The MIDAS Collaborative

Comprised of 35 Massachusetts non-profit organizations that integrate community development with asset-building, the Midas Collaborative Inc. will work with four community partners to facilitate 276 asset purchases over the course of the project. Midas Collaborative worked with AFI grantees Allston Brighton CDC and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay before receiving its first independent AFI grant in 2010. In addition to financial education, technical assistance, and web-based educational resources, the organization is active in the Massachusetts Asset Development Coalition, leads the Massachusetts Financial Education Collaborative. It hosts the www.MassSaves.org asset information website and provides a web-management program for the state’s EITC sites. Organization publications include “The Effects of Matched Savings Programs on Low and Moderate-Income Asset Development in Massachusetts” (with UMASS McCormack School of Public Policy, 2011); “Expanding Financial Skills in Low Income Communities; A Framework for Building and Effective Financial Education Program” (2008 with the Massachusetts Community and Banking Council) and a financial education booklet available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian-Creole “Staying Afloat: Managing your Finances in a Changing Economy” (2010 with the Massachusetts Department of Housing Community Development).

Midas will manage all participant and match accounts, while community partners deliver IDA programming. Monthly minimum and maximum deposits ($25 and $200 respectively) are standard, but all other design features – program length & enrollment period, asset objectives offered, match rates, and maximum amount of savings matched-- vary by community partner. Partner Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) offers an unusual "Assets for Artists” program helping low-income artists build assets and increase business income. The sub hopes to expand the program beyond Massachusetts borders.

See above.