Fresh Start Financial Empowerment

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Executive Summary

Fresh Start Financial Empowerment is a nonprofit in Michigan that helps people returning from incarceration take control of their money. Financial coaches help each person make a budget, open a bank account, check and repair credit and plan for the future, and a small business advisor helps those who want to start their own business. A legal clinic connects people to attorneys who can clear or seal records where the law allows.

A record and a gap in work history can make it hard to earn, borrow and save. With this grant we will pay financial coaches and attorney hours for the legal clinic. We do not give investment or legal advice outside the clinic, we do not make loans and we do not promise any credit score, loan or business result. We refer people to licensed lenders and attorneys.

What we are asking for. Our program has a Year 1 budget of about $197,500. We are asking for $55,000 from a reentry initiative fund to financial coach salaries and a record-clearing legal clinic. The rest of the budget comes from other grants, sponsors and donors that are listed in the funding section. Every dollar amount in this plan is an estimate and none of it is a promise of any result for the people we serve.

Company Description

Fresh Start Financial Empowerment is a nonprofit organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, governed by a volunteer board that includes people who have returned from incarceration and a banker. The board meets monthly, approves the budget and oversees the executive director. A new organization without its own determination letter can use a fiscal sponsor, explained in the funding section.

What we believe. People can change, and money skills help. We treat every person with respect, never judge their past and keep their information private.

What we do:
- Financial coaching. One-on-one sessions on budgeting, banking, credit, debt and saving.
- Workshops. Classes on credit, taxes, scams and how to talk to employers and landlords.
- Record-clearing clinic. Licensed attorneys review records for expungement or sealing where the law allows. Attorney hours are paid directly to the attorneys.
- Small business help. An advisor helps people with business ideas make a plan and connect to licensed lenders.

What we do not do. We do not give investment advice, make loans, repair credit for a fee, promise a credit score or promise that a record will be cleared. We warn people about credit repair scams.

Who we serve. Adults returning from incarceration who live in our service area, with priority for people with low incomes.

Our board has at least five members, including at least one person who has used our services or lives in the community we serve, and only a minority of board members may be related to each other or paid by the organization.

We keep a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a record retention policy, and the board reviews them every year.

Problem & Opportunity

Returning home with a record creates serious money problems.

1. Little or no income at first. Jobs are hard to find and wages are low.
2. Fees and debt. Many owe court fees, child support or other debt.
3. No bank account or credit. This makes everyday life more costly.
4. Records limit work and housing. Even old records can block jobs and apartments.
5. Scams. People can be targeted by predatory lenders and credit repair scams.

Why it matters now. Financial stability reduces stress and supports housing, work and family, and many employers and banks are open to new ways to help.

How we know the need is real. We reviewed data on people returning to our area, surveyed 80 people about money challenges and talked to banks, employers and legal aid. People said they needed a safe place to ask questions and help clearing a record, and several told us they had already lost money to a scam that promised to fix their credit. The numbers are in the appendix.

We update these facts every year using public data, partner reports and what the people we serve tell us, and we change the program when the facts change. If a need turns out to be smaller than we thought, we will say so and put the money where it is needed most.

Products & Services

What the funded project will do. With this grant we will pay financial coaches and the attorney hours for the legal clinic for a full year.

How a person takes part:
1. Welcome. A person is referred by a reentry program or comes on their own and meets a coach.
2. Money snapshot. The coach and the person review income, debt and goals, with no judgment.
3. Plan. They make a simple plan, such as a budget, a bank account and a debt plan.
4. Workshops and clinic. The person attends workshops and, if eligible, meets a legal clinic attorney about their record.
5. Business help. People with business ideas meet the advisor.
6. Follow-up. The coach checks in monthly for the first year.

What the grant pays for. The request covers the financial coaches' salaries and the attorney hours for the clinic.

What we do not promise. We do not promise that any person will raise a credit score, get a loan or have a record cleared. We track results such as bank accounts opened and debt plans made and report honestly.

Safety and privacy. Records are confidential and we never share a person's record without consent. We call 911 in emergencies and direct anyone in crisis to 988.

We start small, check what works and grow only when we can do the work well. Every few months we review the numbers and the stories from the people we serve and change the plan where it is not working.

We write plain-language handouts for every step so people know what to expect, what it costs and who to call with questions, and we ask each person at the end whether the help was useful and what we could do better.

Market Analysis

Who benefits from this project are people returning from incarceration in our service area, their families and the employers and landlords who work with them.

Who we serve. Adults of all ages returning to our city and nearby counties, most with low incomes and many with debt.

How many people we plan to serve. In Year 1 we plan to coach about 140 people, to hold about 30 workshops reaching about 400 people and to hold about 60 legal clinic appointments. By Year 5 we plan to coach about 300 people a year. We chose these numbers from the capacity of two coaches at first and three by the fourth year.

