Oakland, California. - With the mission to scale pro bono financial planning for underserved individuals, the non-profit startup AdvisersGiveBack.org has launched an online giving campaign on #GivingTuesday. After a successful pilot program, AdvisersGiveBack.org is now reaching out to the financial services industry to help fund the creation of the first online pro bono financial planning exchange that makes it easy for financial planners and clients to connect and develop a highly actionable plan. With a focus on addressing racial and gender wealth gaps, as well as the economic hardship brought on by the pandemic, financial services professionals can support the campaign at different levels and receive unique rewards for participating. Learn more here:

AdvisersGiveBack.org/launch

“Being successful as a financial planner is about delivering our expertise to the clients who can pay us appropriately for the value we provide,” said AdvisersGiveBack.org volunteer and industry thought leader, Michael Kitces. “But building a successful financial planning profession means finding a way to serve all those who have a need, not just those who can pay the most.”

AdvisersGiveBack.org was developed with noted behavioral economist and NY Times bestselling author, Dan Ariely, and his team of behavioral experts at Duke University to help clients follow through and take action on their personalized plan. The program uses behavioral strategies to bridge the intention-action gap by taking the complexity of financial decision making, breaking it into actionable components, and coaching clients on taking one step at a time. The goal of the campaign is to raise $187,500, which is the amount needed to build the platform to achieve the next milestone of serving 1,000 clients per month, while also providing operational support. “We’re thrilled that before we formally launched the giving campaign to fund the development of the platform, Mercer Advisors and Wealthspire Advisors were so inspired by our vision for pro bono financial planning that they each made significant donations. We feel that as other professionals and companies learn about our campaign, they’ll be similarly inspired to back our mission to scale pro bono financial planning,” said AdvisersGiveBack.org founder Matt Iverson-Comelo.

“Mercer Advisors is proud to be partnering with AdvisorsGiveBack.org to help expand financial literacy by providing planning advice to underserved communities. Our involvement since the beginning in the pilot program helped us test the platform’s ability to deliver this much needed service in an efficient and thoughtful manner. It’s through this work we’ve been able to see the impact first hand and we are committed to bringing this to the next level,” said Martine Lellis, Chief Talent and Business Solutions Officer at Mercer Advisors. “We hope other like-minded companies will join us so we can continue to reach out into these deserving communities and help put these capabilities into action.”

“Given the financial hardship that this pandemic has brought to so many in our country, it is more important than ever that our industry offer pro-bono advice to those who are underserved,” said Eric Sontag, President and Chief Operating Officer at Wealthspire Advisors. “One-off volunteer days are a great place to start, but can only reach so many and only go so deep – in order to scale and help as many as possible who are in need, technology must be leveraged to gather relevant financial information in advance, facilitate efficient meetings and ensure there is follow up on the action plan.”

According to Michael Kitces, AdvisersGiveBack.org needs support from the financial services industry to build the platform to make it easy for planners to give back. “Our lives are busy. Even when we want to provide pro bono help, there is no fast and easy way to do it. Which is why it’s so important to make the logistics of delivering pro bono financial planning advice as easy as possible. Advisers Give Back has already created an impressive pilot program for how to deliver pro bono financial advice in a way that’s efficient for the client and the advisor. But they need our support to get to the next level,” said Kitces.

Financial services professionals can learn more about the giving campaign, watch a short video, make a donation or request more information here: AdvisersGiveBack.org/launch

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About AdvisersGiveBack.org
AdvisersGiveBack.org is building an online platform that makes it easy for pro bono advisers and clients to connect, using a program developed with noted behavioral economist Dan Ariely. Unlike pro bono events, AdvisersGiveBack.org provides volunteering financial planners with a dedicated assistant so that their volunteer time has the greatest possible impact for clients. With the goal of addressing the racial and gender wealth gaps, as well as the economic hardship brought on by the pandemic, AdvisersGiveBack.org partners with organizations to reach underserved individuals. To learn more, visit: https://advisersgiveback.org/

Press Contact:
Matt Iverson-Comelo, Founder
AdvisersGiveBack.org
415-250-6727
[email protected]