Volunteer Toolkit

A LETTER TO OUR VOLUNTEERS

Thank you so much for your willingness to volunteer for our campaign. Broadening access to financial education for every high school student in California is a simple idea but one that has the power to transform the lives of millions of young people in our communities. We’re so glad to have your support. There are four main ways you can help our campaign. • Write a Letter to the Editor of a local newspaper. This toolkit offers many sample letters you can use and we encourage you to add your own voice or personal story to make these letters as impactful as they can be. • Share our message on social media. We have included materials for social media in this toolkit and we’re accessible across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Help us get our campaign message out today! • Become a Grassroots Endorser of our campaign and encourage others to endorse our effort as well. We’re collecting a list of Endorsers on our website and included additional resources you can share to encourage others to endorse. • Contribute and host a grassroots digital fundraising event. Additional materials for this are available within this volunteer toolkit as well. We dream of the day when people will say “I’m so glad I took that course” instead of “I wish they had a financial education course at my high school.” With your help, we’re confident that we can bring about this powerful change together. Thank you for your support and partnership in this important cause. Sincerely, Californians for Financial Education

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WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

Letters To the Editor

We encourage you to share why you are supporting our measure by writing a Letter to the Editor and submitting it to your local newspaper.

Tips and Tricks

You can submit a Letter to the Editor online, on the publication’s website or by sending an email to a local reporter or the newspaper editor. You might even be able to send a letter in the mail. Check your local newspaper’s website for more information.

Review our sample Letters to the Editor but add your personal voice to the letter. Write about why you are so passionate about financial literacy and why you’re personally supporting the campaign.

Keep it straightforward and brief. Most printed Letters to the Editor are less than 500 words.

If your letter gets printed, share it with us! Email a photo or link to your Letter to the Editor to Team@FinancialEd4CA.com

Dear Editor,

As a concerned parent and active member of our local community, I am writing to express my strong support for the California ballot measure proposal to provide essential financial education to high school students.

California has been trailing behind the rest of the nation in providing students with personal finance education. While there has been some recent legislation addressing financial education in our state, none have taken the step of guaranteeing that our children will have access to a course that provides the personal finance skills that are vital in the 21st century, including budgeting, credit management, and understanding financial options for career or college.

I hope this measure makes it to the ballot because it is a common-sense, non-partisan proposal that has been long overdue for our state.

Dear Editor,

As a college student that didn’t have the opportunity to take a financial literacy course in High School, I want to express my support for the California Personal Finance Education Initiative. This initiative is a solution to solving the gap me and many of my peers had in our education.

It would provide high school students with the personal finance skills that are vital in the 21st century, including budgeting, credit management, and understanding financial options for career or college. I also like the fact that the measure ensures that all students, regardless of their school or economic status, have an equal opportunity to learn essential financial skills.

Students who have the opportunity to take courses like these are more likely to have lower credit card debt, higher credit scores, and lower delinquency rates. If I were to have taken a financial literacy course it could have helped me and some of my peers navigate the financial challenges of college and adulthood.

Share Social Media Content

It’s easy! Follow us on social media, share our content, and use one of the suggested posts below to tell your followers why you support a financial education course for every California high school student.

Follow us on social media:

Hover over images to download them or share them on your social media accounts!

Endorse our Campaign

Anyone can be a Grassroots Endorser of our campaign to bring financial education to every high school student in California.

Fill out our endorsment form here!

You can also write to your local elected officials, tell them why you support our campaign and ask them to endorse Californians for Financial Education by going to financialed4ca.com/ourcoalition and completing the endorsement form.

Once you've endorsed, share it with your friends and family on social media using one of our endorsement graphics!

Grassroots Fundraising

Our campaign is supported by donors from all corners of the state and we need people to chip in at any level to ensure our campaign will have the resources it needs to win, so chip in today.

Donate Here

Sample Fundraising Letter:

Dear Friends,

This year, I’m engaged in an amazing project. Californians for Financial Education is based on a simple but powerful idea. Every high school student should be required to take a financial education course as a condition for graduation. It’s a powerful message and one that will be on the 2024 November election ballot.

I think about how this simple idea has the potential to change lives. It would have changed my life! As a young adult, I struggled to get out of debt, understand mortgage rates and kick a credit card habit that held me back from financial freedom. Imagine if young people were taught about the importance of managing credit, understanding financial options for career or college, and budgeting for everyday living in high school. How might that transform a generation of Californians?

Studies have shown that students who take a personal finance course have better financial outcomes, including lower credit card debt, higher credit scores, and lower delinquency rates. Personal finance skills are vital in the 21st century.

So I ask you to chip in any amount. You can do so at efundraisingconnections.com/c/CaliforniansforFinancialEducation.

Thank you,