CFPB Financial Education Exchange

CFPB FinEx Data Collection Instrument
Intake survey
(Note: this survey will be sent as part of an email with more information about FinEx generally that will
state that taking the pledge is voluntary and participating in the information collection is voluntary).
Thank you for taking the CFPB FinEx Pledge! You are joining your peers in the financial education
world by committing to using the latest research and innovative ideas to assist your clients in reaching
their financial goals.
To take the pledge, fill out the form below to tell us about your work and what CFPB materials you'd like
to use. (This form should take about 5 minutes to fill out). (Note: participating in the CFPB FinEx

pledge and information collection process is completely voluntary, and not participating in these
processes does not prevent you from accessing or participating in any other aspect of CFPB
FinEx, such as webinars, trainings, newsletters, etc.)
You will receive regular communications from us about new tools, resources, and learning opportunities.
And we want to hear back from you about what's working and what you're learning, so you'll receive
occasional opportunities (in 6 months and again in 12 months) to share your thoughts with us. (Note that
participating in any surveys or other feedback opportunities, both now and in the future, is completely
voluntary).
We will summarize what we hear from you and other FinEx participants (without information to identify
you or others personally) and share this learning with the FinEx community regularly.
Welcome to CFPB FinEx!
Privacy Notice
This collection of information is authorized by Pub. L. No. 111-203, Title X, Sections 1013 and 1022,
codified at 12 U.S.C. §§ 5493 and 5512. The information you provide in response to this Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) survey will be used to understand how successful various financial
education tools. Information collected by the Bureau will be treated in accordance with the System of
Records Notice (“SORN”), CFPB.021 – CFPB Consumer Education and Engagement Records, 77 F.R.
60382. Participation in this study is voluntary and there are no penalties for refusing to answer any
question. However, your participation is extremely important to ensure the completeness and accuracy
of the results.

OMB Control Number: 3170-0036
Expiration Date: 06/30/2016
1. Your name _________
2. Your organization's name __________________
3. Your email address ______________________
4. City/state ____________________
5. What is your role within the organization? (check all that apply)
____Provide financial education services to clients

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____Provide other services to clients
____Program development
____Fundraising
____Management
____Policy analysis/researc
____Other (please describe)
6. What types of services does your organization provide overall? (check all that apply)
____any type of financial education programming
____social/human services
____programs for children/youth
____research/evaluation/policy analysis
____training/technical assistance
____funding
____Other (please describe) ______________________
7. What types of financial education do you (your organization) currently provide? (check all that apply)
____Group financial education classes
____One-on-one financial counseling/coaching sessions
____Printed or online financial education materials
____Financial planning services
____Tax preparation services
____Awareness campaigns
____Housing counseling
____Credit counseling
____Other (please describe)
8. Approximately how many clients do you serve annually with financial education services?
____0-25 clients
____25-50 clients
____50-200 clients
____200-500 clients
____over 500 clients
9. Which of the following populations do you serve? (check all the apply)
____adults
____children and youth
____low income/economically vulnerable
____older Americans
____students
____military servicemembers/veterans
10.. Which types of CFPB tools and resources are you likely to use/explore in your financial education
work with consumers? (check all that apply)
____Tools for Financial Educators (resources that you can use in your programming to improve your
effectiveness and service to consumers)
____Understanding Consumers (resources to give you insights into consumer behaviors, motivations,
perceptions, and attitudes, including data about the challenges facing consumers in the financial products
and services marketplace.
____Understanding Financial Education Practices (resources to help you understand the landscape of the
financial education field, and what financial education practices are promising and effective )
11. If you have any initial thoughts about you plan to use these resources in your work, please share with
us. (text field)

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Thank you for your time! We look forward to hearing about your experiences in financial education

Paperwork Reduction Act
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person
is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.
The OMB control number for this collection is 3170-0036. It expires on 06/30/2016. The time required
to complete this information collection is estimated to average approximately 10 minutes per response.
Responding to this collection of information is voluntary. Comments regarding this collection of
information, including the estimated response time, suggestions for improving the usefulness of the
information, or suggestions for reducing the burden to respond to this collection should be submitted to
Bureau at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Attention: PRA Office), 1700 G Street NW,
Washington, DC 20552, or by email to [email protected].

