This brief by Christi Baker and Collin O’Rourke summarizes findings from a group financial coaching program piloted by the Maryland CASH Campaign in spring 2013. The program was developed as a way to deliver financial coaching services efficiently by building on the success of group-based weight-loss, social work, and other behavior-change programs.
The Maryland CASH Campaign had previously piloted a group-based financial coaching program, and it wanted to refine the model with an eye toward replication. Maryland CASH was interested in whether small-group coaching works in terms of serving more people and facilitating behavior change.
The Center for Financial Security (CFS) coordinated the development of a pre-post survey that Maryland CASH administered to group-coaching participants. In addition to the surveys, CFS interviewed six group-coaching participants, three coaches (two lead coaches and one co-coach), and one organizational staff member to learn more about group-based financial coaching. Interviewees were participated in two groups that met through the end of May 2013. This brief summarizes key themes from the interviews. Findings from the pre-post surveys are presented on page 5.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Financial Security 