

the students at Elon University were widely uneducated on personal finance and notably segmented in terms of organizations frequented. The 2011 Better Luck with your Buck campaign aimed to build a better Burlington by showing low-income residents and students that financial illiteracy knows no bounds. The campaign was an interactive, grassroots effort to educate the population, enhance the community by making residents and students more financially aware, and extend resources that made basic financial knowledge available and applicable to the targeted audiences. Primary research methods enabled us to have an in-depth understanding of the Burlington population, their existing financial knowledge and the best way to reach the community. Once we were familiarized with the community, our goal was to reach out to students on Elon’s campus and individuals in the Burlington community who had or expressed the greatest need for financial education, which included low-income and African-American residents. The resulting campaign was an extensive grassroots effort that utilized campus and community organizations and opinion leaders to communicate the importance of financial education to our segmented audiences. By offering the incentive of a brighter financial future we piqued low-income Burlington residents and Elon students curiosity about personal finance. Our team developed a campaign that spanned both audiences by tailoring training sessions and materials to each audience addressed. The symbolic interaction theory, which suggests people are motivated to act based on the meaning they assign to individuals, places, things and events, drove the campaign from origination to implementation. When we realized that individuals were motivated to participate through groups or organizations they value, we understood the importance of targeting specific organizations as an integral part of our plan. We selected organizations that reached our targeted audiences separately in order to enhance the specificity of the materials presented; this enabled the development of audience specific presentations and information listeners would find applicable. Utilizing these organizations created a campaign that sought out individuals in places they were already attached to, which increased receptiveness to financial education and encouraged attendance at events. The unique reliance of the low-income Burlington community on familiar organizations for information - churches, community groups and school groups - provided guidance for our team when considering where to hold training sessions and distribute information. We also faced the challenge of promoting the campaign without positioning it as a marketing strategy for Ally Financial. Our team provided full disclosure of the nature of the campaign and our client, yet ensured participants and audiences that this program was intended to help the community and educate our audience. It was essential that our audiences felt connected to a grassroots community initiative rather than to a corporation. This approach deepened our campaign reach, reassured audiences and allowed us to build a better Burlington through financial education. Our team identified and contacted a set of organizations, both on campus and in the community, whose members we intended to reach - including students, low-income Burlington residents, and the African-American population. These organizations provided familiar locations for residents in which our team could hold training sessions, organize events and provide basic financial information. Utilizing these organizations allowed our team to generate audiences who were connected to our effort, interested in the practical application of information provided and determined to build a strong financial future.

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Once the organizations were on board, the team held 14 financial training sessions at various locations, including on Elon’s campus, at the Boys and Girls Club, Eastern High School, Thataways Youth Center, Loaves & Fishes and three local churches. The sessions provided individuals with one-hour financial training sessions that discussed credit, budgeting and saving in a manner that was directly applicable to the audience addressed. At each session, individuals were given SmartEdge training books (provided by Ally Financial), magnets, bookmarks with financial facts attached and information about upcoming events and fact sheets. Depending on the audience, lollipops and coloring books were also distributed titled, “Handling my Money like a Grown Up.” The campaign included an essential online element, designed with students in mind, that offered digital versions of campaign resources and extended the overall reach of the campaign. Social media played an integral role, as Facebook and Twitter served as effective ways to engage audiences and encouraged individuals to share their insight. In addition, we utilized our website, Flickr, YouTube and a blog updated daily with personal financial stories and advice. These tactics, along with distribution of an e-mail to the entire student body at Elon University and a specific e-mail to hundreds of communications majors with Ally Financial’s SmartEdge booklet attached, familiarized the entire university with our campaign.

Each session was completed with SPENT, an online simulation that challenged participants to make difficult financial decisions and manage their money effectively in order to “stay off the streets.” SPENT allowed participants to see how basic financial knowledge can make or break the quality

of life they provide for themselves and their families. The simulation, developed for Urban Ministries of Durham, asked participants to log online, make tough decisions about their finances and see if they could survive on the money they made until the end of the month. SPENT differentiated our program from others and pushed participants to apply knowledge gained to their own virtual reality. The interactive game was well-received at our training sessions. In addition, our team recruited three opinion leaders in the community to be guest speakers; developed a video of Elon University President Leo Lambert emphasizing the importance of financial education; sponsored a Greek Life Financial Banner Competition; made use of campus classes and community meetings to publicize events and distribute information; and hosted Financial Friday Festival, an interactive trivia and game event featuring a live band and teams from organizations competing to prove they were the most financially literate. The campaign trained 964 individuals and reached more than 53,035 individuals over the course of five weeks, exceeding initial expectations and building a better Burlington one resident at a time.

