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As the COVID-19 pandemic continued through 2021, millions of Americans experienced a decline in their financial health. Those who were already financially vulnerable were hit the hardest. In an effort to reach those most impacted, Foundation for Financial Planning (FFP) continued to work hard to expand pro bono financial planning programs that connect struggling Americans with dedicated CFP® professionals.

Fintech could be the leg up that pro bono financial planning needs, according to new research from the Foundation for Financial Planning.

While a 2021 survey by the Certified Financial Planning Board of Standards found that 60% of CFP holders had done some pro bono planning over the past two years, averaging 28 hours per year, those numbers are virtually unchanged from two years earlier.

Financial planning might be the last thing on someone’s mind after they’re diagnosed with cancer, but it can help with their quality of life — and perhaps even prolong their life.

New research involving patients with aggressive blood cancer found a 53% higher survival rate over 12 months linked with financial planning intervention, as well as help from nurses and pharmacists who helped identify assistance programs.

Alexandra Armstrong, one of the first individuals to obtain a CFP certification, still remembers walking into Ameriprise more than 25 years ago and asking for a $10 million donation.

Armstrong, now 81, and the late financial planning pioneer Don Pitti didn’t have a formal business plan for the seedling non-profit foundation they were launching, and they didn’t yet have any corporate donations as a track record.

Seven years ago, Serenity’s life took a drastic turn. After consulting several doctors about ongoing stomach pain, she was diagnosed with stage one gastroesophageal junction cancer. Following a painful surgery, a year of recovery and her daughter’s birth, Serenity’s cancer recurred — this time in her lungs. In the years that followed, she experienced multiple recurrences throughout her body, with radiation and chemotherapy effectively treating the cancer each time. Despite such challenging circumstances, Serenity pushed forward, maintained her job at a local museum and continued to meet her personal and financial goals. 

The Foundation for Financial Planning’s pro bono financial planning efforts for people in crisis or need increased significantly in 2020 as advisors stepped up to help those most affected by economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, it said Thursday.

FFP saw a 27% increase in the total number of one-on-one advice sessions for at-risk individuals provided by its grantees and partners, growing from 9,200 in 2019 to about 11,700 in 2020, it said.

FFP Drives Major Expansion of Pro Bono Financial Planning and Advice Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Globe (more…)

Globe Newswire, January 14, 2021: Kate Healy assumes Chair; Yonhee Choi Gordon, CFP®, Steve Larson, Jean (more…)

Globe Newswire, January 7, 2021: FFP to develop and support pro bono financial planning programs (more…)

A call for pro bono in financial services. Jeff Benjamin and Bruce Kelly welcome Jon Dauphiné from the Foundation for Financial Planning to discuss his group’s call asking for advisers to commit to at least 25 hours of pro bono work a year. He explains why this commitment would be good for advisers, and why it would be good for the industry as a whole. 

Globe Newswire, December 8, 2020: The Initiative will boost grant funding to nonprofits supporting people (more…)

A call for pro bono in financial services. Jeff Benjamin and Bruce Kelly welcome Jon Dauphiné from the Foundation for Financial Planning to discuss his group’s call asking for advisers to commit to at least 25 hours of pro bono work a year. He explains why this commitment would be good for advisers, and why it would be good for the industry as a whole. 

FFP Calls On CFP Board To Recommend Pro Bono Service For Advisors. The Foundation for Financial Planning (FFP), in collaboration with industry leaders serving on the nonprofit organization’s Corporate Advisory Council, has issued a joint statement asking that the Certified Financial Board of Standards recommend all certificants perform at least 25 hours of pro bono service annually. The joint statement, entitled “Coming Together to Help At-risk Americans in a Time of Crisis,” asserted that even before the Covid-19 pandemic reached the U.S., the Federal Reserve had reported that nearly 40% of people could not afford a $400 emergency expense.

Wealth Management Leaders Urge CFP Board to Better Promote Pro Bono Financial Planning. A notable group of leaders from wealth and asset management firms sent a formal letter to the CFP Board on Thursday, asking the organization to do more to encourage financial advisors to donate their time and skills to those in need. The corporate advisory council of the Foundation for Financial Planning, a nonprofit that promotes pro bono financial planning, sent the letter recommending the CFP Board begin asking its over 87,000 designation holders to dedicate at least 25 hours to pro bono planning each year. Other professions do the same; the letter notes that the American Bar Association recommends that all attorneys dedicate at least 50 hours to pro bono service each year.

Finance leaders ask CFP Board to recommend pro bono work. The biggest brands across the financial services landscape are calling on the CFP Board to recommend advisers consider pro bono work in an effort to help those most affected by the global pandemic. The campaign, engineered by the Foundation for Financial Planning’s Corporate Advisory Council, carries the endorsement of executives from 10 of the biggest brands in financial services, including Schwab Advisor Services, Fidelity Institutional, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and T. Rowe Price.

FFP website, November 12, 2020: Coming Together to Help At-risk Americans in a Time of Crisis – The following statement was submitted by members of Foundation for Financial Planning’s Corporate Advisory Council, a group composed of business leaders in the financial advice sector who pursue a shared goal of bringing pro bono financial planning and advice to underserved people.

FFP has announced the launch of its COVID-19 Financial Resilience Fund, fueled by a $500,000 matching commitment from Charles Schwab Foundation. All qualified contributions to the Fund will be matched dollar-for-dollar, creating a total potential of $1 million to help bring pro bono financial planning and advice to low-income workers and other groups impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the nation grapples with the COVID-19 health and economic crisis, the 1.3 million charities in the U.S. are facing unprecedented challenges that threaten their ability to deliver critical services, and in some cases their very survival. Most nonprofits rely on contributions and grants from individuals, corporations, and foundations. On average, three out of every four dollars donated to a nonprofit come from individual donors.

Pro Bono in a Time of Crisis Dear Partners and Friends, As the nation grapples (more…)

We’re thrilled by the caliber of professionals we’re welcoming to the Foundation for Financial Planning board in 2020, our 25th anniversary year,” said board chair Scott Kahan, CFP®. “As we enter the next decade, FFP is hyper-focused on fostering innovation and collaboration to bring pro bono financial planning to more Americans, and this group will be instrumental in helping us do that.