DoughMain Financial Literacy Foundation Incorporated
A financially FIT Americe
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Reversing the Decline in Financial Literacy: The Foundation is working to reverse the decline in financial literacy in our country and build stronger, more financially literate youth and communities. Whether at school or in the home, 95% of U.S. youth are not receiving the instruction they need to make healthy financial decisions or understand the basic tenets of being financially literate. A Forbes Magazine Article on April 3, 2018, says “America Has a Financial Literacy Problem”, and reports: Two thirds of American adults cannot pass a basic financial literacy test; 44% of Americans do not have enough cash to cover a $400 emergency; 43% of student loan borrowers are not making payments; 38% of U.S. households have credit card debt and 33% of American adults have $0 saved for retirement. In today's fast-paced consumer society, Financial literacy, and specifically the ability to understand and manage personal finances is an essential everyday life skill.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
FitKit Personal Finance Program
DMEF has worked to develop, enhance and improve our "FitKit” Personal Finance Program. The FitKit is a 60-hour focused, comprehensive, standards-based curriculum designed for educators and students from all socio-economic backgrounds, and meets the financial literacy requirements for high school graduation in NJ and 37 other states. The FitKit serves as an innovative approach to financial education. It includes lesson plans and hands-on materials that show teachers how to create a classroom simulation in which students immerse themselves in a growing micro-economy. Students are able to move money, manage income, budget expenses, and invest in business and education. They are encouraged to collaborate and actively discuss their group’s economic choices and resultant consequences. Student-generated questions drive the instruction and connect the simulation experience to the real world. Additionally, an online platform of story based videos makes it easy to deliver and differentiate content based on student needs. Teachers without a finance background can confidently introduce financial content through videos and answer students’ questions using the FAQ’s we provide. Pre and post assessments will be provided along with ongoing assessment tools for easy record keeping as well as unit tests and quizzes. The FitKit course meets the 60 hour high school credit hours in financial literacy required for graduation in New Jersey (and 36 other states) and has become one of the most popular classes where it has been implemented.
The FitKit has been approved for use with over 40,000 students and growing in public and private schools located in PA, NJ, SC, DC and the Barney Charter School Initiative across the nation with ethnically and socio-economically diverse student populations.
FitKit Middle School
FitKit Middle School Edition (Developed Summer 2019) aims to bring personal financial literacy education to middle school students. This Middle School Edition of the original FitKit/Express will be a 6-hour, state-of the-art, student oriented, comprehensive school curriculum that includes teacher guides, student books, peer-to-peer videos, multimedia and interactive features that make the material engaging. The FitKit Middle School Express will cover topics on the entire continuum of personal finance. The FitKit is interactive and covers topics on the entire continuum of personal finance. These include: • Income and careers • Pay, Benefits and Deductions • Taxes • Budgeting • Banks and Banking • Savings and Investments • Credit • Insurance
To our knowledge, the FitKit is the only financial literacy curriculum that: • Meets the Core Curriculum Content Standards for 21st-Century Life and Careers, the National Standards for Financial Literacy by the Council for Economic Education, and National Common Core. • Mirrors the FitKit Program that has gained recognition as an “Innovative Educational Program” by the State of Pennsylvania in 2016-2020. • Built by actual classroom teachers with a sound pedagogic method to be taught in schools through a “from the classroom out” approach • Focuses solely on personal finance skills rather than the more general financial literacy skills • Tailors to the realities, wants and needs of middle school students, meeting them where they are in life where the lesson plans literally walk them through their next decision-making process • Includes pre- and post-assessments and/or lesson assessments to gauge teaching effectiveness and outcomes • Includes a feedback mechanism through which teachers and students impact the very content that is being taught through regular updates • Incorporates hands-on assignments to take these discussions home to parents • Includes cutting edge multimedia resources such as peer-to-peer learning videos and games as well as the more traditional lesson plans, etc.
FitKIT Express Community and Targeted Progams
The “FitKit Express” Community and Custom Programs aim to bring financial literacy education to those who stand to benefit the most from economic education in the larger community. It is an offshoot of the FitKit curriculum that is catered toward not students, but vulnerable populations outside the school system. It is a condensed 6- hour version of the original FitKit tailored to fit the specific needs of men and women living in poverty or are otherwise at risk thereof, and relate to the mindset, history, values, and challenges of those specific communities. We are also working to create FitKit Express community programs specifically for single mothers, minorities (possibly in Spanish), African American youth, etc.
Where we work
Awards
Community Service Award 2020
New Jersey Business and Industry Association
Affiliations & memberships
JumpStart Coalition for Personal Finance 2020
New Jersey Business and Industry Association 2020
New Jersey Coalition for Financial Education 2019
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of students showing improvement in test scores
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adolescents, Adults
Related Program
FitKit Personal Finance Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
FitKit Personal Finance University/HS/MS/Comm Pre and Post Assessment scores demonstrate an average increase of 40% for students in the FitKit Program. 52% Increase in test score for H.S. Jrs.
Approved for Distric/School use
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Adults, Young adults
Related Program
FitKit Personal Finance Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of Districts, Schools, Educational Institutions & Comm Orgs. approving the use of the FitKit (School or District wide). 2017- 2019 10 schools to approx. 30+ schools, 40K plus students.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our young people are losing their ability to be self-sufficient, saddled by excessive credit card debt, student loans it will take them decades to pay off and other financial obstacles to independence. Through our school programs, we are working to reverse this trend before it jeopardizes the ability of our youth to be self-sufficient and financially-independent adults. We are expanding our reach to more schools and communities in the New Jersey-Pennsylvania region and nationally, with a focus on reaching underprivileged youth.
