Silver Shield Financial Education

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Executive Summary

Silver Shield Financial Education is a nonprofit in Texas that delivers free financial literacy workshops, one-on-one counseling and a fraud prevention hotline to adults ages 60 and older in San Antonio and Bexar County. A certified financial planner and two accredited financial counselors deliver monthly workshops at 15 senior centers, libraries and faith communities, take walk-in counseling appointments twice a week and staff a Monday-through-Friday fraud hotline.

Older adults lose a great deal of money every year to financial fraud in the United States. Beyond fraud, Social Security claiming errors and poor Medicare plan selection routinely cost seniors tens of thousands of dollars in lifetime benefits. A bilingual program that reaches seniors where they gather - not in an office they have to find - prevents harm before it happens. We do not give legal advice, manage anyone's money or guarantee any financial result.

What we are asking for. Our program has a Year 1 budget of about $178,000. We are asking for $50,000 from a senior services foundation for a portion of financial counselor salaries and workshop materials. The rest comes from other grants and donors listed in the funding section. Every dollar amount in this plan is an estimate.

Company Description

Silver Shield Financial Education is a nonprofit organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, governed by a volunteer board that includes a retired federal judge, an AARP Texas volunteer, a community banker and three community members. 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. Financial harm to an older adult is preventable. The information that prevents it should be free and delivered in the same language the person thinks in.

What we do:
- Monthly workshops at 15 community sites on a rotating six-topic calendar: fraud prevention, Social Security optimization, Medicare plan selection, long-term care basics, estate planning basics and avoiding predatory financial products. Delivered in English and Spanish.
- Walk-in counseling on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sessions are 60 to 90 minutes. A counselor reviews the senior's specific situation - a suspicious call, a Medicare question, a benefit decision - and provides personalized guidance.
- Fraud hotline. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Staffed by eight trained volunteers supervised by a counselor. Seniors call to evaluate suspicious contacts or get help reporting fraud.
- A quarterly Financial Self-Defense intensive at senior living communities: a three-hour session on the current fraud landscape.

What we do not do. We do not manage anyone's money, give legal advice or guarantee any financial result. We are not an investment advisor. We do not share a senior's personal financial information with any third party without written consent. We call 988 for anyone in crisis and 911 in an emergency.

Who we serve. Adults 60 and older in San Antonio and Bexar County, with priority for those on fixed incomes, those who are isolated and those making Social Security or Medicare decisions for the first time.

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

Older adults in Bexar County face real and measurable financial harm.

1. Fraud losses. The Bexar County DA documented $14 million in fraud losses from adults 60 and older in a single year - a figure the DA estimates is 5% to 10% of actual losses because most are not reported.
2. Social Security errors. Filing for Social Security at a poorly chosen age can cost married couples a large amount in lifetime benefits.
3. Medicare overpayment. Research from the Medicare Rights Center finds that the average beneficiary pays about $2,000 per year more than necessary due to plan selection errors.
4. No free local resource. No dedicated free financial literacy program for seniors operates in San Antonio. SHIP Medicare counseling has a six-to-eight week appointment waitlist.
5. Language barrier. Spanish-language financial scams targeting San Antonio's large Hispanic senior population are documented by the DA's elder fraud unit and AARP.

Why it matters now. San Antonio has a large and growing population of residents 60 and older. Bexar County's senior population is growing as the baby boom generation ages and as affordable cost of living attracts retirees from more expensive Texas metros.

How we know the need is real. We reviewed DA elder fraud reports, interviewed SHIP counselors about waitlists, surveyed 45 seniors at three senior centers and talked with the Area Agency on Aging. In a pilot of 45 workshops, 78% of attendees reported changing at least one financial behavior within 30 days. The detail is in the appendix.

Products & Services

What the funded project will do. With this grant we will pay a portion of financial counselor salaries and the cost of printing bilingual workshop materials for a full year.

How a senior takes part:
1. Workshop. A senior attends a monthly workshop at their usual senior center, library or church. The workshop is 90 minutes, in English or Spanish depending on the site. Free refreshments are provided by the site partner.
2. One-on-one counseling. After the workshop or independently, a senior can walk in Tuesday or Thursday morning or call for an appointment. The counselor reviews the specific situation and provides guidance tailored to that person.
3. Fraud hotline. A senior who receives a suspicious call or email can call the hotline Monday through Friday. A trained volunteer picks up, listens, helps evaluate the situation and guides the next step - usually hanging up and reporting to the appropriate authority.
4. Intensive. Quarterly three-hour sessions at senior living communities go deeper into current fraud tactics.