Followup survey: _ (to be used at both six months and twelve months after signup)
Thank you for being part of the CFPB Financial Education Exchange! You are joining your peers in the
financial education world by committing to using the latest research and innovative ideas to assist your
clients in reaching their financial goals.
We are interesting in learning about your experiences in using CFPB FinEx tools and resources, and in
your experiences in providing financial education generally. We would welcome your responses on the
brief survey below. (Note that participating in this survey or other feedback opportunities, both now and
in the future, is completely voluntary).
We will summarize what we hear from you and other FinEx participants (without information to identify
you or others personally) and share this learning with the FinEx community regularly.
Thank you for your feedback!
Privacy Notice
This collection of information is authorized by Pub. L. No. 111-203, Title X, Sections 1013 and 1022,
codified at 12 U.S.C. §§ 5493 and 5512. The information you provide in response to this Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) survey will be used to understand how successful various financial
education tools. Information collected by the Bureau will be treated in accordance with the System of
Records Notice (“SORN”), CFPB.021 – CFPB Consumer Education and Engagement Records, 77 F.R.
60382. Participation in this study is voluntary and there are no penalties for refusing to answer any
question. However, your participation is extremely important to ensure the completeness and accuracy
of the results.

OMB Control Number: 3170-0036
Expiration Date: 06/30/2016
1. Your name _________
2. Your organization's name __________________
3. Your email address ______________________
4. City/state ____________________

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Has any information you submitted in the intake survey changed? See your previous answers below and
make any changes needed. (Note: respondents will see their answers from the intake survey prepopulated and will be able to change if needed)
5. What is your role within the organization? (check all that apply)
____Provide financial education services to clients
____Provide other services to clients
____Program development
____Other (please describe)
6. What types of services does your organization provide overall? (check all that apply)
____any type of financial education programming
____social/human services
____programs for children/youth
____research/evaluation/policy analysis
____training/technical assistance
____funding
____Other (please describe) ______________________
7. What types of financial education do you (your organization) currently provide? (check all
that apply)
____Group financial education classes
____One-on-one financial counseling/coaching sessions
____Printed or online financial education materials
____Financial planning services
____Tax preparation services
____Awareness campaigns
____Housing counseling
____Credit counseling
____Other (please describe)
8. Approximately how many clients do you serve annually with financial education services?
____0-25 clients
____25-50 clients
____50-200 clients
____200-500 clients
____over 500 clients
9. Which of the following populations do you serve? (check all the apply)
____adults
____children and youth
____low income/economically vulnerable
____older Americans
____students
____military servicemembers/veterans

9. Since signing up for CFPB FinEx, have you used any tools or resources from the CFPB in your
financial education work?
____Yes
____No

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1(a). If no, is there anything we can do to make the tools and resources more accessible and
useful? (text response)
10. If yes, which CFPB FinEx tools/resources have you used? (check all that apply – list from FinEx
inventory)
11. Please explain how you have used the resources. (text response)
12. Has using the CFPB FinEx tools/resources in your financial education work done any of the
following: (check all that apply)
____Impacted how you interact with clients
____Added new elements to your financial education programming
____Changed existing programming
____Changed training/professional development of staff
____Other
(Please explain – text response)
13. Have you seen any impact on clients in any of the following areas from using the CFPB FinEx
tools/resources in your financial education work:
____Increased engagement in the program
____Change in attitudes about finances
____Changes in financial behavior
____Other
(Please explain – text response)
14. Can you share any examples of impacts on clients, in terms of behavior, motivation, etc, related to
their financial decision-making as a result of using FinEx tools/resources? (Please do not include any
personally identifying information about your clients).
(text response)
15. Have you tried anything new based on the CFPB FinEx tools/resources that did not have the intended
effect? (Please explain – text response)
16. Based on the CFPB FinEx tools/resources that you’ve explored, do any approaches seem particularly
promising to help consumers?
(Please explain – text response)
17. More broadly, what are other promising new ideas or approaches in financial education that the CFPB
FinEx community should explore?
(Please explain – text response)
18. Would you recommend the CFPB FinEx tools/resources to other financial educators?

