A path, not a single semester
What Give, Save, Spend mentoring is, what a semester looks like, and where a student goes after their first one.
A course, and then a person
Give, Save, Spend is a business course at Asbury University. Alongside the classwork, every student in it is paired with a mentor from outside the university, someone further along who has already wrestled with faith and money, for one semester of conversation.
The mentoring itself isn’t a class requirement graded on paper. It runs alongside the course, on its own rhythm, between a student and one adult who has agreed to give a semester’s worth of honest conversation.
Four stages, and a return
A student does not use this program once. They enter through a classroom, get paired, come back for another semester, and some of them end up on the mentor’s side of the table. That sequence is how the program is built, and it is the vocabulary staff use for where a student is.
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01
Give, Save, Spend
The course. The student meets the questions in a classroom before they meet a mentor.
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02
Mentored
One semester, four conversations, one mentor from outside the university.
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03
Returning
The student comes back for another semester. Same program, more of it, usually a longer relationship.
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04
Varsity
The long commitment. Multi-semester, deeper on both sides, and the mentors the program is built around.
Returning loops back into Mentored. The arc is the difference between a program and a funnel. No stage is a failure state, and a student who finishes one semester and stops has completed the program.
Everyone enters the same way
The course comes first. A student meets the questions about giving, saving, and spending in a classroom before a mentor is ever assigned.
Coming back is normal
Returning is a stage, not an exception. Most of the longest relationships in the program started as one ordinary semester.
The stated goal is everyone
100% of Dayton School of Business students have the opportunity to be connected with a mentor. The Path is how that happens, not a ranking of who deserves one.
Four conversations, yours to schedule
Pairing happens early in the term. From there, the four conversations below are yours to schedule, in person, on the phone, or over Zoom, whatever fits both of your calendars.
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Conversation one
Share your stories
Get acquainted. Before talking about money, you talk about where you’ve each come from.
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Conversation two
Your mentor’s calling
How your mentor has integrated faith and finance in their own life and career, including Compass and Generous Giving, and their own financial discipleship.
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Conversation three
The practical conversation
Earning, giving, saving, investing, and spending wisely. By the end of the semester, you’ll build a budget based on a starting salary of $60,000.
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Conversation four
Godly counsel for what’s next
Wisdom for launching into adulthood as a financial disciple, from someone a few decades further down the road.
What both sides agree to
- Four one-hour conversations across the semester, scheduled however they fit both calendars.
- The student leads each conversation using guided questions. Planning the agenda isn’t the mentor’s job.
- By the end of the semester, the student builds a budget based on a starting salary of $60,000.
- Conversations are honest, not performative. Mentors are asked to talk about their own faith and money story, not just hand out advice from a distance.
Frequently asked
Is this only for students in Give, Save, Spend?
Give, Save, Spend students are paired automatically. If you’re not in the course but would like a mentor, you can still apply through the student application. Just note that you’re applying from outside the course.
What if my mentor and I don’t click?
Tell the program. Fit isn’t guaranteed on the first try, and a mismatch gets addressed rather than endured. Reach out and someone will help.
Do I need to be a business major?
No. Give, Save, Spend mentoring runs alongside the course, and mentors are matched for the conversation, not for a shared major.
Is there a cost to students?
No. The mentoring itself costs students nothing.
What do mentors get out of it?
The chance to hand on what they’ve learned about faith and money to someone at the very start of their working life. See the mentors page for the full ask.
One application, either side of the table
Students apply for a mentor. Working professionals apply to be one. Both start on the same page, and neither takes more than about ten minutes.