Southern Good Faith Fund collaborates with partners in Jefferson and Phillips Counties to increase public awareness of the program. Also, Southern Good Faith Fund is offering a $100 seed deposit for 140 families who apply for enrollment in ASMGP.

Learn more about the Aspiring Scholars Matching Grant Program at thegiftplan.com.

Visit our Public Policy Successes page to learn more about SGFF’s key role in developing this and other important programs and policies across the state.

SEED Program: Our Background with Children’s Matched Savings

Southern Good Faith Fund was one of 12 community partners chosen nationally in the Corporation for Enterprise Development’s (CFED) Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship, and Downpayment Initiative (SEED), for developing, testing, and promoting matched savings accounts and financial education for children. Families with children between the ages of 3 and 4 years old were invited to participate and the children’s savings accounts were “seeded” with $1,000. In addition to this initial deposit, participating families received a $1 match on every $1 deposited into the account up to $1,000.

Parents of SEED participants completed a two-part asset specific class on investments and the value of a college education, in addition to the five-part economic skills classes. Our young participants also received age-appropriate saving education.

SEED’s goal was to set the stage for universal children’s savings accounts, and our Aspiring Scholars program is another step in that direction. Most of our 75 SEED participant children’s savings and match funds were transferred into the UPromise GIFT college savings plan.

To learn more about SEED and CFED, visit www.cfed.org.