Operation HOPE Releases 2025 Annual Report Highlighting Record-Breaking Growth and Transformative Client Results

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Operation HOPE, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping low-and moderate-income Americans thrive in an ever-changing economy, today announced the release of its 2025 Annual Report. Operation HOPE continued its impressive streak of growth by serving a record number of clients, growing its portfolio of top-tier partner organizations, and improving client outcomes with improved credit scores, increased savings and decreased levels of debt. Operation HOPE uses its HOPE Inside locations to deliver no-charge financial coaching to individuals in the community or at work.

Key results from 2025 include:

IMPACTS

• Operation HOPE increased services provided and expanded client base, leading to improved financial outcomes for tens of thousands:
  • Delivered over 355,152 financial coaching services to more than 74,000 unique clients through its 345 HOPE Inside locations reaching all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
  • Increased credit scores for 63% of clients by an average of 39 points, with 40% of clients reaching above prime FICO Scores of 660 or higher.
  • Reduced median client debt by $1,933.
  • Increased median client savings by $1,000.

• Increased Net Promoter Score to 79, which is among the highest scores an organization can achieve, reflecting the trust and confidence of Operation HOPE’s clients and underscoring the organization’s longstanding commitment to excellence in client service.

• Improved financial health and behaviors for our clients:
  • 23% of clients now have three months of savings for an emergency, versus 12% before working with our coaches.
  • Reduced the number of unbanked and underbanked clients from 23.1% to 11.9%.
  • Helped more than 2,700 clients establish their first credit score, with an average score of 636.
  • Clients experienced an average credit score improvement of 4 points with each HOPE coaching session.

• Secured $68.5 million in funded mortgages for low- and moderate-income homebuyers, through our partnership with Fulton Bank, with approximately $241,000 in closing cost assistance obtained. Since 2016, over $1.2 billion in mortgages have been secured through this partnership.

• Supported over 469,000 unique Black-owned businesses through its HOPE Inside network and 1 Million Black Businesses (1MBB) initiative partners since 1MBB was launched in 2020.

• Launched Project Restore HOPE – LA in response to the devastating Southern California wildfires to provide financial recovery services to impacted individuals and small businesses.

• $78.6 million in accessed capital for HOPE clients utilized for small businesses, personal loans, and lines of credit.

• With a new cohort of incoming Kindergarten students, over 10,597 Child Savings Accounts with more than $434,000 in deposits have been opened since the HOPE Child Savings Account (CSA) program launch in 2021. In partnership with the City of Atlanta, the program is designed to support the city’s most at-risk students in their post-secondary pursuits.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

• Georgia State University and Operation HOPE’s AI Literacy Pipeline to Prosperity Project (AILP3) launched the inaugural AILP3 Summer Institute, a week-long summer camp at GSU’s Robinson College of Business that hosted nearly 40 rising 9^th-11^th graders from metro-Atlanta. Campers took part in immersive, hands-on activities including AI literacy bootcamps, design-thinking sprints, mentorship from local tech leaders, and opportunities to develop AI-driven prototypes.

• HOPE AI™ was unveiled at the 2025 HOPE Global Forums | Annual Meeting, a new national initiative connecting AI tools, curriculum, and live coaching for individuals, community organizations, and institutions at more than 1,500 locations. Founding partners included 100 Black Men of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, UNCF, Dream Machine Innovation Lab, and Shopify.

• Three new members joined the board of the AI Ethics Council – H.E. Omar Sultan Al Olama (Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy & Remote Work Applications, United Arab Emirates), Richard Phillips, Ph.D. (Dean, Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University), and Hon. Robert Silvers (Partner, Ropes & Gray; Former Undersecretary for Strategy, Policy and Plans, U.S. Department of Homeland Security) – growing the board to 12 members.

• The Financial Literacy for All Initiative welcomed Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, as its new Co-Chair alongside Operation HOPE CEO John Hope Bryant, following the retirement of founding Co-Chair Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart. FL4A continued to gain momentum in 2025, with additional top-tier organizations joining this 10-year movement to embed financial literacy into American culture. Recently announced organizations include Georgia-Pacific, Gildan and UNCF, which bring the total number of FL4A members and organizations to 52.

• Operation HOPE and FL4A launched the inaugural Green Socks Day Challenge on April 30, 2025, encouraging participants to wear green socks to raise awareness for Financial Literacy Month. The successful social media campaign achieved record-breaking impact with participation by more than 50 leading corporations, more than 6,700 new client enrollments at Operation HOPE, and over 1 million impressions generated by the #GreenSocksDay social media campaign with top posts featured on Nasdaq’s Times Square Tower in NYC.

• Nearly 6,000 in-person delegates from 30 countries along with 5 million virtual participants attended The 2025 HOPE Global Forums | Annual Meeting.

RESEARCH

• Operation HOPE announced the quarterly results from its “HOPE Insider”, the largest survey of its clients ever conducted, that provides key insights into American financial sentiment relating to housing, debt, small business ownership, work, and general economic optimism.

RECOGNITION

• Operation HOPE received its 12th consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator.
• Energage recognized Operation HOPE as one of its Best Places to Work and the organization was also ranked #17 on Atlanta Business Chronicle’s list of Largest Nonprofits in metro Atlanta

The full 2025 Annual Report highlighting Operation HOPE’s impacts is available here.

About Operation HOPE, Inc.

Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "silver rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved—disrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through its community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $4.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities—turning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. For more information: OperationHOPE.org. Follow the HOPE conversation on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.