2¢ About The Penny Project
(or How We Found Success One Penny At a Time)
{Photo by Laura Pohl of The Adventurous Photographer}
When Leslie Stein found a $20 bill in the cross walk on her way home, she didn’t just put it in her wallet for her next trip to Starbuck’s. She decided to see what would happen if she started paying attention to the pennies & other change she passed every day on her 2-mile walk to work.
“I’m a nerd at heart, so I wanted to collect data with my pennies!” The coach/facilitator/speaker & founder of Full Circle Inspiration skipped the piggy bank and started tracking her finds on a detailed spreadsheet, calling her venture ‘The Penny Project.’ (Click here to see the 2011 Spreadsheet for an example of Leslie's extreme nerd-dom!). She was amazed to see it wasn’t just cents but dollars she was bringing home every month. What started as idle curiosity soon became passion as the money continued to add up. She began sharing her story, started a blog about her penny-finding adventures, and even ended up in a documentary about pennies.
Before long her enthusiasm spread and she found herself adding columns to the spreadsheet as friends, family and acquaintances donated their found money. “I had no idea my little project would be interesting to others. But I ended up getting tons of e-mails, text messages and calls when my friends found pennies!” Watching the project grow as everyone had fun in the hunt for pennies inspired Leslie to expand the project in a useful way.
Always having had a passion for financial literacy, Leslie began exploring ways to get kids excited about saving their pennies. In 2009, she donated the first $500 The Penny Project collected to help fund the inaugural Young Women’s National Conference (YWNC), where she presented a program to teach teenage girls the importance of saving, spending wisely, and how to give back to local charities as they grow up.
In 2010, The Penny Project made another charitable contribution, this time to the Ronald McDonald House for $280.03. Sound like an odd amount...but when you're picking up pennies, every last cent matters! This total was the amount of money Leslie had received from the members of a leadership program she attended. At the same time, her cousin was attending her own leadership program and as part of it, trying to raise $5,000 for the Ronald McDonald House. Because such an important part of leadership is about connection, Leslie used the money she'd been given by her leadership group to support her cousin's fundraising efforts. It was a great chance to connect in a meaningful way with someone she loved AND support an important cause.
In 2011, The Penny Project made a donation to The Red Cross in support of the disaster relief efforts in Japan. And in 2012, the money went to a really cool charter School--Direct Instruction Entrepreneurial Academy--teaching business & life skills to underprivileged youth.
The penny finders in Leslie's circle love the charitable giving aspect of the project and continue to support The Penny Project's good deeds with their pennies (and nickels & dimes when they find them!). “What better way to give back than to take money we won't miss and pool it to do something to help those in need?!"
The project has continued to evolve as definitions of “found money” expand (anyone checked the bottom of your washing machine on laundry day lately…it could be a goldmine!), donations are now included, and when she speaks at live events, $1 from the sale of each copy of Leslie's book, Penny Perspectives: Let Go of Happily Ever After & Invest in Happily Ever NOW! also goes to the Penny Project. The money collected will continue to be donated to worthy causes, charities, & people doing things to positively shape their communities. There's plenty of money in the coffers to do some good giving in the future as the total collected during the life of the project has recently jumped over $4,750. Wahoo...wonder what the total will be at the END of this year?!
On top of the good deeds that The Penny Project is able to do...the people involved in it have FUN! There isn't a day that goes by that someone doesn't send a picture, a text, an e-mail, or a letter about a penny "incident" that leaves everyone laughing. From hopping out of cars on off-ramps to families reporting their collective finds at an amusement park...the messages are uplifting & just too good not to share. Check out the "Penny Wall of Fame" for the latest & greatest stories and photos.
The penny madness just keeps growing. Who knows where it will lead…
“I’m a nerd at heart, so I wanted to collect data with my pennies!” The coach/facilitator/speaker & founder of Full Circle Inspiration skipped the piggy bank and started tracking her finds on a detailed spreadsheet, calling her venture ‘The Penny Project.’ (Click here to see the 2011 Spreadsheet for an example of Leslie's extreme nerd-dom!). She was amazed to see it wasn’t just cents but dollars she was bringing home every month. What started as idle curiosity soon became passion as the money continued to add up. She began sharing her story, started a blog about her penny-finding adventures, and even ended up in a documentary about pennies.
Before long her enthusiasm spread and she found herself adding columns to the spreadsheet as friends, family and acquaintances donated their found money. “I had no idea my little project would be interesting to others. But I ended up getting tons of e-mails, text messages and calls when my friends found pennies!” Watching the project grow as everyone had fun in the hunt for pennies inspired Leslie to expand the project in a useful way.
Always having had a passion for financial literacy, Leslie began exploring ways to get kids excited about saving their pennies. In 2009, she donated the first $500 The Penny Project collected to help fund the inaugural Young Women’s National Conference (YWNC), where she presented a program to teach teenage girls the importance of saving, spending wisely, and how to give back to local charities as they grow up.
In 2010, The Penny Project made another charitable contribution, this time to the Ronald McDonald House for $280.03. Sound like an odd amount...but when you're picking up pennies, every last cent matters! This total was the amount of money Leslie had received from the members of a leadership program she attended. At the same time, her cousin was attending her own leadership program and as part of it, trying to raise $5,000 for the Ronald McDonald House. Because such an important part of leadership is about connection, Leslie used the money she'd been given by her leadership group to support her cousin's fundraising efforts. It was a great chance to connect in a meaningful way with someone she loved AND support an important cause.
In 2011, The Penny Project made a donation to The Red Cross in support of the disaster relief efforts in Japan. And in 2012, the money went to a really cool charter School--Direct Instruction Entrepreneurial Academy--teaching business & life skills to underprivileged youth.
The penny finders in Leslie's circle love the charitable giving aspect of the project and continue to support The Penny Project's good deeds with their pennies (and nickels & dimes when they find them!). “What better way to give back than to take money we won't miss and pool it to do something to help those in need?!"
The project has continued to evolve as definitions of “found money” expand (anyone checked the bottom of your washing machine on laundry day lately…it could be a goldmine!), donations are now included, and when she speaks at live events, $1 from the sale of each copy of Leslie's book, Penny Perspectives: Let Go of Happily Ever After & Invest in Happily Ever NOW! also goes to the Penny Project. The money collected will continue to be donated to worthy causes, charities, & people doing things to positively shape their communities. There's plenty of money in the coffers to do some good giving in the future as the total collected during the life of the project has recently jumped over $4,750. Wahoo...wonder what the total will be at the END of this year?!
On top of the good deeds that The Penny Project is able to do...the people involved in it have FUN! There isn't a day that goes by that someone doesn't send a picture, a text, an e-mail, or a letter about a penny "incident" that leaves everyone laughing. From hopping out of cars on off-ramps to families reporting their collective finds at an amusement park...the messages are uplifting & just too good not to share. Check out the "Penny Wall of Fame" for the latest & greatest stories and photos.
The penny madness just keeps growing. Who knows where it will lead…