Where we serve. The city and surrounding area where most returning residents live.

Who else benefits. Families with more stable finances, employers with steadier workers and neighborhoods with more local small businesses.

How we will be careful. We collect only the information we need, keep it private and share it only with permission.

We choose how many people to serve from the number of staff, hours and rooms we really have, not from the size of the need. If we reach fewer people than planned, we will report it and explain why.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices in our area.

1. Reentry programs. Offer housing and job help but limited financial coaching.
2. Credit counseling agencies. Offer help but may charge fees and may not understand reentry.
3. Legal aid. Offers help with records but is overloaded.
4. Banks and credit unions. Offer accounts but not always coaching.
5. Credit repair companies, which often charge high fees and make false promises.

What makes us different. We are free, led in part by people with lived experience and offer coaching, a legal clinic and small business help in one place. We work with banks, legal aid and other reentry programs.

How we avoid duplication. We meet with reentry providers, banks and legal aid each quarter to share information and coordinate referrals.

We keep a written list of every other organization that does similar work in our area and review it each year. If another group can serve a person better, we refer the person and say so plainly. Funders can expect us to tell the truth about overlap, to share what we learn and to work as part of a larger network of help.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach people once the project is funded.

Referral partners. Reentry programs, probation and parole offices, workforce centers, churches and legal aid will refer people.

Community outreach. We will hold workshops in community centers and libraries and attend reentry fairs.

Bank and credit union partners. Local banks will host workshops and open safe, low-cost accounts for participants.

Word of mouth. People who have been helped tell others. With permission, we share stories.

Digital outreach. A website and social media will share workshop dates and how to reach a coach. We will not post personal information.

Access. Materials will be in plain language, sessions will be in the evening and we provide transit passes.

Measuring outreach. We will track how each person heard about us and adjust our outreach where it is not working.

Marketing budget. Outreach and printing are part of the program budget.

Most people hear about services from someone they already trust, so we spend more time with partners and neighbors than on advertising. We write our materials in plain language, test them with a few people from the community and fix anything that confuses them.

Operations Plan

How the project will be carried out, in plain terms.

Timeline for Year 1. Months 1 and 2: hire coaches, sign agreements with attorneys and banks and prepare materials. Months 3 to 12: coach people, hold workshops and run the clinic monthly.

Space. A private coaching room near public transit and workshop space at partner sites.

Partners. Banks and credit unions, legal aid and volunteer attorneys, workforce centers and reentry programs. Each has a written agreement.

Safety, privacy and legal rules. We do not give investment advice and we do not charge participants. Clinic attorneys are licensed and attorney hours are paid directly to them. Records are secure and shared only with consent. We warn people about scams. We call 911 in emergencies and direct anyone in crisis to 988.

Money controls. Two people review every payment and the board reviews the budget monthly.

Records and reporting. We track people coached, workshops, clinic appointments and outcomes and report to funders each quarter.

Training. Coaches receive training in financial coaching, trauma-informed practice and reentry.

We write down every step of the project in a short manual so that any trained staff member can carry it out the same way. We hold a short team meeting every week to review problems, safety concerns and numbers, and we ask the people we serve for feedback at least twice a year.

Management & Organization

The executive director leads the organization and manages the budget and partners. Financial coaches work with participants, and the small business advisor works with people who want to start a business.

The team. Pay figures include payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance. The numbers in parentheses are how many people we plan to have in Years 1 through 5.
- Executive Director: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $58,000 a year each.
- Financial Coach: 2, 2, 2, 3, 3 (Years 1 to 5), about $46,000 a year each.
- Small Business Advisor: 0, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $44,000 a year each.

Governance and money controls. A volunteer board of directors oversees the budget and the executive director. Two people review every payment, the board reviews financial statements every month, an outside accountant prepares the yearly tax return and audit-ready records, and every grant is tracked in its own budget line. We screen staff and volunteers who work with the people we serve, train everyone on privacy and safety and keep written policies on conflicts of interest and complaints.

Staff and advisors. We seek coaches with financial or social service experience and welcome staff with lived experience. An advisory group of people who have returned, a banker, an attorney and an employer meets quarterly.

Feedback and complaints. Anyone we serve can give feedback or a complaint by phone, in writing or in person, and can ask to speak with the board chair. We reply within five working days, keep a log of every complaint and report the themes to the board each quarter. No one loses services for speaking up.

