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AutoSave Demonstration: MDRC
Recent Grants
AutoSave Demonstration
July, 2010
Amount: $350,000
Grant Period: 4/1/2010 to 3/31/2011
Program: Pathways Out of Poverty
Program Area: Expanding Economic Opportunity
Geographic Focus: United States: United States (At Large)

Federal and state governments currently support a variety of programs and policies to encourage saving. However, most of these programs are focused on long-term goals, with consequent restrictions on use and penalties for withdrawals other than those tied to a specific goal. Currently, no systematic savings program exists to intentionally encourage savings that are unrestricted and not oriented toward specific long-term goals, such as emergency or contingency savings. MDRC is requesting support to test the AutoSave concept-a savings strategy that uses the workplace as the portal to initiate and sustain the accumulation of unrestricted savings for emergencies and/or short-term uses. Mott funds will enable the grantee to continue field testing this new savings intervention in at least five diverse workplace settings. The primary deliverable from this pilot phase will be a memorandum summarizing the early operational lessons, including employer and employee take-up and attitudes toward savings and the AutoSave concept. Established in 1974, MDRC is a nonprofit research institute headquartered in New York City.

SEED Universal Policy Initiative: Washington University
Recent Grants
SEED Universal Policy Initiative
May, 2010
Amount: $300,000
Grant Period: 1/1/2011 to 12/31/2011
Program: Pathways Out of Poverty
Program Area: Expanding Economic Opportunity
Geographic Focus: United States: United States (At Large)

This grant provides continuing support to Washington University for a statewide demonstration of children's savings accounts. Because the demonstration is being conducted within the state of Oklahoma's existing college savings plan system, it could serve as a prototype policy for expanding asset-building opportunities from thousands to millions of families. Key goals for the grant period are: 1) manage year four implementation activities; 2) undertake account monitoring research and reporting efforts; and 3) communicate research findings and other lessons to a broad group of stakeholders, including policymakers and the media. Washington University Professor Michael Sherraden is a leader in the asset-building field and is widely credited for launching the movement with his seminal book, Assets and the Poor.

Assets Learning Project: Brandeis University
Recent Grants
Assets Learning Project
May, 2010
Amount: $367,034
Grant Period: 7/1/2010 to 6/30/2012
Program: Pathways Out of Poverty
Program Area: Expanding Economic Opportunity
Geographic Focus: United States: United States (At Large)

Important practice and policy achievements have been made in the asset-building field over the past decade, yet several challenges remain. Most notably, scale-defined as expanding successes from thousands to millions of families in a cost-efficient manner-remains elusive. This renewal grant will enable Brandeis University to support the development of policy initiatives that address the issue of scale and other asset-building challenges by continuing to document and disseminate information about promising strategies. Brandeis University's Institute on Assets and Social Policy is a public policy institute whose mission is to conduct research that informs policies and practices that broaden wealth and improve the social and economic well-being of American households.

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Income Security

The Mott Foundation’s Pathways Out of Poverty program funds initiatives to expand economic opportunity for underserved families and neighborhoods around the United States.

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Income Security Multimedia

Helping kids sow seeds for financial future

The Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship and Downpayment (SEED) initiative is developing, testing and promoting matched savings accounts and financial education for children.
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New Fiscal Year Brings More Grief for State Budgets, Putting Economic Recovery at Risk
Continued budget deficits have left many states cutting funding for programs that serve the country’s poorest families. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities – a Mott grantee – calls for policies that ensure low-income people are included in the nation’s economic recovery.