A Widespread and Growing Problem: Americans at Risk of Personal Financial Crisis
Though financial insecurity may plague a majority of the population, financial crises are a
harsher reality for low-and-moderate income Americans: a recent survey found that 62% of
surveyed households had experienced at least one financial crisis in the last year – and 51%
lacked any emergency savings to help them cope.
Now there’s an innovative, prize-based and proven campaign that can help solve this
challenge: SaveYourRefund.
D2D’S Simple, Innovative Solution: SaveYourRefund
The majority of the
American population
does not have enough
savings to survive at even
the poverty level for two
months if faced with a
financial crisis such as loss
of income or unexpected
medical bills.
Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund is dedicated to helping low-to-moderate income (LMI)
Americans overcome financial crises with new approaches to
managing day-to-day finances. D2D Fund is a 501(c)(3) founded in 2005 by former Senior
SaveYourRefund is
an incentive-based
Associate Dean of Harvard Business School and current Dean of Said Oxford Business
promotion that
School, Peter Tufano, to strengthen the financial opportunity and security of LMI consumers.
encourages tax filers to
save a portion of their
Our unique approach combines research about household financial habits with innovative
refund and potentially
strategies to change behaviors and help Americans build personal financial safety nets.
win cash prizes.
Our latest tool to achieve this goal is a simple, innovative, and fun program focused on a
crucial and universal, but often stressful moment in people’s lives – filing taxes.
• Tax Refunds Present the Best and often Only Opportunity for LMI consumers to Save
The annual federal tax refund is the largest sum of cash many American households receive all year, often
amounting to up to 20% of annual household income. More than 78 million tax filers with annual incomes
under $50,000 received an average refund of $2,362 per filer in 2011, with over $180 billion total refunded.
Each tax filer has a unique opportunity to set aside savings with an influx of cash at tax time. Tax time is also a
moment when filers are primed to be thinking about their financial decisions.
• Standard IRS Form 8888 Enables Filers to Designate Savings
Many Americans do not realize that the IRS has created a specific form built right into the tax filing process
that enables all American tax filers to automatically save a portion of their tax refund with one simple step.
D2D Fund worked with the IRS and Treasury Department to create Form 8888, enabling this seamless and
near universal opportunity to save.
• Prizing those Who Save – A $35,000 Incentive
SaveYourRefund capitalizes on this tax-time moment and this easy method of saving and adds an incentive to
nudge filers into opting in to saving for their futures. D2D offers frequent chances to win and significant prize
money to motivate eligible Americans to save a portion of their tax refund.
Through SaveYourRefund, all tax filers over the age of 18 who use Form 8888 to save a portion of their tax
refund can enter a promotion– via text or Web – for a chance to win 100 weekly $100 prizes and the grand
prize of $25,000. The combined financial incentive, “game-like” feel and low barrier to entry create the best
mix to incentivize savings.
For more information on how to get involved, please contact Tatiana Brezina at [email protected]
• Incentives Work
D2D and other researchers’ past work has shown that the opportunity to win a prize – even a prize of modest
value – can energize and motivate people to change their financial behavior, including saving. In particular,
pairing prize incentives with financial actions can infuse saving, an act often viewed as self-denial, with more
immediate reward, surprise, and possibility.
Building on SYR 2013’s Success
SaveYourRefund has reached a targeted group of Americans and demonstrated that the promotion works. Despite
being designed to encourage even small-dollar savers, 2013 SaveYourRefund entrants saved nearly $1,000 per
person, amounting to about one third of the average entrant’s total refund.
SaveYourRefund aims to expand its reach by at least a factor of five this year, introducing significantly more Americans
to the benefits of saving, and helping to create $3.5 million worth of personal safety nets where none might otherwise
have existed.
2014 will serve as a bridge year, demonstrating that SaveYourRefund can succeed at medium scale. In 2015 and
beyond, D2D hopes to scale the program to reach millions of individuals, playing a central role in the annual ritual of
paying taxes and – more importantly – introducing millions of households to the long-term benefits of saving.
SaveYourRefund Success: A Family Home for a Single Mother of Three
For Lilly Roman, the 2013 winner of the $25,000 grand prize and single mother of three, the biggest motivation to
save a portion of her refund was her children. Lilly hoped that the savings she set aside at tax time would eventually
help her put a down payment on a house. Lilly’s advice to others about saving is to “save as much as you can,
especially [if] you have kids...so many things can happen, like emergencies, that you want to be prepared!”
How You Can Help
Many types of organizations embrace and understand the importance of working with existing financial capability and
savings promotions efforts – instead of building something from the ground up. Even if your organization already has
financial literacy programs – we welcome you to become part of this distinct, research-based and concentrated and
seasonal outreach effort.
We welcome your support in a variety of ways:
• Join the mission as a strategic partner – work closely with D2D to brand and promote SaveYourRefund to your
employees, members or customers
• Serve as an Honorary Co-Chair of the campaign
• Send emails to your constituents or members
• Participate in a kick-off event
• Write op-eds and blogs about the importance of saving and encourage Americans to participate
• Conduct earned media outreach in your region
• Promote SaveYourRefund through your social media channels
For more information on how to get involved, please contact Tatiana Brezina at [email protected]