Take Charge America
Take Charge America is a Phoenix-based nonprofit credit counseling agency founded in 1987 that provides debt management plans, credit counseling, housing counseling, and financial education to individual consumers across 17+ U.S. states.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1987
- HeadquartersPhoenix, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Take Charge America does
Take Charge America, Inc. is a Phoenix-based nonprofit credit counseling and debt management organization founded in 1987 and operating under NMLS ID 922697. It serves individual consumers across at least 17 U.S. states through a combination of phone-based counseling, an online counseling platform, and HUD-approved housing counseling. The organization has cumulatively served more than 2 million people and reports over $6 billion in personal debt paid off through its programs since inception.
The core offering is a Debt Management Plan (DMP) that consolidates unsecured debts into a single monthly payment, negotiating with creditors to reduce interest rates (from approximately 25% to 8%), waive late and over-limit fees, and shorten the repayment timeline to 3-5 years. Supporting services include credit counseling, debt consolidation and settlement guidance, bankruptcy pre-filing and pre-discharge counseling, housing counseling, and a self-service suite of DIY debt tools, financial calculators, webinars, and an education center. A website chatbot and online estimation tools complement the human-delivered counseling workflow.
Revenue is generated primarily through fees on enrolled DMPs (state-specific schedules, e.g., a $50 initial fee in Michigan plus ongoing fees capped at 15% of liquidated debt), housing counseling services, and bankruptcy counseling certificates. Take Charge America does not lend money, and basic credit counseling and educational resources are provided free of charge. Go-to-market is sales-led and content-driven: organic inbound from SEO-optimized financial education content, webinars, and earned media (USA Today, NYT, Forbes, WSJ, Bankrate) drives consumer leads that are converted via phone and online counseling sessions.
Take Charge America firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Take Charge America
- Legal name
- Take Charge America, Inc.
- Website
- https://takechargeamerica.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1987
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Take Charge America is a Phoenix-based nonprofit credit counseling agency founded in 1987 that provides debt management plans, credit counseling, housing counseling, and financial education to individual consumers across 17+ U.S. states.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Take Charge America industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Nonprofit Credit Counseling
- NAICS
- Activities Related to Credit Intermediation (5223), Collection Agencies (561440)
- SIC
- Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Credit Counseling & Debt Management Plans (DMP) (FSAKAJAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Debt Management Plans (DMP) Administration (FSAEAFAB), Consumer Credit Counseling & Budgeting (FSAEAFAA)
Keywords
Where Take Charge America is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Phoenix
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Take Charge America business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Debt Management Plan Fees: Fees charged for debt management plan services based on percentage of debt amount managed. The company is a nonprofit organization that does not lend money.
- Credit Counseling Services: Nonprofit credit counseling agency providing financial guidance and debt management services
- Housing Counseling: HUD-approved housing counseling services including foreclosure prevention and homeownership assistance
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Debt Management Plan - Fee structure varies by state |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Services - Initial consultation and debt estimation |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Take Charge America product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Take Charge America is a nonprofit credit counseling agency that delivers personalized debt management plans, credit counseling, housing counseling, and bankruptcy counseling directly to individual consumers. Its Debt Management Plan consolidates unsecured debts into a single monthly payment by negotiating reduced interest rates and waived fees with creditors, typically over a 3-5 year repayment horizon. The agency supplements its core services with free educational resources, financial calculators, webinars, and an online counseling platform to help consumers achieve debt freedom.
Product overview
Take Charge America offers a comprehensive nonprofit financial counseling platform centered on debt management solutions. The core offering is the Debt Management Plan (DMP), which works with Credit Counseling services to provide personalized debt relief. Additional modules include DIY Debt Tools for self-service users, Debt Consolidation and Debt Settlement programs, plus Bankruptcy Counseling for those requiring legal intervention. Housing Counseling addresses foreclosure prevention and home retention. The service is delivered through an Online Counseling Platform, supported by an Education Center with calculators and financial resources, and a chatbot for real-time assistance. All services are coordinated from their Phoenix, AZ headquarters with state-specific licensing across 15 states.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Quantifiable outcome
- Lower interest rates from estimated 25% to 8% through debt management program
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Take Charge America
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Take Charge America technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Take Charge America partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves1 record
Expansion highlights5 records
Take Charge America competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Credit.org: Nonprofit HUD-approved housing counseling and credit counseling agency providing DMP, foreclosure prevention, and financial education. Comparable in mission and service mix to Take Charge America.
