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CFP Board eyes 80% dues hike to fund PR campaign

The leadership of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. will recommend the fee increase to the organization's board at an upcoming meeting.

CFPs could see a $12 per month hike in their dues by next year to pay for a marketing campaign designed to promote the profession and highlight the designation.

The leadership of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. will recommend the fee increase to the organization’s board at an upcoming meeting, according to Dan Drummond, director of public relations at the CFP Board.

The additional charge, which would go into effect July 1, would represent an 80% increase in dues. Currently, those who hold the CFP mark must pay a renewal fee of $360 every two years, which works out to about $15 each month. With the change in the dues level, CFP designates would continue to be recertified every two years, but they would be billed annually.

The CFP Board said that raising awareness of the CFP mark among potential clients is a priority for CFP designates. Financial planners are willing to pay more for greater name identification, according to Mr. Drummond, who said that the dues increase is based on surveying about 12% of the 62,000 CFP mark holders.

“We really did a lot of research,” Mr. Drummond said. The dues increase is “not arbitrary at all. We have to put money into advertising and marketing.”

The CFP Board in August announced that it had launched the groundwork for a potential branding effort that would give financial planning higher visibility.
The organization hired the firm Arnold Worldwide to help it think through a strategy. The advertising company is known for creating a campaign for Fidelity Investments that features the “green line” motif and one for Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. that features the effervescent saleswoman Flo.
“Certificants want more public awareness of the CFP certification,” Kevin Keller, the CFP Board’s chief executive, said at a conference in Washington in August. He noted that the subject has been raised without prompting in meetings with CFP holders around the country over the last year and a half.
“It has come up organically in every city we’ve visited,” Mr. Keller said.
The CFP Board, whose mission is to professionalize the planning sector, awards the CFP certificate to individuals who pass an initial exam and follow-up requirements.