MAYORS NATIONAL DOLLAR WI$E CAMPAIGN

MODEL PROGRAM AKRON, OHIO

Savings
Communities
F I N A N C I A L E D U C AT I O N F O R A M E R I C A

THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF MAYORS

COUNCIL FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CITY

DOLLAR WI$E

Model Program
AKRON, OHIO

Savings Communities
During Dollar Wi$e Week in September
2008, Mayor Don Plusquellic, joined by
the Dollar Wi$e Campaign and America
Saves, launched the Savings Communities
initiative, a five-month effort to help Akron
residents build their savings. The goal,
established by the city and its partners, was
$1 million in additional savings. The local
newspaper, the Akron Beacon Journal, was a
key partner; it printed columns with savings

Mayor
Don Plusquellic

tips, organized a financial fair, and profiled

the savings efforts of six local families.

ONLINE

www.akronsaves.org

During America Saves Week in February

CO N TAC T

2009, Mayor Plusquellic announced that

Billy Soule

Akronites had achieved their goal.

330.375.2660
soulebi@ci.akron.oh.us

RIGHT

Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, to the

left of the podium, participates in a
press conference with The United States
Conference of Mayors and the Consumer
Federation of America announcing the
launch of the citys Savings Communities
initiative, September 22, 2008.

WHAT A SAVINGS
COMMUNITY DOES
Recruit organizations to
participate in one city-wide goal
Under Mayor Plusquellics leadership, the City
brought together more than 30 government
agencies, employers, and other organizations in
the Akron area to support the initiative. For a bank
or credit union, that could mean offering and promoting a no-fee savings account and automatic
deposits. Employers could boost participation in
a workplace retirement program and promote
automatic deposits into an emergency account. A
nonprofit could offer financial counseling, education, and saving a portion of a tax refund.

CITY OF AKRON

CITY OF AKRON/AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 19 OCTOBER 2008, PAGE B1

To combat the lack of personal savings,

the City of Akron created the Savings
Communities initiative, a communitywide coalition launched during Dollar
Wi$e Week 2008 in partnership with
The United States Conference of Mayors National Dollar Wi$e Campaign and
the Consumer Federation of Americas
America Saves Campaign. With the help
of more than 30 organizations, the City
provided residents motivation, education, and
increased opportunities to save. With the support of a media partner, the Akron Beacon Journal,
word got out that residents can save even small
amounts and access no-fee, low-opening-balance
(less than $25) savings accounts. This effort culminated in February 2009 during America Saves
Week, when Mayor Don Plusquellic announced
that this initiative generated more than $1 million
in new savings among Akron-area residents.

ABOVE

The Akron Beacon Journal and other area groups

held a financial fair for residents, October 18, 2008.
Establish a community-wide savings goal
encouraging residents to go above and beyond
existing savings
The City worked with its partnering organizations
to determine a baseline of Akron residents current savings rates and habits. From this baseline,
the community set a goal to save an additional $1
million between September 2008 and February
2009. These dates spanned the winter holidays
and shopping season, a time notorious for families
spending beyond their means.
Publicize the initiative by teaming up with
local newspapers and media outlets
The Akron Beacon Journal, the local newspaper,
and several local television stations covered the
press conference that launched the initiative and
reported on the communitys efforts during the
months of the Savings Communities campaign.

The Beacon Journal was also one of the
Citys major partners in the Savings Communities
initiative, using the reach of the newspaper and its
Web site, Ohio.com, to reach out to the public and
support individuals and families contributions
toward the community-wide goal. In the months
leading up to the initiatives launch, writers at the
Beacon Journal contributed columns with ideas for
saving money, ranging from cooking and grocery
shopping to family entertainment. Throughout
the initiative, Beacon Journal consumer columnist
and business reporter Betty Lin-Fisher also
profiled six Akron-area families and their efforts
to save up for different goals. This series of articles
provided a human, real-life face to the concept of
savings.

Partnerships
The centerpiece of the
initiative was a coalition
of local employers,
financial institutions,
nonprofits, and others
that promoted a
message of personal
savings and provided
concrete opportunities
to help people save.
Banking partners
Akron Employees
Municipal Credit
Union
Chase
Fifth Third
FirstMerit
Key Bank
Med/Pro Federal
Credit Union
National City
North Akron Savings
Towpath Credit
Union
U.S. Bank
Business and
community partners
Akron Area
Association of
Churches
Akron General
Medical Center
Akron Public Schools
Akron Beacon Journal
Akron Metropolitan
Housing Authority
Akron Summit
Community Action,
Inc.
Akron-Summit
County Public Library
Akron Urban League
AT&T
City of Akron
County of Summit
Downtown Akron
Partnership
East Akron
Community House
FirstEnergy
Greater Akron
Chamber
InfoCision
Mt. Zion Baptist
Church
Mustard Seed
Development Center
NAACP, Akron Branch
Summa Health Care
Systems
The House of the
Lord
The University of
Akron
United Way of
Summit County
University Park
Alliance

THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF MAYORS

Making Roll Your Change Week count

Linda Lance of Akron was one of the depositors at Roll Your Change Weekand a big one at that. She said her husband Wes
had been saving change for probably more than 20 years. Hed fill coffee cans and stash them around the house. Shed yell at
him to move his cans. I saw the story in the paper and thought, This is the perfect time, Linda recalls. So Wes bought her a
red wagon, built a ramp, and loaded everything into her SUV before he headed off to work. It took Linda two wagon trips into
Towpath Credit Unions Akron branch. Her husband thought perhaps he had $1,000 in change. When the teller told Linda she
was approaching $2,000, the anticipation began to grow. Others marveled as the count continued. Most of them had one jar,
Linda observed. One woman decided to stay and watch. It was kind of like being in Vegas and playing the slot machine and
having everyone watch you. It really was an adventure. The final count: $4,120.18. I said, My God, weve had $4,000 sitting
around in the floor and in the closet, said Linda, who works at Schwebels Bakery. Her husband is a welder. The Lances will put
the money into a CD for savings.

ROLL YOUR CHANGE

WEEK

Help organizations develop plans to

provide savings opportunities
Once the community set its savings target, the City and its partners worked
to help Akronites achieve their common goal. The coalition held monthly
meetings to review the communitys
progress toward reaching its goal and
share ideas on effective public outreach. The City also set up a Web site,
AkronSaves.org, and provided publicity
materialsposters, postcards, window
clings, and other itemsto its partners.

Join Akrons Savings Community

initiative and start saving today.
Build wealth, not debt.
TO LEARN MORE

www.AkronSaves.org
330.375.2660 or 216.375.3255

ABOVE

This community-wide effort required

the mayors leadership, coordination by
a City staff member, marketing materials and messages focused on financial
actionsaving, opening and making
deposits into an account, signing up for
direct deposit, and reducing debtand partnership commitments from the heads of local organizations and companies.

It appealed to the self-interest of all involved:
individuals who need and want to save; community leaders
who provide motivation; organizations looking to support
their employees financial stability and their clients selfsufficiency; students learning savings habits and managing
their finances to stay in school; and the community in general
developing an image of prudence and financial good sense.

The effort went beyond financial education to
focus on financial actionsaving money, reducing debt, and
building wealth. Through the Savings Communities initiative,
leaders and organizations in Akron sent the message
that making small changes in spending habits can allow
individuals and families to begin building savings right away.

The City of Akron provided this poster and

other publicity materials to participating
organizations to spread the word about
the Savings Communities initiative.

Track cumulative progress by collecting

progress reports from participating groups
The City and its partners, including the Beacon Journal, invited
Akronites to sign pledges stating how much they would aim
to save during the initiative. Partnering organizations and
financial institutions reported how much additional savings
they recorded among their clients. (These savings were
reported in the aggregate to protect individuals privacy.)

Akrons initiative spanned five months between
two significant national campaigns: Dollar Wi$e Week in
September 2008 and America Saves Week in February 2009,
when Mayor Plusquellic announced that Akronites had
achieved their savings goal. The initiative capitalized on the
visibility these national initiatives could bring to local efforts.

Mayors National
Dollar Wi$e Campaign

202.861.6759
dollarwise@usmayors.org
www.dollarwiseonline.org

ON THE COVER: AKRON ART MUSEUM/PHOTO BY ROCKYRADIO AT FLICKR

Provide financial counselors to

evaluate residents budgets and offer
financial education
The Citys partners were particularly
instrumental in providing the public access to financial counselors. The Akron
Beacon Journal also organized a public
financial fair at Akrons Knight Center a
month after the initiatives launch. Local
financial institutions and participating
organizations offered materials and
financial advice to attendees, and residents could speak with financial counselors about their savings goals.

It all adds up.

Over $10.5 billion in loose change

sits unproductive in homes across
America. Roll Your Change Week was
incorporated into the initiative to make
use of this large amount of unintented
savings and highlight the need for
more regular, intentional savings plans.

Local banks and credit unions offered prizes and incentives to individuals making deposits of change into
their accounts. One credit union alone
had more than $250,000 in change
deposited over a four-day period. By
the close of business Fridaya holidayshortened weekthey had accepted
833 deposits and opened 188 new accounts by collecting $266,000 in coins.