- GreenPath Financial Wellness: Nonprofit HUD-approved credit counseling agency offering DMP, housing counseling, bankruptcy counseling, and financial education. Closest direct peer to Take Charge America in mission, service mix, and nonprofit/government-certified positioning.
- Money Management International (MMI): One of the largest nonprofit credit counseling agencies in the US, providing DMP, housing counseling, bankruptcy certificates, and financial education across all 50 states. Highly comparable in product offering and target customer to Take Charge America.
- InCharge Debt Solutions: Nonprofit credit counseling agency offering DMP, housing counseling, bankruptcy counseling, and financial education. Directly competes in the same nonprofit credit counseling category with comparable service portfolio.
- Money Fit by DRS: Nonprofit credit counseling agency (formerly Clearpoint) offering DMP, housing, and bankruptcy counseling with comparable online and phone delivery model.
- Navicore Solutions: Nonprofit credit counseling and financial education provider offering DMP, housing counseling, and student loan counseling. Operates a similar phone-and-web delivery model.
- American Consumer Credit Counseling (ACCC): Nonprofit credit counseling agency offering DMP, credit counseling, housing counseling, and financial education. Comparable operating model, customer segments, and fee-based DMP revenue structure.
- Clearpoint Credit Counseling Solutions: HUD-approved nonprofit credit counseling agency providing DMP, housing counseling, student loan counseling, and bankruptcy pre-filing certificates. Direct peer in service scope and client base.
Emerging players
- National Debt Relief: For-profit debt settlement company serving consumers with unsecured debt — a partial-overlap competitor that attracts similar clients but operates on a settlement (vs. DMP) model. Relevant as an alternative consumers may consider in the same purchase decision.
Broad incumbents
- National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC): National umbrella organization representing nonprofit credit counseling agencies, including many direct peers of Take Charge America. Comparable as the industry coordinating body, with member agencies offering identical services.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Take Charge America social profiles
Digital presenceTake Charge America compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Take Charge America financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Take Charge America leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Take Charge America funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Take Charge America M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Take Charge America
What does Take Charge America do?
Take Charge America is a nonprofit credit counseling agency that delivers personalized debt management plans, credit counseling, housing counseling, and bankruptcy counseling directly to individual consumers. Its Debt Management Plan consolidates unsecured debts into a single monthly payment by negotiating reduced interest rates and waived fees with creditors, typically over a 3-5 year repayment horizon. The agency supplements its core services with free educational resources, financial calculators, webinars, and an online counseling platform to help consumers achieve debt freedom.
Is Take Charge America a public or private company?
Take Charge America is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Take Charge America founded?
Take Charge America was founded in 1987. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Take Charge America based?
Take Charge America is headquartered in Phoenix, United States, in the North America region.
How does Take Charge America make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Debt Management Plan Fees are the primary driver. The others are credit Counseling Services and housing Counseling.
Who are Take Charge America's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Credit.org, GreenPath Financial Wellness, Money Management International (MMI), InCharge Debt Solutions, Money Fit by DRS, Navicore Solutions, American Consumer Credit Counseling (ACCC) and Clearpoint Credit Counseling Solutions. National Debt Relief is listed as an emerging player. National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Take Charge America have an API?
No public API is recorded for Take Charge America.
What industry is Take Charge America in?
Take Charge America's product category is Nonprofit Credit Counseling. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAKAJAH, Credit Counseling & Debt Management Plans (DMP), with a secondary code of FSAEAFAB, Debt Management Plans (DMP) Administration. Its NAICS code is 5223 and its SIC code is 7320.