What the grant pays for. This request covers a portion of counselor salaries and bilingual workshop materials.

What we do not promise. We do not promise that any senior will avoid fraud or make a particular financial decision. We track workshop attendance, one-on-one sessions, hotline calls resolved and self-reported behavior change at 30 days, and we report those numbers honestly.

Safety and ethics. Our counselors hold the CFP or AFC credential and follow professional ethics standards. We never manage money. We never recommend specific financial products. We call 911 in an emergency and refer anyone in crisis to 988.

Market Analysis

Who benefits from this project are adults 60 and older in San Antonio and Bexar County.

Who we serve. Fixed-income seniors, Hispanic seniors targeted by Spanish-language scams, isolated seniors in senior living communities and recent retirees making first-time Social Security and Medicare decisions.

How many people we plan to serve. In Year 1 we plan to reach about 600 adults through workshops, complete about 150 one-on-one counseling sessions and respond to about 80 fraud hotline calls. By Year 5 we plan to reach about 1,200 adults through workshops annually. We chose those numbers from counselor capacity and the 15 workshop site schedule.

Where we serve. 15 senior centers, libraries and faith communities in San Antonio, plus quarterly sessions at senior living communities.

Who else benefits. Family members of seniors who avoid fraud losses. Financial institutions whose customers are better educated. The DA's elder fraud unit, which benefits from more fraud reports.

We choose how many sessions to schedule from counselor hours and workshop site availability, not from the size of the need.

Competitive Landscape

Other resources in Bexar County.

1. SHIP Medicare counseling. Available but with a six-to-eight week waitlist. We supplement their capacity and refer complex Medicare cases to them.
2. AARP Texas. Provides fraud prevention information and some workshops nationally but does not have local staff in San Antonio delivering regularly scheduled programming.
3. Social Security Administration. Provides general information but not personalized optimization guidance.
4. Fee-only financial advisors. Provide planning but charge fees that exclude most fixed-income seniors.

What makes us different. We are the only program in San Antonio delivering free, bilingual, personalized one-on-one financial counseling to seniors on a walk-in basis, with a same-day fraud hotline.

How we avoid duplication. We coordinate with SHIP quarterly and refer complex Medicare and Medicaid cases to them. We work with the DA's elder fraud unit and file referrals on behalf of seniors who have experienced fraud.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach seniors once the project is funded.

Senior center directors. Each of our 15 workshop sites is managed by a director who promotes the workshop in their newsletter and at the front desk. We meet with directors quarterly.

Area Agency on Aging. The AAA distributes our schedule through its newsletter, senior resource guide and staff referrals. We have a referral agreement with them.

Faith communities. Churches and parishes with large senior memberships post our schedule in their bulletins. Several are sites for our Spanish-language workshops.

AARPTexas newsletter and social media. AARP promotes the hotline number and workshop schedule to its Texas members.

Silver Gala. An annual dinner fundraiser brings individual donors, corporate sponsors from the financial services sector and awareness to a broader community audience.

Measuring outreach. We ask at every workshop how the attendee heard about us and adjust the outreach mix annually.

Operations Plan

How the project will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1. Months 1 and 2: confirm all 15 site agreements, train hotline volunteers, print Spanish materials. Months 3 to 12: deliver workshops on schedule, hold walk-in counseling twice a week, staff the hotline.

Space. Staff work from a small office. Walk-in counseling is in a private room at the same location, accessible to seniors.

Partners. 15 senior center and library directors, the Bexar County Area Agency on Aging, AARP Texas and the Bexar County DA's elder fraud unit. Each has or will have a written agreement.

Money controls. No staff member handles client money at any time. Hotline volunteers are trained to refer seniors to law enforcement for fraud recovery, not to handle money on their behalf. Two people approve every organizational expense.

Records and reporting. We track workshop attendance, one-on-one sessions, hotline calls, self-reported behavior change at 30 days, Social Security or Medicare decisions changed and fraud reports filed. We report to funders twice a year.

Management & Organization

The executive director manages the organization and delivers many of the workshops. Financial counselors provide one-on-one counseling and supervise hotline volunteers.

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. A number with a half, such as 2.5, means a hire phased in during the year or one part-time person.
- Executive Director (CFP): 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $65,000 a year.
- Program Associate (added as the budget grows): 0, 0.5, 0.5, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $38,000 a year each, hired as new grant money arrives.
- Financial Counselor (AFC certified, bilingual): 2 part-time, 2, 2, 3, 3 (Years 1 to 5), about $24,000 a year each (20 hours per week).
- Hotline volunteers: 8 trained volunteers, supervised by counselors, no salary.

