Kentucky Saves is led by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service as part of the national America Saves campaign. The week of April 7-11, 2025, was officially declared Kentucky Saves Week by the state governor, and encourages individuals and families to save money and build personal wealth. The Kentucky Saves Campaign at www.kentuckysaves.org, is co-coordinated by Dr. Nichole Huff, Assistant Extension Professor, and Kelly May, Senior Extension Associate, both specializing in Family Finance and Resource Management. April is also recognized in the state and nationally as Financial Literacy Month.

Research suggests that those who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them. The Kentucky Saves Pledge is a tool to help consumers visualize their goals by writing down what they are saving for and how much they plan to save. The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service challenged consumers to take the Kentucky Saves Pledge and make a personal commitment to save.

During the fiscal year 2024-25, the Kentucky Saves Campaign received 70 pledges with a total pledge amount of more than $159,000. The average pledge was to save $163 a month over 20.3 months. Most people who pledged earmarked their savings goal as "general savings" (42.86%). The next highest category was “emergency fund” (27.14%), which moved up in the importance ranking for 2024-25. Tied at 5.71% each were three categories:  “homeownership,” “retirement or long-term investment,” and “vacation or special event.” The campaign dashboard is available at: https://americasaves.org/content/local-campaign-pledge/.

Research also indicates that sharing financial goals can help consumers stay on target toward success. Another benefit of the Kentucky Saves Pledge is that those who sign up can choose to become a part of the national America Saves campaign’s Community of Savers to receive email or text reminders and resources. All savers have access to the campaign resources online.

Through a variety of efforts, the Family Finance and Resource Management team at UK Extension reached at least 75,854 people statewide online, in-person, or by mail/email. The following is a summary of 2025 Kentucky Saves activities.

ABC 36 TV/WTVQ – Kelly May, Extension Associate for Family Finance and Resource Management, appeared on a segment of Good Morning Kentucky in February 2025 to promote tips for saving money and to share a sneak peek of a few of the Extension Piggy Bank Contest winners. The segment reached 62,779 viewers on television and social media.

Social Media Campaign – The highest financial education social media reach of the fiscal year was achieved in April, with 12,148 Facebook views of the Piggy Bank Contest Winners. Another 799 people viewed related contest posts in May.

Piggy Bank Contest – County agents could opt to participate in a statewide piggy bank contest. In 2025, there were 11 winners from different counties across the state. Winners were displayed at the state capitol during all of March and April. Winners were recognized on social media, as well as at an in-person event at the state capitol in Frankfort, KY, on April 10. It was attended by 58 people including students, parents/guardians, campaign partners and other officials. The event keynote speaker was Seema Sheth, Senior Vice President & Regional Executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis – Louisville Branch. Governor Andy Beshear signed congratulatory letters for each of the student winners.

Partner Activities – Extension partnered with the Kentucky Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy and others to extend the Kentucky Saves Week campaign reach. Jump$tart participated in the Kentucky Saves event at the captiol and helped organize the signed governor proclamations for Kentucky Saves Week and Financial Literacy Month.