The New Mexico Regulation and Licensing, Securities Division is offering New Mexico educational institutions, public libraries and other community organizations an exciting investor education and protection program and contest called DASH for the STASH. The DASH program and contest will run from March 15, 2016 through May 15, 2016, covering the entire length of Financial Literacy Month (April).
Our state is one of more than 10 states collaborating with the Investor Protection Institute (IPI), a 
nonprofit organization that is devoted to investor education and protection. In collaboration with IPI, our office funds the DASH for participating locations and awards the $1,000 IRA contribution to an eligible participant residing in our state.
The 2016 DASH program is a great way to give your patrons an educational opportunity and a chance to win the statewide prize of a $1,000 contribution to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). There is no charge for your location to participate in this program with us.
It’s easy to host a DASH event. You don’t have to know about the stock market, financial planning or investing and participating location staff and patrons can enter the contest too! The DASH program features a poster-based, investor education and protection contest that can be played by smart phone, tablet, lap top or desktop computer.
To participate as a host location, you hang a set of five posters (four topic posters and one rules poster) in your venue, encourage individuals to read the posters and answer the quiz questions for contest entry. Past experience shows that the DASH program and contest attracts the most attendance when an event is offered, in addition to displaying the posters. You can include DASH in an event you already have planned during March 15 through May 15 and/or you can plan an event specifically dedicated to DASH contest participation.
To enter the contest, individuals visit a host location in a participating state where the print posters are displayed. The posters available in the host locations will have the QR code and quiz link that individuals will access to answer the quiz questions for contest entry. Participants use their smart phone, tablet or your location’s public computer station to access and answer the quiz questions.
What you would do to be included in our state’s DASH program and contest:
1) First, let us know by February 9 if you want to participate. Please complete the SurveyMonkey (link below) to provide the IPI team with the information they need to contact you and provide you with program materials:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9FB88PW
2) Then, you can promote the DASH for your own location. We will help you along the way, and provide promotional tools you can use at IPI’s website (www.iInvest.org) at no charge. Please note that the 2016 DASH section of the IPI website will be updated and ready for the DASH program in February. Joanne Kuster, the 2016 DASH multi-state program coordinator for IPI, will follow up with you after you have completed the SurveyMonkey. For promotional ideas as well as questions or concerns, you can contact Joanne via email at joanne@kusterltd.com or phone at 515-991-5632.
3) IPI will provide the contest materials and mail them to your location. (Materials will be mailed during the first week of March).
4) The 2016 DASH program and contest runs March 15-May 15. During this time, participating locations will hang the set of five posters, promote the program which can include hosting an event and encourage individuals to read the posters and enter the contest. Location hosts can reference the FAQ sheet and video tutorial to answer questions from participants.
5) As an added bonus, the IPI will provide participating locations with a complimentary set of investor education and protection booklets for your resource department. The booklets are courtesy of the IPI, the Investor Protection Trust (IPT) and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
6) The DASH program and contest mechanics are handled by the IPI team, including all recordkeeping.
The DASH program and contest runs March 15-May 15, 2016. The winner will be notified following the contest. The participating location with the most DASH participants in its state will receive a $100 contribution to be used for investor education and protection purposes.
Want to see more information about the DASH?
Visit www.iInvest.org/programs/dash-for-the-stash. (Please note that the 2016 DASH section of the IPI website will be updated and ready for the DASH program in February.)
To promote your DASH event(s): A promotional poster and table tent (in PDF format) will be provided so you can advertise the DASH activities at your location. There is also an FAQ sheet and video tutorial to provide you with more information about the program and contest. A draft press release closer to the date of the contest will be provided as well. These resources will be available on the DASH website. After the deadline, our list of participating locations will be on the DASH website as well. We encourage you to promote DASH via social media, newsletter and other communication platforms you utilize for your other programs.