Milestones Narrative

Goals for each of the first five years and how we will measure results. These are goals, not promises.
- Before the grant starts (2 to 3 months before the grant starts): hire the coaches, sign attorney and bank agreements, prepare materials and set up a secure database
- Year 1: coach about 140 people, hold about 30 workshops and about 60 clinic appointments. The budget is $197,500.
- Year 2: add a small business advisor and a bank partner day. The budget is $244,500.
- Year 3: grow the clinic and add a second coach site. The budget is $247,000.
- Year 4: add a third coach. The budget is $296,500.
- Year 5: coach about 300 people a year and publish a plain results report. The budget is $298,500.

How we will measure results: people coached, bank accounts opened, debt plans made, records reviewed in the clinic, business plans completed and participants' satisfaction. We report results to funders in the same plain numbers we use here, and we say honestly when a goal was missed and what we changed.

We report to funders every quarter and send a short plain-language summary to our board each month. At the end of each year we review all of the goals, publish a short results report and update the plan for the next year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $55,000 from a reentry initiative fund for financial coach salaries and a record-clearing legal clinic, for January through December 2027.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Financial Coach salaries, $45,000.
- Contractual: Record-clearing legal clinic: attorney hours paid directly to attorneys, $10,000 (other funds add $2,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 34% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $197,500, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $7,300 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: grant revenue $159,500; individual donations $24,000; bank and credit union sponsors $14,000. Year 1 costs: executive director $58,000; financial coach $92,000; financial education materials and workshops about $8,000; record-Clearing legal clinic (attorney hours paid directly to attorneys) about $14,000; transit passes paid to transit providers about $5,000; administration and insurance about $12,000.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $14,700 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,800 for laptops, a projector and a secure database, $2,200 for a quiet coaching room with furniture and a locking cabinet, $2,600 for curriculum licenses and coach certification, $2,600 for background checks and policy review by an attorney, $2,000 for banners, flyers and a simple website, and $1,500 for opening workshop supplies.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($14,700), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $47,300, which is about 3 months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $62,000. We start with $14,000 of our own savings and $49,500 in startup support from a local foundation and our board, $63,500 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $197,500 in Year 1 to about $298,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $159,500, $198,500, $193,000, $234,500, $228,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows as sponsors and donors join. The program plans a small surplus each year, about $7,300, $8,100, $8,300, $9,400 and $8,900 in Years 1 to 5, which we put into savings.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $58,100, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $7,900 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

After the grant. Individual donors and bank and credit union sponsors grow each year, so grants become a smaller share. Banks may fund workshops and attorneys may donate hours.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- People may not stay engaged. We keep sessions practical and follow up by text and phone.
- A scam may harm a participant. We teach scam awareness and offer a hotline.
- A grant may end. We grow donors and sponsors each year and keep savings.
- Attorney availability may be limited. We recruit several volunteer and contract attorneys.
- A privacy mistake could occur. We lock records and train staff.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller with one site or one staff member and track results carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this proposal:

- Your IRS determination letter showing 501(c)(3) status, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your board list and board minutes approving the application.
- Your most recent budget and financial statements.
- A list of other funders and what each has given or been asked to give.
- Agreements with the clinic attorneys and with banks.
- Your privacy policy and a sample money plan.
- Staff training records.
- Letters of support from participants and partners.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $159,500 in Year 1, growing to $228,500 in Year 5.
- Individual Donations: $24,000 in Year 1, growing to $40,000 in Year 5.
- Bank and Credit Union Sponsors: $14,000 in Year 1, growing to $30,000 in Year 5.
- Staff pay is shown in the management section and includes payroll taxes and workers' compensation.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: financial education materials and workshops $8,000, record-Clearing legal clinic (attorney hours paid directly to attorneys) $14,000, transit passes paid to transit providers $5,000, and administration and insurance $12,000. These grow between 4% and 6% a year as the program grows.
- Grant and partner payments arrive after we bill, so about $7,900 (4% of Year 1 income) is owed to us at the end of Year 1.
- The program does not pay income tax. Any surplus stays in the program.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your organization's real numbers.

Plain words used in this proposal:
- Grant: money given for a specific purpose that does not have to be paid back, as long as it is spent as promised.
- Request: the part of the budget we are asking this funder to pay for.
- Surplus: money left over after a year's costs. A small surplus is healthy because it builds savings for slow months.
- Startup costs: one-time costs, such as equipment, paid once before the program runs at full speed.
- Working capital: cash kept in the bank to pay bills while waiting for grant payments.
- In-kind: goods or services given instead of money, such as donated space.
- Fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for a new group and passes the money to its program, usually for a fee.
- 501(c)(3): the tax status that lets a nonprofit receive tax-deductible gifts and many grants.

How to read the numbers. Every income and cost figure is a plan, not a result. Income rises as sponsors and donors join, costs rise a little each year, and each year's budget is planned to balance with a small surplus. Startup costs are shown separately because they are paid once. If a real number turns out different, we will update the plan and tell our funders why.

Startup Costs