Economic Empowerment for Domestic
Violence Survivors

Funding Guidelines

Money and finances play an important role for many women when considering leaving an abusive partner. Many survivors of domestic violence have nominal or no access to money or have had their financial security destroyed by their abuser. The devastation of leaving behind a home, income, benefits, and economic security are struggles that all survivors of domestic violence must overcome, regardless of their education, job skills and personal earning potential.

As the foundation for a financial services company, The Allstate Foundation brings resources and expertise to its work on economic empowerment for survivors. Through support of direct services for those touched by domestic violence and economic abuse, creative public awareness campaigns to encourage more people to help and thought leadership activities geared toward learning more about economic abuse and effective ways to build financial independence.

The Allstate Foundation's Economic Empowerment for Domestic Violence Survivors (Economics Against Abuse) Program helps survivors build financial independence by providing knowledge, skills and opportunities to survivors. The Foundation recognizes that state domestic violence coalitions and local domestic violence programs are uniquely situated to identify and respond to the economic advocacy needs of survivors. However, the Foundation also understands that many service providers who do not specialize exclusively in domestic violence also impact the lives of survivors.

We encourage collaborations among a variety of service providers on the national, state and local levels to help victims get free and live free from abuse. Because we take this view, our grantees are a diverse and varied group of nonprofits including job training organizations, social service agencies, community colleges, legal advocacy groups, and domestic violence service organizations.

The Economic Empowerment for Domestic Violence Survivors Program utilizes a competitive grant process that seeks to provide access to economic empowerment services and builds the capacity of service providers to respond to the unique economic needs of survivors. These grant funds provide an opportunity for national, statewide and local domestic violence organizations to collaborate on the cutting edge service area of economic justice, as well as to engage Allstate agents and employees in a volunteer capacity.

Priority is given to programming that:

• Articulates the proposed project's impact on the economic needs of survivors;
• Reflects a collaborative effort recognizing the distinct roles and responsibilities of each participating agency or entity;
• Demonstrates the capacity of the project to reach a range of survivors, bringing service providers together in ways that challenge them to consider different perspectives and new solutions to the complex economic problems that survivors face;
• Reflects an understanding of the positive, systemic, social, economic, and cultural changes that are needed to end violence against women;
• Incorporates or reflects the experiences of survivors and victim advocates;
• Appropriately reaches diverse audiences, with culturally-sensitive program tactics and messages;
• Shows an understanding of and commitment to tracking outcome measures;
• Demonstrates a capacity to execute on communications and/or public awareness initiatives; and
• Outlines plans to engage Allstate agents and employees as volunteers.

Successful applications will include one or more of the following strategies:

• Financial education: Providing education and support to survivors in areas of budgeting, investing, retirement planning, debt reduction, etc through the use of The Allstate Foundation Moving Ahead through Financial Management curriculum.
• Matched savings programs including Individual Development Accounts (IDAs): Increasing survivors' access to and participation in asset-building strategies.
• Job readiness and training: Helping survivors with resume writing, developing interviewing skills and/or providing job training to gaining meaningful employment.

Grantees will be required to track the following outcome measures:

• Learning
  • Number of survivors participating in TAF's Moving Ahead Through Financial Management workshops or other economic empowerment services funded by TAF
• Doing
  • Financial education grantees: number of survivors creating a financial plan
  • Financial education grantees: number of survivors opening a bank account
  • Financial education grantees: number of survivors who have requested a copy of their credit report
  • Matched savings grantees: number of survivors consistently contributing to matched savings programs
  • Job training grantees: number of survivors completing educational courses, job training programs, or certificate programs
• Sustaining
  • Financial education grantees: number of survivors meeting financial goals individualized financial plans or budgets
  • Matched savings grantees: number of survivors meeting matched savings program goals
  • Job training grantees: number of survivors who gained new or better employment

Examples of preferred program outcome measures include:

• Learning
  • Number of survivors who completed TAF's Moving Ahead Through Financial Management workshops or other economic empowerment services funded by TAF
• Doing
  • Number of survivors who created or updated their resumes
  • Number of survivors who met with a financial advisor
  • Number of survivors who opened a savings account
  • Number of survivors who interviewed for a job
• Sustaining
  • Number of survivors applying for an Education Job Training Education Fund grant from The Allstate Foundation
  • Number of survivors who improved their credit score or established personal credit