The Finovate Debuts series introduces new Finovate alums. Today’s feature is SAS Games, which demonstrated its TiViTz College $avings Game-a-thon at FinovateFall 2014.
SAS Games’ TiViTz College $avings Game-a-thon offers a way for kids to save for college tuition by playing fun, math-based games.
The game-a-thon works similar to a walk-a-thon. Kids ages 6 to 18 solicit pledges from friends and family, whose total contribution is based on the child’s performance. To redeem the pledges and add the money to their college savings account, the child is challenged with TiVitz math games online.
Aside from bolstering funds in existing accounts, the games encourage families without a college savings fund to open one.
Stats:
- $5+ million in funding raised
- 10 employees
- 10,000 teachers use TiVitz
- 400,000 children use TiVitz
- TiVitz game has won awards from:
- Parent’s Choice
- Dr. Toy
- National Parenting
- Creative Child
How it works:
1) Kids set up their TiViTz account online
The registration process requires student and parent information, along with a $10 annual registration fee.
2) Link an existing college savings account or establish a new one
Through SAS Games’ partnership with TrustEgg, parents of children without a savings account can open one in minutes (watch TrustEgg’s debut at FinovateSpring 2013).
3) Request pledges from friends and family
Kids set up their own personalized pledge page and send the link to friends and family. They may also send donation requests via email, text, social media, and printed flyers.
4) Play the game
In the TiVitz game, kids challenge each other or a computer. The difficulty of the game scales for grade levels 1 to 12.
Players customize their avatar and choose among 7 themes, such as Safari or Baseball. Once the game has ended, they tally their score by computing the equations on the board.
5) Collect pledges
When the child finishes the required number of games, TiVitz automatically invoices the friends and family members who pledged. Occasionally, companies and financial institutions match donations to help kids reach their goals faster.
6) Track college savings
The dashboard displays the total amount raised from friends and family, along with matched charity contributions. From the home screen, kids can personalize their pledge page, view the number of pledges requested and received, and more.
The TiVitz online Game-a-thon is held once a year, around the holidays. Kids play 5 to 16 games each, depending on the amount of their pledges. Other activities around the TiVitz game include:
- TiVitz Tournaments
Boeing, Lockheed, NASA, National Hockey League, SeaWorld, and Major League Baseball sponsor tournaments where kids win college scholarships
- TiVitz Tuesdays
SAS Games is partnered with McDonald’s in Florida which hosts kids every Tuesday to practice for TiVitz tournaments
Benefits
For families and children:
- Encourages them to open a new savings account
- Helps them save more money for college
- Augments math and critical thinking skills
For banks:
- Provides access to new clients
- Has potential to add new savings accounts for existing customers
- Adds more funds to existing savings accounts
- Enhances Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) efforts in local communities
SAS Games demonstrated its TiVitz College $avings Game-a-thon at FinovateFall 2014.