Become a FinCap-Affiliated Financial Mentoring Service
Find out what we do, our expectations for affiliation and how we can support you to build financial capability in your community.
FinCap is a charitable trust supporting over 800 financial mentors in their mahi. We also work on solutions to address systemic issues to prevent financial hardship.
FinCap currently supports around 180 Building Financial Capability (BFC) services across Aotearoa. Some of these are funded through MSD, as we are, and others operate through a variety of ways.
What is Financial Mentoring?
Having a clear understanding of the financial mentoring role will assist you in deciding if this is the right path for your organisation.
What do financial mentors do?
Financial mentors provide a tailored service to help clients and whānau manage their finances. They also support people to make connections with local support networks and social services.
Financial mentors work alongside clients and their whānau, building trust, understanding the complexity of their needs, and empowering them to gain control of their money.
Financial mentors do this by:
- sharing financial management skills and knowledge
- applying appropriate financial management tools with clients to reach goals
- using a strengths-based approach to find long-term solutions
- journeying with whānau/clients as they move towards becoming financially self-supporting; and
- identifying appropriate advocacy actions.
Financial Mentors provide the right support at the right time
Financial mentors do this by:
- supporting and empowering clients and whānau to navigate the system to control debt by negotiating reduced payments or generating additional resources
- advocating on a client’s behalf as they are often too stressed to negotiate with creditors or other lenders on their own; and
- supporting clients and whānau to set meaningful goals to gain control of their financial lives.
Is a financial mentor different to a financial advisor?
While financial mentors and financial advisors have the word 'financial' in common, each role serves a different purpose.
Financial mentors focus on a client's financial management skills by helping them to build knowledge and financial decision-making processes. Financial Mentors guide people to manage their money more effectively, and to make informed financial decisions.
Financial advisors focus on a client’s investment portfolio by providing recommendations of specific products and securities, and investment advice.
Becoming a FinCap-Affiliated Financial Mentoring Service
Becoming a FinCap-Affiliated financial mentoring service offers numerous benefits. However, before you begin the process, it’s important to understand the criteria and expectations involved.
Initial Criteria
FinCap considers the following criteria before recognising a financial mentoring service:
- your organisation must be registered as a charity, incorporated society, or company
- your organisation must provide financial mentoring services delivered by FinCap-trained staff*
- your services must be free of charge and offered without obligation or coercion.
*If your organisation does not currently have a FinCap-trained financial mentor, you must commit to training and qualifying a staff member through FinCap. This is a key requirement for becoming an affiliated service.
Expectations
FinCap expects the following from new financial mentoring services:
- new trainees observe and document at least two financial mentoring sessions prior to being accepted on the Financial Mentoring Introductory Course (FMIC)
- a FinCap trained supervisor is assigned to all new financial mentors prior to starting the FMIC programme
- deliver services consistent with the FinCap Code of Ethics
- deliver services consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi
- participate in FinCap regional hui and other Communities of Practice
- participate in FinCap initiatives (e.g. surveys) where it is possible, to help advocate system change
- confirm only FinCap trained financial mentors to deliver financial mentoring services
- keep FinCap informed of any changes to the nature of the organisation including location and contact details; and
- share relevant information with FinCap about what is happening on the ground to enable FinCap to support financial mentors and lobby for change, where appropriate.
How to Become a FinCap-Affiliated Service
If you're keen to discuss further, please email us at kiaora@fincap.org.nz expressing your interest in becoming a FinCap-affiliated financial mentoring service and we will begin the process.
Once we receive your email, a FinCap representative will reach out to discuss and confirm your initial eligibility in becoming a FinCap affiliated organisation.
If you meet the basic criteria, you will then be asked to complete an induction form. This form will provide us with the essential information needed to include your organisation in our database.
After completing these steps, and successfully meeting the criteria, you will be introduced to the FinCap team, who will support you as you integrate into our network.
MSD Funding is not required
You do not need MSD funding to access FinCap’s support as an affiliated financial mentoring service.
Although FinCap provides resources and services to support financial mentors in their mahi, we do not fund organisations.
Benefits of affiliation
Once affiliated, your service will have access to:
- the Financial Mentor Introductory Course (FMIC)
- Client Voices, our free client management system for financial mentoring
- Communities of Practice
- online professional development modules
- Te Papa Hou, our financial mentoring knowledge base; and
- networking opportunities with other financial mentoring services
- the option to subscribe to our two-monthly FinCap Pānui
- regular updates from FinCap on BFC news and information.
Sector workforce development
FinCap provides workforce development support and connections for financial mentors, including training and communities of practice. We provide the Financial Mentor Introductory Course (FMIC), supervision training, and host Communities of Practice.
We have recently launched Te Tāpapa, a suite of competency and standards resources to support professionalisation of financial mentors.
Financial Mentor Introductory Course (FMIC)
To support the financial mentor role and equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge, the FinCap Workforce Development team delivers a number of programmes. Initially, all new financial mentors, (known as provisional financial mentors), must attend the Financial Mentor Introductory Course (FMIC).
FMIC is an intense programme that covers the foundation skills required to support and mentor an individual and/or their whānau navigating their financial difficulties. FMIC is the first component of the NZQA micro-credentials, and includes technical skills such as creating a budget worksheet, debt schedule and cashflow, the bread and butter of the role. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is threaded throughout the programme.