IV. Finding Our Four-Leaf CloverResearch

As luck would have it, extensive research has been conducted about financial education. We found great information and hunted for the most applicable facts in relation to our target audiences.

Primary Audiences

Students The lack of financial literacy among students - high school and college - in the United States is a growing source of discussion among educators, parents and administrators. According to a study by the Journal of Applied Social Psychology of 448 students at five universities, students reported an astonishing average debt of $1,035. In addition, results from this study emphasized the need for greater financial literacy education. Students from the ages of 16-22 have an immense amount of spending power, yet studies reveal they have inadequate knowledge of personal finances because they have not received sound personal financial education. According to a 2008 study conducted by the Jump$tart Coalition, high school students received a failing grade of 48 percent on personal finance knowledge and college students scored a mere 62 percent on the same survey. Furthermore, most educational institutions put little emphasis on students’ personal financial education, which proves problematic to both students and society. The team identified the lack of basic financial skills among both high school and college students and aimed to establish an interactive financial education curriculum for this identifiable audience.

Low-Income Burlington Residents The lack of sufficient financial knowledge is particularly troublesome among low-income families. Even more revealing is the fact that Burlington’s

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diverse population faces economic hardships that cause unemployment, homelessness, and illiteracy. According to the American Community Survey, 17 percent of Burlington families and 20 percent of individual residents fall below the poverty line. This, coupled with the current economic recession, challenges the financial vitality of Burlington residents. Furthermore, according to a study conducted by the Woodstock Institute, financial education programs largely fail to reach the low-income people who need them most. This study suggests that to better serve their constituents, community organizations should offer a variety of learning opportunities using schools, banks, churches, libraries, and other local institutions. While good in theory, our team contacted over 25 organizations, none of which previously provided groups with financial education programs. With research on our side, the team partnered with numerous community organizations to reach the low-income Burlington population and brought financial education to the residents who sincerely needed it.

Secondary Audiences

African-Americans Our research illustrated the magnitude of challenges minorities, particularly African-Americans, a subset of our low-income audience, face regarding access to financial education programs and revealed a significant gap in financial literacy between African-Americans and their Caucasian counterparts. Minorities constitute 33 percent of the Burlington population, with 25.1 percent of those individuals being African-American. According to the 2010 census, there was a 61 percent increase in the minority population in Burlington over the past decade. Thus, the team concentrated part of the campaign on engaging African-American audiences through organizations they statistically frequent, including Boys and Girls Club, Loaves & Fishes and Elon University’s multicultural center.

Content Analysis

Our team examined three different financial literacy programs, 20 media articles on financial education offered in North Carolina, and explored additional research on how to financially educate a community. This research included information on the demographics of those who are financially illiterate and how to best reach these individuals. This analysis substantiated support of target audiences, tactics and the actual program developed. The nature of the campaign meant that a unique financial education training session should be developed from scratch – one based on issues presented in the SmartEdge program but enhanced in an individualized fashion. Ally Financial’s Straight Talk blog discusses their philosophy on program development, one we aligned with while planning and implementing our campaign. “We talked in depth with customers and listened carefully before we launched the bank last May. What we heard repeatedly was that the world didn’t need another bank. What they needed was a better bank. And that’s what we’ve been working to build.”

We needed to help the community and listen to the voices of low-income community members to understand how we could best serve them. Our team could not simply provide the resources; we had to do so in a way that meant something to each individual in the audience. From extensive examination of financial literacy programs, we determined the content to include, the medium that should be used to deliver the information and how to tailor the presentation to individual audiences.

Focus Groups and Interviews

Our team conducted primary research to assess how to best reach students and tailor information to their needs through focus groups, comprised of 16 Elon University students. This study investigated preconceived notions regarding financial literacy among college students and examined what would motivate college students’ participation in financial education programs. Message testing also proved to be effective through the use of our focus group. We also included selected one-on-one interviews as a research method to gain additional insight.

Students divulged that they would be more apt to attend financial training sessions that featured interactive elements presented by reputable figures within the Elon community. Our research also revealed that students believe financial education should be part of Elon’s core curriculum for incoming freshman, solidifying the team’s decision to petition the university for this change. Additionally, students noted that they felt “unprepared” and “unaware” of how to build a strong financial future.