Additionally, with more states like Rhode Island, Florida and Kentucky, Arizona, South Carolina recognizing the need for comprehensive personal finance education in schools and communities FitKit programs are poised to have an incredible impact.
Our goal is to reach 100,000 students over the next three years.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We are working with passionate individuals, organizations, banks and financial Institutions to help fund the implementation of the FitKit programs into schools and communities at no cost, build organizational infrastructure and conduct outreach to impoverished and underserved communities.
100 Educators: GOAL: Provide access to high quality FitKit Personal Finance Programs at no cost for to 100 personal finance educators working in low-moderate income school districts.
NEEDS of Students and Educators in Low to Moderate Income Schools: Approx. 1 in 5 children live in poverty according to Communities in Schools. Students in high poverty schools have less experienced instructors, less access to high level science, math, and advanced placement courses, great challenges in meeting educational requirements, and lower levels of state and local spending on instructional materials. All of this shows that students in high poverty schools — many of whom have fewer resources and support outside of the school building — are also getting less in the classroom- And its largely students of color that are feeling these impact. We seek to provide high quality turnkey FitKit Personal Finance high school programs to schools that lack the resources or expertise needed to meet state Financial Literacy requirements. IMPACT: Nationally- Low-Moderate income school. By providing 1 educator with FitKit programs DMFLF can impact as many as 250-500 students per year. 100 educators can impact 25,000 to 50,000 students annually.
FitKit Program Updates: GOAL: DMFLF seeks to update curriculum and video content, develop program flexibility for college and university use and to meet the needs of everchanging society (diversity) including alignment with updated national financial literacy education standards. NEEDS: Personal Finance Curriculum needs to be updated frequently to deal with emerging issues and changing times. DMFLF employs an educator and videography teams of educators who work to continuously update and align curriculum with current standards and to develop programs and initiatives that speak to current trends in personal finance education. This includes new lessons to address the challenges of minority populations. IMPACT- Nationally- unlimited
Express for Women: GOAL: Develop FitKit Express Personal Finance Workshop Program that speaks to the unique needs and challenges of women. NEEDS of Women: Both women and men need to be sufficiently financially literate to participate in economic activities and to take appropriate financial decisions for themselves and their families, but women often have less lower access to formal financial products than men. Women therefore have specific and additional financial literacy needs. Studies have shown that financial illiteracy is more prevalent among women than men. FitKit is an important tool that can help women meet unique challenges in society. IMPACT: Nationally
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity, was founded in 2012 in the wake of the 2008 global recession after extensive discussion and planning among various constituents: New Jersey parents, educators and entrepreneurs interested in promoting lifelong financial literacy, responsibility and ethical financial behavior among youth.
After spending several years in development of an original, 60-hour personal finance education curriculum, we rolled out our FitKit Program to NJ and PA schools where teachers have provided our financial literacy training to 5,750 middle and high school students to date. The outcomes have been impressive and testimonials show the course is improving students’ money-spending habits and altering their financial decision-making processes.
We are further developing curriculum to bring to the larger community. This offshoot of the FitKit curriculum, which we named FitKit Express, is catered toward vulnerable populations outside the school system, with plans to adapt the program specifically for single mothers, minorities and the Spanish speaking population.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Successful Outcomes and Measurable Achievements
Our Foundation has provided FitKit financial literacy training to 5,750+ middle and high school students in the past several years. We employ qualitative and quantitative evidence to assess program success as they are critical in promoting accountability as well as measuring effectiveness.
The Program increased positive attitudes related to learning about personal finance from 19% to 91%
Financial literacy scores increase by an average 40% for students that participate in the FitKit Program
The FitKit has gained recognition as an “Innovative Educational Program” in Pennsylvania (2017)
The Foundation established a culturally diverse and scalable model of the FitKit and successfully piloted it at New Hope Solebury, PA and Woodbridge (New Jersey) High School, which has a 65-80% minority student population (2016/17,18,19)
The Foundation has Implemented programs in NJ and Bucks County PA with additional communities in multiple states coming online within the next 12 months
The Foundation Established a relationship with Hillsdale College Barney Charter School Initiative making the FitKit available to an expanding number of schools nationwide within this classical education charter school initiative
We will be working with welcoming districts to help implement and to share the resources we know can make life-changing impacts on our young people. We are already in discussion with 40 separate school districts. Additionally, with more states like Rhode Island, Florida and Kentucky, Arizona, South Carolina recognizing the need for comprehensive personal finance education in schools and communities FitKit programs are poised to have an incredible impact.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
DoughMain Financial Literacy Foundation Incorporated
Board of directorsas of 02/01/2023
Mr. Kenneth Damato
Midawi Holdings
Term: 2025 - 2021
Steve Bergida
CFT Securities
Matthew Allan
Matthew Allan Homes
Maria Passannante-Derr
MPD Photography
Andrea J Catsimatidis
Red Apple Group
Robert Michel
GlenEagle Financial Advisors
Carol Ann Fernandez
GlenEagle Financial Advisors
Scott Fellin
Financial Advisor
Michael Wakatama
Non Profit
Sonali Deshpandi
Marketing
Peter Hand
Black Rock
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 05/26/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.