The face-to-face programme is run over seven full days over several weeks, which are held throughout Aotearoa. The programme is also delivered via Zoom, through our online learning platform, and through distance learning. There is a final assessment to confirm understanding of the programme components.
Successful participants receive a Certificate of Completion. This completes the first part of the overall qualification.
Is the FMIC NZQA accredited?
Yes. FMIC is an NZQA accredited micro-credential, the equivalent of Level 4 and 16 credits. Six credits relate to the FMIC and 10 to the provisional period. All modules and components of the programme need to be completed to receive the micro-credential.
How are FMIC programmes accessed?
Firstly, new financial mentors need to be associated with a FinCap-affiliated financial mentoring service, either in a volunteer or paid position, nominated by the manager, and supported by a FinCap trained supervisor throughout their learning journey.
Supervision and the provisional period
A trained FinCap supervisor is assigned to each new financial mentor as they start their journey with an organisation. The supervisor is trained through FinCap to support and guide new financial mentors to embed the range of skills needed to ensure best practice in delivery. They also support financial mentors through their FMIC programme.
After successfully completing FMIC, supervision and the provisional period are vital components in the training of new financial mentors.
Once the provisional period has been signed off by the manager and supervisor, the financial mentor will be awarded the Certificate of Achievement and gain recognised financial mentor status.
What is the provisional period?
This is when new financial mentors embed the knowledge, skills, and strategies of financial mentoring into their practice while working with clients in a supported environment. Supervision is their journey with a trained supervisor.
The provisional period is 10 out of the 16 credits of the FMIC micro-credential, which accounts for at least 100 hours of learning.
This process guides and supports new financial mentors to gain confidence in the role and meet the competency requirements prior to working with clients by themselves.
Who supervises?
To be a supervisor, practicing financial mentors must have completed at least two years’ work in the role after completing their own provisional period. This ensures they have experience with a range of clients and cases to be able to confidently support others. Prospective supervisors are nominated by their service as having been identified as having the necessary skills and attributes to fill the role. They attend two supervision training modules covering process and reflective practice.
Reflective practice
Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one’s actions in a process of continuous learning.
Reflective practice considers:
- what went well and why it went well in sessions with clients, so these techniques and skills can be used again
- what did not go well and why it didn’t go well, so adaptations and changes can be made to improve service delivery.
In the FMIC, this is taught through reflective practice models by Gibbs and Kolb.
Finding a Supervisor
Services new to financial mentoring need to work with a FinCap trained supervisor. Before starting the FMIC, trainees need to observe and document at least two sessions with a practicing financial mentor and be assigned a supervisor. This can sometimes be difficult, but we'll support you through this. You will need to liaise with other services in your area to fulfil this requirement. Please be aware that there is likely be a cost to this.
Keeping in touch
Community Heart
Community Heart is an online learning platform for the community sector. FinCap uses Community Heart to deliver online training courses.
After being awarded the FMIC Certificate of Completion, provisional financial mentors have access to the platform to complete other modules in their own time. We don't want to overload financial mentors, so this is only done once FMIC is completed.
Once registered financial mentors only have access to the FinCap section of the platform. They will get an email from Community Heart with login details.
When FinCap issues the FMIC Certificate of Completion, we automatically sign the mentor up to Community Heart.
Te Papa Hou
Te Papa Hou is a financial mentoring knowledge base accessible by FinCap-affiliated financial mentoring services.
Once affiliated we will connect managers to Te Papa Hou. Financial mentors will also be given access once they have completed FMIC.
Te Papa Hou provides access to:
- other scheduled learning opportunities and communities of practice webinars.
- dozens of articles and about helpful tools, good practice, guidance and support
- discussion forums with other financial mentors to share knowledge and raise important issues.
New content is regularly uploaded.
FinCap Pānui
Our two-monthly pānui/newsletter provides sector news and updates about the work that FinCap has been doing in advocacy and workforce professionalisation.
You can find current and past issues of the FinCap Pānui (our newsletter) on Te Papa Hou.
Communities of practice
Communities of Practice groups are open to any FinCap-affiliated financial mentor and are set up by region or interest group.
Communities of Practice provide:
- forums for financial mentors to share their professional experiences and knowledge to support one another and strengthen expertise
- learning environments with opportunities for financial mentors to learn with and from each other, and to foster best practice; and
- forums to influence or support action within the financial mentoring sector for systemic change and better outcomes for clients.
All Communities of Practice hui are listed on FinCap’s mentor-only Te Papa Hou website under events. The Communities of Practice team will be in contact with you once affiliated.
Client Voices
Client Voices is a client management tool built for financial mentors. Powered by FinCap, Client Voices simplifies the process of maintaining accurate records of clients and budgeting activities.
Client Voices offers a user-friendly client management system equipped with essential budgeting tools to support clients in their journey to build financial capability.
Use of Client Voices is optional.
MoneyTalks
Our MoneyTalks helpline team offers free, confidential advice by phone, text, email and live chat. Our knowledgeable helpline advisors can put people in touch with local services for further help from a financial mentor.
Our MoneyTalks advisors can help with questions about budgeting, debt management, accessing financial support, and planning for future financial needs. Additionally, they offer guidance on saving money and making sound financial decisions, promoting overall financial capability.
Contact us to become affiliated
If your organisation is interested in becoming an affiliated service, please email us at kiaora@fincap.org.nz to further discuss eligibility.
We look forward to working with you.
Further information
Find financial mentor services in your area.