Furthermore, the focus groups and interviews reinforced that social media was the most effective platform to engage our targeted audiences because of its extensive use by this demographic. Thus, primary research shaped and enhanced the team’s tactical approach and enabled a deeper understanding of our audience.

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Survey

Assessing the knowledge of students and low-income residents pre- and post-campaign implementation provided insight into actual knowledge gained. To further develop an understanding of financial literacy among college students and Burlington residents, the team administered an online survey to nearly 900 students, garnering 323 responses, a response rate of over 35 percent. This pre- and post-campaign survey assessed our audience’s knowledge on basic financial concepts and allowed the team to further evaluate the success rate and impact of our financial training sessions and messaging.

The survey, a compilation of 10 questions assessing financial knowledge, revealed a lack of understanding of basic financial concepts. The results provided our team with a heightened awareness of the current financial knowledge low-income Burlington residents and Elon students possess and helped us further develop an effective presentation and accompanying materials.

Initially, students and residents answered questions correctly at a rate of roughly 62 percent. However, after engaging in one of our training sessions on Elon’s campus or in the Burlington community, an identical survey distributed to those attendees revealed twofold success. Students answered questions correctly at a rate of 86 percent, boasting a 24 percent increase in correctly answered questions after the campaign. In addition, the students and residents surveyed demonstrated a core comprehension of basic financial practices and were eager to put their newfound financial knowledge to the test as 296 individuals completed the post-survey.

This primary research allowed our team to establish a summative understanding of our audiences’ initial financial knowledge and growth in understanding throughout the campaign, thus helping us enhance our training program to meet the needs of our primary audiences. In addition, it will also help as Elon University plans to implement financial training seminars as a result of our campaign beginning in the fall of 2011.

V. It Wasn’t Just Luck Goals and Objectives

Think our campaign was just a stroke of luck? Hardly. With three primary goals and clearly defined objectives, we created a measurable plan to permeate the Burlington and Elon communities.

Goal 1: Educate students, low-income Burlington residents and African-Americans about personal finance,

particularly credit, budgeting and saving. Objective 1: Train 250 students on credit, budgeting and saving Objective 2: Train a total of 50 low-income Burlington residents on by holding five events. credit, saving by holding three financial training sessions.

Objective 3: At least 90 percent of individuals who participate in Objective 4: Hold a minimum of two events focused on training sessions leave with an increased understanding the African-American community. of credit, budgeting and saving.

GOALS&OBJECTIVES

Tactics- Hold four financial training sessions on Elon University’s campus, presenting material targeted at college students - One general financial training session - One financial training session co-sponsored with the multicultural center. - One financial training session for Greek Life students - One financial training session featuring guest speaker Dr. Anthony Hatcher, communications professor- Hold two financial training sessions at Eastern Alamance High School for the junior and senior classes

Tactics- Hold one financial training session at the Boys and Girls Club for students and their parents- Hold two training sessions at Loaves & Fishes Christian Food Ministry tailored to the education levels of the organization’s clientele- Hold one financial training session open to the public at May Memorial Library- Hold two financial training sessions at First Baptist Church’s Evening Fellowship and CareerNet programs- Hold one financial training session at First Presbyterian Church

Tactics- Carry out financial training sessions on Elon’s campus and in Burlington, providing individuals information on credit, budgeting and saving, in a manner that is applicable to the audience- Distribute evaluations after each presentation to gather qualitative feedback and assess knowledge gained

Tactics- Hold one financial training session at the Boys and Girls Club for students and their parents- Hold two training sessions at Loaves & Fishes Christian Food Ministry tailored to the education levels of the organization’s clientele

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Goal 2: Enhance awareness among community members of financial illiteracy in Burlington and Elon.

Objective 1: Distribute 1,500 printed materials to the Objective 2: Distribute e-mails to a minimum of 2,000 Burlington and Elon communities. students with fact sheet and event flyers attached.

Objective 3: Attend or organize a minimum of 10 events that enhance financial awareness in Elon and Burlington.

Objective 4: Encourage students to apply the knowledge they gained Objective 5: Raise overall awareness of the importance of in the training sessions to their personal finances. financial literacy through the Better Luck with your Buck campaign to 15,000 Elon University student and Burlington community members.

