Press
Biz Kid$ Earns Parents’ Choice Gold Award
Prestigious Honor for Youth Financial Literacy Series
MADISON, WI – Biz Kid$, the credit union funded public television series that teaches kids about money management and entrepreneurship, received a Parent’s Choice Gold Award recently.
The Parents’ Choice Gold Awards are given to those books, toys, games, videos, software, magazines, audio recordings, and television programs that are judged as the highest quality, most appealing products in their genre. Criteria for judgments include the highest production standards, universal human values and a unique, individual quality that pushes the product a notch above others.
“Thanks to credit unions, Biz Kid$ – the series, its corresponding curriculum and its website – empowers young consumers to build financial independence and 0pportunity,” said Danielle Brown, Biz Kid$ Program Coordinator for NCUF. “Winning this award validates the quality and value of the Biz Kid$ program.”
The Parents’ Choice Awards is the nation’s oldest nonprofit program created to recognize quality children’s media. Parents’ Choice Foundation’s panels of educators, scientists, performing artists, librarians, parents and kids themselves, identify the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels.
It is considered a prestigious award among children’s products, and has been described as the industry equivalent of an Academy Award. As a Parents’ Choice Award winner, Biz Kid$ is a member of a very select group. Fewer than 20% of the products submitted to the Parents’ Choice Awards program receive any level of commendation. This is the first time Biz Kid$ has won the Gold Award. Last year, Biz Kid$ received its first ever Parent’s Choice Silver Award.
Biz Kid$ has continually garnered attention in and outside of the credit union industry. In its five seasons, Biz Kid$ has garnered ten Emmy nominations—winning once in 2009—and rang the closing bell ceremonies at both the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Exchange for three years in conjunction with National Financial Literacy Month. In 2009, Biz Kid$ won the Environmental Media Award for Outstanding Children’s Television Series. In 2010, it earned a Silver Telly Award for Outstanding Children’s Financial Literacy Programming as well as the credit union industry’s most prestigious honor, the Herb Wegner Award for Outstanding Program.
Biz Kid$ – Teaching Kids about Money & Business
The National Credit Union Foundation oversees fundraising, outreach and administrative responsibilities of Biz Kid$. Over the past six years, more than 300 credit unions and affiliated organizations have raised more than $14 million that has supported the show’s production, website and curriculum. In fact, every Biz Kid$ episode begins and ends with a narrator reminding viewers that: “Production funding for Biz Kid$ is provided by America’s Credit Unions, where people are worth more than money.”
Biz Kid$, which premiered in January 2008, quickly grew into a national phenomenon. Since the series launch, Biz Kid$ has been broadcast to more than 271 million people, in more than 98% of the country. Of all APT children’s programs currently on the air, Biz Kid$ has the largest national market penetration in the United States, airing on more than 338 public television stations. When compared to children’s programs of a similar target demographic, Biz Kid$ has more viewers, a larger number of broadcasts, and a higher metered market count.
Many credit unions leverage Biz Kid$ to teach financial education in schools in their community. In addition to NCUF’s box sets and starter kits, companion materials and other resources for teachers and parents are available at no cost on the Biz Kid$ website, www.bizkids.com.
For more information about Biz Kid$, click here.
About the National Credit Union Foundation (ncuf.coop)
The National Credit Union Foundation is the US credit union movement’s primary national philanthropic program provider, fundraiser and grant-maker, working to help consumers achieve financial freedom through credit unions. Through NCUF grants and programs, credit unions provide widespread financial education, create greater access to affordable financial services, and empower more consumers to save, build assets, and own homes.
NCUF is funded primarily by investments in the award-winning Community Investment Fund (CIF) and by generous Corporate Supporters led by the Credit Union National Association and CUNA Mutual. All NCUF donors provide support that empowers NCUF and state credit union foundations to make financial freedom achievable through credit unions.
The National Credit Union Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization. NCUF continues to earn the Better Business Bureau seal of approval as an “Accredited Charity” for meeting all 20 BBB Wise Giving Alliance Standards for national charities.