Building Assets with Online Communities

With the President having endorsed an asset building agenda and called for the nation to move from a “borrow-and-spend” economy to a “save-and-invest” economy, the opportunity exists for a fundamental expansion of asset building policy. Yet, when you talk with the person on the street, very few are aware of what asset building is or what its benefits can be.   

Beyond the possibilities for public efforts to expand savings and asset building, private and non-profit efforts can make a difference as well. A new non-profit, SaveTogether, was recently launched with the hope of expanding asset building by raising general public awareness. SaveTogether has launched an internet platform, www.SaveTogether.org, which is similar in many ways to internationally focused sites like Kiva.com and MatchSavings.org. SaveTogether.org is building a community that matches savers within the United States with donors who choose to support the savers’ goals—home ownership, college education and other asset building projects. Savetogether.org aims to use this platform to (1) help those savers that make a commitment to their goals, but also to (2) educate the general public about the matched savings field and (3) inspire the public to take action by making matching donations or adding their voice to support asset building policy initiatives (like the Saver’s Bonus or the ASPIRE Act). 

“If we do our job,” says CEO Dylan Higgins, “the inspirational stories of the savers we profile on our site will not only encourage individuals to make donations and take action to support the field, but, will encourage each of them to examine their own savings and investing habits. In our own small way, we hope to help usher in a new focus on savings and investing for all Americans.” 

This effort is growing, SaveTogether just launched a partnership with its sixth matched savings program, Capital Area Asset Builders (CAAB), in Washington D.C. CAAB joins a nationwide portfolio of programs including EARN (San Francisco, CA), Opportunity Fund (San Jose, CA), Juma Ventures (San Francisco, CA), Midas Collaborative (Allston, MA), and Spokane Neighborhood Action Program (Spokane, WA). These are the programs that screen the individual savers and administer the matched savings provided by donors.

This is a promising and innovative approach to encouraging the development of savings habits and asset building approaches for low-income Americans. It is exciting to see the lessons of online philanthropy and successful social networking being applied domestically. Entrepreneurial ventures and small-scale pilot projects are pioneeering new ways to encourage and promote savings that complement larger policy initiatives. Some examples include piggybanc.com, AutoSave, $aveNYC and BankOn.  We know there’s a need for further development in this field and we’re excited to monitor the progress of SaveTogether as America moves toward a greater focus on saving and investing.