GOALS&OBJECTIVES

Tactics continued- Send survey prior to campaign and after campaign ends to individuals who we anticipate/do participate in financial training sessions to assess basic financial knowledge

Tactics continued- Hold one financial training session open to the public at May Memorial Library

Tactics- Deliver flyers and fact sheets to approximately 400 Burlington residents in low-income communities- Circulate flyers at Allied Churches of Alamance County, a homeless shelter and food kitchen, for distribution to frequent visitors- Distribute flyers to families at Thataways Youth Center during its weekly movie night and line dancing evening- Leave behind flyers at every community event held and deliver flyers to local restaurants, grocery stores and community centers

Tactics- Contact Smith Jackson, vice president of student life and dean of students at Elon to encourage him to e-mail the entire student body to promote Better Luck with your Buck and upcoming events- Contact the head of media for the School of Communications and ask an e-mail to be sent to all communications students with materials and workbook attached

Tactics- Host a financial themed trivia night at Fat Frogg Bar and Grill to increase awareness of financial illiteracy- Host a speaking event featuring Matt Judge, VP of sales at a major corporation about the importance of financial literacy- Host Financial Friday Festival, a fun and interactive culminating event to increase awareness of financial illiteracy while involving multiple organizations on campus in an interactive trivia and game competition- Promote Better Luck with your Buck by hosting a movie night showing Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps for Elon students- Present one financial training session at Boys and Girls Club- Hold two financial training sessions at Loaves & Fishes- Hold one financial training session open to the public at May Memorial Library in Burlington- Attend two events hosted by Thataways Youth Center to gain community awareness- Present financial training sessions at First Baptist Church’s evening fellowship program and CareerNet, an unemployment support group- Hold financial training session at First Presbyterian Church

- Hold one financial training session for Elon University’s Greek Life, which makes up 20 percent of the student population- Attend college coffee, a weekly campus wide gathering to promote Better Luck with your Buck and upcoming training sessions for two weeks- Hand out promotional materials and event information at campus events and speakers- Visit classes to promote Better Luck with your Buck and encourage attendance at training sessions and the Financial Friday Festival- Co-host the event, Life After Elon: Preparing for the Real World with the Elon Career Center as part of Professional Discovery Week- Promote upcoming events and garner support while petitioning signatures to bring financial education to Elon 101 classes at a Moseley Center table each Friday- Hold two training sessions on Elon’s campus for any interested students and partner with the multicultural center to encourage attendance among the hard-to-reach student and African- American student demographic

Tactics- Host Greek Life Financial Banner Competition between 14 organizations, featuring Better Luck with your Buck’s logo and a financial fact, to increase visibility and awareness of financial illiteracy

Tactics- See all aforementioned tactics and additional tactics as follows: - Financial training sessions - Virtual simulation, SPENT - Greek Life Financial Banner Competition

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Goal 3: Extend resources to target audiences to ensure increased accessibility and availability of materials.

Objective 1: By March 8 , drive 1,000 total visits to social Objective 2: Distribute information to 100 percent of organizations media sites (Facebook, Twitter and Blog) and Better Luck visited or contacted during grassroots sessions. with your Buck website.

GOALS&OBJECTIVES

“Financial literacy is an issue of particular importance to college students.” - Dr. Leo Lambert, President, Elon University

Tactics Continued- Present and encourage students to engage in the SPENT virtual simulation which prompts participants to virtually manage their finances in difficult economic situations to avoid homelessness- Encourage students to write on the Better Luck with your Buck board at Financial Friday Festival to stimulate responsible financial management- Hold a Facebook competition prompting fans to write on the Better Luck with your Buck Facebook wall about how they are having better luck with their buck and present winner with a restaurant gift card- Petition to include financial education in Elon 101 classes and encouarage students to sign the petition on Financial Fridays

Tactics Continued - Online presence including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, a daily blog and a main website used to provide information, workbooks and an event calendar - Host Financial Friday Festival, an interactive event featuring a live band, trivia and games for participating organizations - Flyer distribution - E-mails sent to the Elon student body - Co-sponsored events

Tactics- Produce a video of opinion leader and Elon University President Leo Lambert discussing the importance of financial education for college students- Design and display digital posters that run 24 hours a day in 13 locations around Elon University’s campus- Position large promotional poster in a high-traffic area of the School of Communications building to help educate students about the general lack of financial knowledge- Develop the Better Luck with your Buck blog and make a post everyday during the campaign about the importance of financial literacy- Produce a website dedicated to featuring Better Luck with your Buck campaign information, financial literacy information, upcoming events and resources to increase financial literacy- Create a Better Luck with your Buck Facebook page to engage students and community members and keep fans updated about upcoming events and initiatives- Implement a Facebook competition between fans of the Better Luck with your Buck Facebook page asking them to tell our team how they are having better luck with their buck during the month of February to promote the importance of wise money management- Make a Twitter account (@luckforyourbuck) and utilize this site to engage followers and promote upcoming events- Establish a Flickr account to post pictures of each Better Luck with your Buck event- Create a YouTube account to post video of Elon President Leo Lambert and our team’s financial training sessions