Paperwork Reduction Act
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person
is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.
The OMB control number for this collection is 3170-0036. It expires on 06/30/2016. The time required
to complete this information collection is estimated to average approximately 30 minutes per response.
Responding to this collection of information is voluntary. Comments regarding this collection of
information, including the estimated response time, suggestions for improving the usefulness of the
information, or suggestions for reducing the burden to respond to this collection should be submitted to

5

Bureau at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Attention: PRA Office), 1700 G Street NW,
Washington, DC 20552, or by email to [email protected].

Additional questions for use in the in-person listening sessions
(Note: these questions, except for questions 38-39, have been previously been approved by OMB in two
previous PRA applications under 3170-0036. We intend to use a select number of these questions in
listening sessions with CFPB FinEx participants).
(All are open-ended responses to be asked in in-person or group settings)
1. What are some of the best tools or trainings you’ve received and what made them so effective?
2. How do you like to receive training or tools?
3. In your opinion, are there any formats that are particularly ineffective?
4. Are there organizations or intermediaries that you connect with for training, technical assistance,
and information about financial education? If yes, please explain.
5. What are some of the big challenges you observe when working with clients to act on their goals?
In other words, what do you see that stands in the way of the goals clients set and actually
achieving them?
6. Are there underlying environmental, cultural or social causes that you see standing in the way of
your clients’ achieving success?
7. How well-equipped do you feel to address these challenges?
8. Have you received any training in these areas?
9. In general, how would you describe those training and skill development opportunities?
10. How often are you able to take advantage of training and other skill development opportunities?
11. When you have the opportunity to choose a skill development resource – whether it’s a tool, an
in-person training, an online course, etc. – what factors do you consider when choosing?
12. Thinking about the challenges you face when trying to help a client change his or her behavior,
are there any particular topics you wish training would address? Any in which you’re interested
in growing your skill set?
13. Thinking about the challenges you face when trying to help a client change his or her behavior,
are there any particular topics you wish training would address?
14. Would you be open to receiving such a tool or training from the CFPB?
15. What would you say are the top three skills that are critical for financial educators to have in
order to help clients change what they do to reach their goals?
16. What are the most effective elements of your favorite financial education materials?
17. If you had the resources to create your ideal financial education tool, what would it be or do?
18. Tell us about some of the promising practices in financial education that are working well at your
organization.
19. What do effective financial education programs have in common?
20. What are some of the most important “teachable moments” when consumers are most open to
financial education?
21. What kind of research or data would you like to see related to financial education?
22. How do you help consumers deal with information overload and complexity on financial products
and issues?
23. What are some of the most common “hassle factors” that affect consumer financial behavior?
24. How do you measure success in your financial education work?
25. How do you help consumers overcome inertia and change their approaches to financial decisionmaking?
26. What are some creative ways to help consumers with goal-setting?

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27. The stigma that is sometimes associated with financial education can deter people from seeking
help. What strategies have you used to address this issue?
28. How do you incorporate technology into your financial education activities?
29. What made you decide to pursue a career in financial education?
30. Think about your favorite success story as a financial educator. What made it so successful?
31. What are some of your most effective practices for youth and post-secondary financial education?
32. What are some of your most effective practices for workplace financial education?
33. What are some ways financial education could incorporate social media?
34. Have you noticed any trends over the past six months in the financial issues that consumers you
interact with are facing?
35. What strategies are you using to educate your consumers on credit card issues?
36. What strategies are you using to educate your consumers on mortgage and homebuying issues?
37. What strategies are you using to educate your consumers on student loan issues?
38. What strategies are you using to educate your consumers on using checking accounts and other
transactional banking products?
39. What strategies are you using to educate your consumers on credit reports and credit scores
issues?
40. What strategies are you using to educate your consumers on buying and financing an automobile?
41. What strategies are you using to educate your consumers on debt management and debt collection
issues?
42. If resources were not a constraint, what changes would you make to your current financial
education program(s)?
43. Are you using e-learning as a mode for your learners? If so, what kind of e-learning strategies and
best practices are you using?
44. Do you teach via webinar? If so, what have you found are best practices in using webinars for
consumer education?
45. How do you keep up on changes and trends in the financial education field?

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