Governance and money controls. The board reviews financials monthly. An outside accountant prepares the yearly tax return. Every grant is tracked in its own budget line. No staff member handles client money.

Feedback and complaints. Seniors can give feedback at any workshop through a one-page form or by calling the office. We report themes to the board quarterly. No senior loses services for speaking up.

Milestones Narrative

Goals for each of the first five years. These are goals, not promises.
- Before the grant starts: confirm all 15 site agreements, train hotline volunteers and print bilingual materials.
- Year 1: reach about 600 adults through workshops, complete 150 one-on-one sessions, respond to 80 hotline calls. Budget about $178,000.
- Year 2: add bilingual hotline evening hours. Budget about $210,000.
- Year 3: launch a Seniors as Fraud Ambassadors peer educator model: 20 seniors trained to lead fraud prevention conversations at their own churches and clubs. Budget about $242,000.
- Year 4: expand to 20 community sites and add a third counselor. Budget about $278,000.
- Year 5: reach about 1,200 adults through workshops and publish a plain results report. Budget about $312,000.

How we will measure results: workshop attendance, one-on-one sessions completed, hotline calls resolved, self-reported behavior change at 30 days, Social Security or Medicare decisions changed and fraud reports filed. We report to funders twice a year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $50,000 from a senior services foundation for a portion of financial counselor salaries and bilingual workshop materials, for January through December 2027.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Financial Counselor salaries (part), $38,000.
- Other: Bilingual workshop materials - printing, Spanish translation updates and workbooks, $12,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 30% of Year 1 grant income. Other grants and donors pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $178,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $4,300 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $166,000; Corporate Donors and Silver Gala $12,000. Year 1 costs: executive director (cfp) $65,000; financial counselors $48,000; hotline training and coordination $8,000; workshop materials and printing $12,000; hotline phone system $5,000; workshop site transportation $8,000; silver Gala event costs $8,000; office and reporting $12,000; program supplies, participant support and contingency $6,500.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $11,200 are paid once from startup funds: $3,200 for laptops and a secure client notes system, $2,800 for hotline phone system setup, $2,200 for initial Spanish material design and translation, $1,600 for legal setup and policy review, and $1,400 for banners and a simple website.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($11,200), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $1,600) and a cash cushion of about $43,100, which is about 3 months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $56,000. We start with $14,000 of our own savings and $42,000 from an AARP foundation grant and board contributions, $56,000 in all, which covers that amount.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $178,000 in Year 1 to about $312,000 in Year 5. Grant revenue is planned at $166,000, $162,000, $184,000, $218,000 and $213,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows as sponsors and donors join. The program plans to end each year with a surplus, about $4,300, $1,700, $14,400, $7,500 and $12,000 in Years 1 to 5, which we put into savings. Some years are larger because new grant money arrives before the added staff are hired. The lowest year-end cash in the plan is about $48,400.

After the grant. The Administration for Community Living Title III grant program becomes the primary federal funding stream. Financial services sector corporate donors grow as the Silver Gala matures.

Risks:
- Scammer tactics change faster than workshop curricula. We update the fraud prevention module at minimum twice a year using the DA's elder fraud unit current data.
- Corporate financial services donors may have conflicts of interest around certain products. We maintain editorial independence: no sponsor influences curriculum content.
- A counselor may leave. We cross-train on case notes and maintain a substitute counselor list from the AFC community.

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.
- Executive director's CFP certification.
- Both financial counselors' AFC certifications.
- Area Agency on Aging referral agreement.
- Agreements with 15 workshop site partners.
- Pilot data: 45 workshops, 78% behavior change at 30 days.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers:
- Grant Revenue: $166,000 in Year 1, planned to reach $213,000 in Year 5.
- Corporate Donors and Silver Gala: $12,000 in Year 1, growing as the event matures.
- Counselors: 2 part-time at 20 hours per week each at $24,000 per year each.
- Workshop materials: $12,000 per year covers printing, Spanish translation updates and workbooks for 15 sites.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate.

Plain words used in this proposal:
- CFP: Certified Financial Planner, a professional credential requiring education, examination and experience.
- AFC: Accredited Financial Counselor, a credential for financial counselors focused on household financial health.
- SHIP: State Health Insurance Assistance Program, a federally funded Medicare counseling program.
- Area Agency on Aging: a local government-funded agency that coordinates services for older adults.
- 501(c)(3): the tax status that lets a nonprofit receive tax-deductible gifts and many grants.

Startup Costs