Tactics - E-mail digital version of SmartEdge workbook to organization contacts and Elon University communications students- Distribute printed and promotional materials to organizations and leave behind information for future visitors- Create a DVD of the financial training session presentation to deliver to all organizations in Burlington that worked with Better Luck with your Buck to bring financial education to the area for future educational sessions and continued use

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VI. Our Pot of Gold Results

They say there’s a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. The pot of gold at the end of Better Luck with your Buck came in the form of stunning results and an engaged community. We were lucky enough to exceed many of our goals and generated a campaign reach of more than 53,000 people.

Goal 1: Educate students, low-income Burlington residents and African-Americans about personal finance, particularly credit, budgeting and saving. Outcome: Exceeded Through our training sessions held in the community and on Elon’s campus we trained 964 individuals, providing them the necessary information to consider themselves financially literate. Surveys indicated that every participant became more educated about some aspect of finance after experiencing a session. Objective 1: -Train 250 students on credit, budgeting and saving by holding three events. Outcome: Exceeded Trained over 350 students through Oaks 212 sessions, a professional development program featuring Dr. Anthony Hatcher, communications professor, and the Greek Life session. In addition, 547 high school students participated in one of two training sessions at Eastern Alamance High School. Objective 2: -Train a total of 50 individuals in Burlington on credit, budgeting and saving by holding five events. Outcome: Success Trained 52 people in the Burlington community. Objective 3: - At least 90 percent of individuals who participate in financial training sessions leave with an increased understanding of credit, budgeting and saving. Outcome: Exceeded 100 percent of individuals who participated in our sessions responded that they had a heightened understanding of topics we addressed.

Goal 2: Enhance awareness among community members of financial illiteracy in Burlington and Elon. Outcome: Exceeded Through extensive planning and community connections we were able to reach over 6,000 people in some form about the issues of financial illiteracy. Furthermore, our flyer distribution spread awareness and spurred low-income Burlington residents to attend our training sessions and events. Objective 1: -Distribute 400 fact sheets to local residents. Outcome: Success The objective was achieved through the flyer distribution in various neighborhoods and apartment complexes to 600 individuals. Objective 2: -Distribute e-mails to a minimum of 2,000 students with fact sheet and financial workbook attached. Outcome: Exceeded Elon University Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Life Smith Jackson distributed an e-mail on behalf of the Bateman team to over 5,000 students, exceeding our objective by 250 percent. Objective 3: -Attend or organize a minimum of four events that enhance financial awareness in Elon and Burlington. Outcome: Exceeded We were able to exceed this objective by over 400 percent, attending 16 events throughout the community and on campus and attended over 25 classes. distributing materials and explaining our campaign to attendees.

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Objective 4: - Encourage students to apply the knowledge they gained in the training sessions to their personal finances. Outcome: Success Students and Burlington residents applied their knowledge through participation in our Facebook competition and use of our Better Luck with your Buck board which challenged individuals to write how they were starting to have better luck with their buck. Objective 5: - Raise overall awareness of the importance of financial literacy through the Better Luck with your Buck campaign throughout Elon University and the Burlington community. Outcome: Success Throughout our campaign, Better Luck with your Buck generated a total of 53,035 impressions, over 350 percent more than our initial goal.

Goal 3: Extend resources to target audiences to ensure increased accessibility and availability of materials. Outcome: Success We provided tangible materials to educate and entertain our audiences. The distribution of the DVD training session to organizations we visited will continue the legacy of our campaign and help those who need the information the most. In addition, we inspired the Elon University School of Business to hold monthly financial literacy training sessions beginning in the Fall of 2011, featuring Better Luck with your Buck guest speaker Dr. Linda Poulson, finance professor, in response to our campaign success. Eastern Alamance High School also placed the Better Luck with your Buck high school focused powerpoint on their webpage to encourage further exploration. Objective 1: -By March 8, drive 1,000 total visits to social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and Blog) and Better Luck with your Buck website. Outcome: Exceeded We received over 1,000 visits to our website alone over the course of the campaign. In addition, we made 50 or more daily impressions through Facebook posts and received 50 replies on twitter. By March 8, the Facebook page had received over 16,000 post views. Objective 2: -Distribute information to 100 percent of organizations visited or contacted during localized sessions. Outcome: Success Information was provided at every session through our various materials. We also left flyers, magnets and bookmarks at each organization for them to hand out to those who could not attend the session. In addition we provided a DVD recording of the training session with each organization so they could have it for the future and may share it with others who can benefit from the information.

