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Free checklist · For program directors

The Sequence: nine questions to ask before you adopt any financial education program

Content, credentials and price are the easiest things to compare, and the least likely to tell you whether a program will change behavior. This 12-page checklist walks through the questions that do, for churches, schools and family-serving organizations.

Get the free checklistSee the curriculum for institutions

Inside the checklist

Nine questions, one at a time

Each question explains why it matters and what to listen for in the answer, so you can tell a considered program from a well-designed brochure.

  1. 01
    Does it change behavior, or only teach mechanics?
  2. 02
    Does it start at the budget, or at the foundation underneath it?
  3. 03
    Does it count unpaid household and caregiving work as real contribution?
  4. 04
    Is the order of topics fixed, and does the order do real work?
  5. 05
    Can someone finish it during illness, grief, a new baby or a job loss?
  6. 06
    Does it reach the next generation, or stop at one person?
  7. 07
    Is it truly accessible: screen reader, large print, audio?
  8. 08
    Does it build discussion, or leave everyone alone with a workbook?
  9. 09
    How does the licensing hold up as your program grows?

How to use it

Bring it to any program, including your own

On what you already run

Ask the questions of the curriculum already on your calendar. Honest answers show where it holds and where it slips.

With any presenter

Use it before a new vendor or speaker gets your platform. A program with real answers has thought about your people.

With your team

Take one question per meeting. The discussion is often worth more than the decision it leads to.

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Written by Ashlee Richards, APFI®, CFLP®, CFEI®, founder of Financially Growing, who builds every program to hold during a hard week as well as a good one.