Operation HOPE Releases 2024 National Impact Report Highlighting Continued Impressive Growth and Improved Client Outcomes

Operation HOPE Releases 2024 National Impact Report Highlighting Continued Impressive Growth and Improved Client Outcomes

Operation HOPE Contact:
Bill Mendel, Mendel Communications
(917) 664-1796

Operation HOPE, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping low-and moderate-income Americans thrive in an ever-changing economy, announced its top-line results for 2024. Operation HOPE continued its impressive streak of growth by serving a record number of clients, growing its portfolio of top-tier partner organizations, and improving client outcomes with improved credit scores, increased savings and decreased levels of debt. Operation HOPE uses its HOPE Inside locations to deliver no-charge financial coaching to individuals in the community or at work.

Key results from 2024 include:

IMPACTS

Operation HOPE increased services provided and expanded client base, leading to improved financial outcomes for tens of thousands:
- Delivered over 330,000 financial coaching services to more than 86,000 unique clients through its 284 HOPE Inside locations across all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
- Raised client credit scores by an average of 39 points, with 38% of clients reaching above prime FICO Scores of 660 or higher.
- Reduced median client debt by $1,931.
- Increased median client savings by $1,126.
Increased Net Promoter Score to just over 78, which is among the highest scores an organization can achieve, reflecting the trust and confidence of Operation HOPE’s clients and underscoring the organization’s longstanding commitment to excellence in client service.
Improved financial health and behaviors for our clients:
- 21% of clients now have 3 months of savings for an emergency, versus 11% before working with our coaches.
- Reduced the number of unbanked and underbanked clients from 22.9% to 12.4%.
- Helped 1,623 clients become credit visible (going from having no credit score to having a score), with an average score of 635.
- Clients experienced an average credit score improvement of 4 to 5 points with each HOPE coaching session.
Secured $59.9 million in funded mortgages for low- and moderate-income homebuyers, through our partnership with Fulton Bank, with approximately $406,500 in closing cost assistance obtained. Since 2016, over $1.19 billion in mortgages have been secured through this partnership.
Supported over 462,000 unique Black-owned businesses through its HOPE Inside network and 1 Million Black Businesses (1MBB) initiative partners since 1MBB was launched in 2020. This accounts for approximately 12% of all Black-owned businesses in the U.S.
$58.7 million in accessed capital for HOPE clients utilized for small businesses, personal loans, and lines of credit.
With a new cohort of incoming Kindergarten students, over 10,643 Child Savings Accounts with more than $400,000 in deposits have been opened since the HOPE Child Savings Account (CSA) program launch in 2021. In partnership with the City of Atlanta, the program is designed to support the city’s most at-risk students in their post-secondary pursuits.

PARTNERSHIP COMMITMENT HIGHLIGHTS

Operation HOPE exceeded its goal to secure $100 million in commitments - both in cash and in-kind - from its corporate members and partners to help drive its mission to bring financial literacy and empowerment to all.
Truist announced a $20 million renewal for its partnership with Operation HOPE, continuing to expand financial literacy and wellness services to hundreds of thousands of clients through 800+ branches.
Shopify elevated its 1 Million Black Businesses (1MBB) initiative to $190 million, offering enhanced tools and resources to scale Black-owned businesses.
U.S. Bank highlighted the measurable success of its HOPE Inside program, with participants improving credit scores by an average of 39 points and reducing debt by $2,146.
Huntington Bank's Lift Local program has provided over $153 million in capital to small businesses, launching 2,200 businesses, one-third of which are Black-owned.
Mastercard reiterated its commitment to bringing 1 billion people into the digital economy and supporting 25 million women entrepreneurs globally.
Wells Fargo reinvested $420 million in underserved communities, expanding HOPE Inside locations to 150 branches by 2026.
Donations from private foundations, high net wealth donors, and individuals totaled $7.1 million in 2024.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Georgia State University and Operation HOPE unveiled the AI Literacy Pipeline to Prosperity Project (AILP3) to equip underserved students with critical AI and financial literacy skills, preparing them to lead the digital economy.
Leaders of four of the top major professional sports leagues, including Roger Goodell (NFL), Rob Manfred (MLB), and Adam Silver (NBA), and Steve Phelps (NASCAR) shared the stage for the first time at the 2024 HOPE Global Forums to highlight the power of sports to drive economic growth, inclusion, and community-building.
The Financial Literacy for All Initiative, led by Co-Chairs Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, and Operation HOPE CEO John Hope Bryant, continued to gain momentum, with additional top-tier organizations joining this 10-year movement to embed financial literacy into American culture. Recently announced organizations include American Express, Major League Baseball and Paramount.
More than 5,000 in-person delegates from 30 countries attended The 2024 HOPE Global Forums | Annual Meeting, which reached a combined in-person and streamed viewership of over 10 million.

RESEARCH

Operation HOPE announced the quarterly results from its “HOPE Insider”, the largest survey of its clients ever conducted, that provides key insights into American financial sentiment relating to housing, debt, small business ownership, work, and general economic optimism.

RECOGNITION

Operation HOPE received its 10^th consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator.

A full Annual Report highlighting Operation HOPE’s impacts will soon be available here.

About Operation HOPE, Inc.

Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "silver rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved—disrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through its community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $3.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities—turning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. For more information: OperationHOPE.org. Follow the HOPE conversation on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.