Primary Event Summary Better Luck with your Buck aimed to reach low-income Burlington residents and Elon students with grassroots, localized efforts. Consequently, the campaign was heavily focused on events as a means of reaching our audiences and teaching them about personal finance. During the month of February through the first week of March, 964 individuals participated in Financial Training Sessions and directly interacted with the Better Luck with your Buck team. By holding 14 training sessions targeted at specific audiences, our team increased financial literacy among these individuals by 100 percent while providing them with the necessary tools to build a strong, stable financial future. In addition, more than 53,035 individuals

were reached by the campaign and over 35 organizations were directly spoken to about the campaign, financial literacy and upcoming events. Pre- and post-data shows that individuals reached by the campaign were more informed about personal finance after being in contact with the Bateman team and campaign materials. While quantitative data indicates extensive campaign reach and effectiveness, it is the unquantifiable impact of the campaign that shocked us. After Better Luck with Your Buck wrapped up on March 8, school officials informed the team that, inspired by our efforts, the University will implement monthly financial training sessions beginning in Fall 2011. From hosting a banner competition for Greek Life and visiting countless organizations to engaging students in a virtual spending simulation and hosting a campus-wide festival employing games and trivia to motivate student involvement, the Better Luck with your Buck campaign exceeded all initial expectations. By utilizing social media and the Internet as a means of supplementing grassroots efforts, this localized campaign engaged and educated students and residents seamlessly and successfully.

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Media Summary

While the campaign discouraged excessive media coverage in favor of grassroots efforts, some media placements did occur as a result of events hosted on Elon’s campus. Media placements were primarily garnered from on-campus media that served as an important extension of publicity efforts. Through the creation and distribution of a press release and calendar listings of upcoming events, we were able to successfully communicate with Elon students and increase awareness.

Media placements included: -Campus newspaper, The Pendulum, carried an article discussing Better Luck with your Buck campaign in the weekly publication and online. -The Pendulum brief publicizing Financial Friday Festival. -E-net, Elon’s online news provider, featured an article about the Financial Friday Festival on Elon’s website. -E-net calendar listings of all campaign community and campus events throughout February. -Front page photo featuring Financial Friday Festival in the The Pendulum.

VII. Luck Down the LineConclusion

When we set out to help build a better Burlington, our goal was to leave an impact that didn’t end in February, but lasted a lifetime. People reached through our campaign will build better lives for themselves, their

families and future generations through the financial information shared. That’s a gift you can’t put a price on. Better Luck with your Buck provided financial education to the individuals who needed it most in an effort to build a better Burlington, one resident at a time. Prior to the campaign, residents had few local resources and little knowledge of the information that was currently available to them. The campaign challenged residents to become informed, involved and knowledgeable members of the community, furthering their financial future and, in turn, helping the economic viability of the community. One of the cornerstones of our campaign were our partnerships with community organizations, enabling us to target audiences who demonstrated need as opposed to the audiences who were simply easy to reach. The campaign was rooted in extensive primary research including focus groups, one-on-one interviews and surveys. With this as the backbone of Better Luck with your Buck, the campaign reached over 53,035 individuals by word of mouth, localized efforts, utilization of social media and online tools, events and training sessions. In addition, 964 students and Burlington residents became financially literate through participation in one of 14 training sessions.

The comprehensive community initiative spoke to low-income residents and students, communicating the importance of financial literacy. We demonstrated that with basic knowledge, the community could begin having better luck with their buck. Our team went beyond simply implementing a campaign; we utilized interactive, grassroots efforts that successfully educated the population, enhanced the community, and extended resources

that made basic financial knowledge available and applicable to various audiences. We did not simply carry out a campaign, we changed a community. Although the competition has ended, Better Luck with your Buck will live on through the individuals impacted and the organizations involved. At the University, financial training sessions will become a mainstay beginning in Fall 2011. The Elon Bateman team convinced a reluctant population that financial education was both important and impactful, changing attitudes and behaviors while inspiring a community to commit to bringing financial education to its residents.

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the 2011 elon university bateman team presents ... -...

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