The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) and the Foundation for Financial Planning (FFP) today announced that they are formalizing their partnership to help make pro bono opportunities, training and resources available to all CFP® professionals.
CFP Board’s mission is to benefit the public by granting CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for competent and ethical financial planning. FFP’s mission is to help people in need improve their financial lives by expanding access to pro bono financial planning. The two organizations have collaborated for the past seven years before entering into a formal agreement to promote the provision of pro bono financial planning services to underserved communities in the United States.
FFP is the nation’s leading 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity solely dedicated to the delivery of pro bono financial planning. The foundation was founded in 1995 by CFP® professionals who wanted to provide their time and talent free of charge to people who normally could not access financial planning and advice. Since then, FFP has supported the delivery of free financial guidance to over 600,000 people in crisis or in need and provided more than $9 million in grants to support pro bono programs across the nation.
“Expanding access to competent and ethical financial planners is a top strategic priority for CFP Board,” said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. “Through our partnership with FFP, CFP Board has committed to raising awareness of pro bono opportunities among CFP® professionals, encouraging them to volunteer and coordinating closely with FFP to connect them with pro bono engagements.”
“CFP® professional volunteers are the lifeblood of pro bono financial planning,” said FFP CEO Jon Dauphiné. “FFP works every day to educate nonprofits across the country about the incredible value CFP® professionals can bring to their underserved constituents, providing resources on how nonprofits can integrate CFP® professional volunteers into their programs. We’re excited to work with CFP Board to grow these efforts until every CFP® professional is aware of the powerful impact they can make through pro bono service.”
CFP Board helps track volunteerism data by asking for certificants to report pro bono hours on its renewal portal. In addition, FFP and CFP Board are collaborating on research that will help to build the knowledge base on pro bono.
As part of its partnership with FFP, CFP Board set a goal of increasing the number of CFP® professionals providing pro bono financial planning by 10% in 2022 — and is well on its way to achieving that goal.
In support of achieving this goal, CFP Board in February 2022 hired a full-time pro bono manager who, in collaboration with FFP, works to engage more CFP® professionals in pro bono service, including through the promotion of FFP’s national programs for people with cancer and at-risk seniors. The pro bono manager also helps drive CFP® professionals to ProBonoPlannerMatch.org, FFP’s volunteer matching platform, where CFP® professionals can browse and sign up for a range of pro bono opportunities posted by nonprofits around the country. FFP offers complementary Errors & Omissions liability insurance coverage to all CFP® professionals who volunteer through this platform.
CFP Board also helps promote other FFP offerings, such as FFP’s Pro Bono Financial Planning Volunteer Training and its ongoing skills-building webinar series.
For those CFP® professionals interested in volunteering their time and talent to help underserved communities, visit ProBonoPlannerMatch.org to register and create a profile.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board sets standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CFP® certification – one of the most respected certifications in financial services – so that the public has access to and benefits from competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board, along with its Center for Financial Planning, is committed to increasing the public’s awareness of CFP® certification and access to a diverse, ethical and competent financial planning workforce. Widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planning, CFP® certification is held by more than 93,000 people in the United States.
Foundation for Financial Planning (FFP) is the nation’s leading charity dedicated to advancing pro bono financial planning for at-risk populations, including active military members and wounded veterans, people with cancer and other serious medical diagnoses, seniors and family caregivers, low-income individuals and their families, domestic violence survivors and many more. Over its more than 25 years, FFP has provided $9 million in grants to national and community-based pro bono programs; worked with partners to activate more than 24,000 financial planners to volunteer their time and talents; reached over 600,000 people in crisis or need; and acted as a leader and catalyst to foster a rich tradition of pro bono service across the financial planning profession. Visit FFPprobono.org to learn more.
