FanDuel Provides Free Financial Coaching Through Operation HOPE Partnership
When Qassim Darawsheh, a financial wellbeing coach with Operation HOPE, finishes a coaching session, there’s one question he hears often:
“How many coaching sessions do we get for free?”
After spending more than a decade in banking and mortgage services, he knows why people ask. Financial guidance is often limited, transactional, or out of reach. So, his answer tends to surprise them:
“As many as you need!”
That simple exchange reflects the kind of support made possible through FanDuel’s partnership with Operation HOPE.
Since 2023, FanDuel has donated over $2.5 million to Operation HOPE—the largest financial literacy nonprofit in the United States—to provide free, unlimited financial coaching to individuals.
It’s a partnership rooted in a clear idea: responsible gaming doesn’t start at the moment someone places a bet. It starts much earlier, with understanding money itself.
“This partnership allows FanDuel to support individuals beyond our platform by reinforcing that financial literacy is a critical foundation for engaging in sports wagering responsibly while also delivering broader community impact for all,” said Keita Young, VP of Advocacy and Public Policy at FanDuel.
Building Financial Skills
Traditionally, responsible gaming efforts have focused on identifying problematic behavior after it begins...but FanDuel is taking a different approach.
Through its Play with a Plan approach, the company emphasizes that setting a budget for entertainment, including gaming, is part of one’s overall financial health.
“By promoting habits like budgeting, saving, and understanding risk, FanDuel empowers players to make smarter decisions and maintain healthy play, which is central to responsible gaming,” said Young.
That broader view shifts the focus. The goal isn’t just to shape better habits in the moment. It’s to help people develop a stronger financial foundation that carries with them well beyond the experience itself.
Turning Coaching into Real Outcomes
For coaches like Darawsheh, that philosophy comes to life one conversation at a time.
After joining Operation HOPE in March 2024, he now works with around 70 clients in Massachusetts. Because of FanDuel's support, Darawsheh’s clients receive one-on-one personalized coaching and access to financial workshops.
“We get the time to educate clients on financial literacy and then put it into practice with them,” Darawsheh said. “We really show people how the system works.”
And it’s working. Across Operation HOPE’s national network of more than 280 financial wellbeing coaches, clients are seeing measurable progress. In 2025 alone, clients achieved:
- Median savings increase of $1,000
- Median debt decreased of over $1,900
- Credit scores improved by an average of 39 points
"[Operation HOPE turns check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, and small business dreamers into entrepreneurs," said John Battista, VP of Partner Success at Operation HOPE. "This partnership with FanDuel extends that mission into a new context."
FanDuel’s Approach to Financial Education
This partnership perfectly reflects FanDuel’s broader philosophy: Financial education isn’t a standalone effort—it’s woven into how FanDuel approaches responsibility and long-term impact.
This mindset comes to life in multiple ways. FanDuel’s in-app features—such as the MySpend dashboard, and deposit and wager limits—encourage users to take an intentional approach to betting, while partnerships like Operation HOPE extend support beyond the platform.
“FanDuel really shows that financial education doesn’t have to sit on the sidelines,” said Battista. “It can be part of a company’s core beliefs in a way that’s both relevant and accessible.”
And for clients like the ones Darawsheh works with, that impact often begins with a simple realization:
Support is there for as long as they need it.
Visit our Community Commitment page to to learn more about FanDuel is making an impact.
