Thriving credit unions build thriving communities.

What Does Community Mean to Your Credit Union?

Community, as a concept is important. Being an active member of your community can significantly change the way you, as a financial institution, are viewed. And community isn’t just defined by a neighborhood or a single common interest, community is consistently growing and intertwining, and uniquely valuable to each person. Community is important to people because it’s a place where individuals can trust each other: A place of worship, their school or little league team, the coffee shop and the hardware store. Take a moment to pause, look around. What other places do you see in your community? Do you see a food shelf, the children’s hospital, the breast cancer 10K or the animal care shelter? What about the ones you can’t actually see like youth counseling services and an earthquake relief fund? Chances are if you know about any of these organizations, you have a connection whether it’s physical, mental, emotional or otherwise. Chances are somebody else does too which means your Credit Union is in the same community physically and mentally.

Credit Unions are unique in the financial services industry – you represent the local face of the banker, loan officer, teller, investment advisor and other roles. Your logo might be on the kids’ soccer jerseys or maybe you sponsor a homecoming night activity. It’s not unusual to see the president of a credit union at a baseball game or a great barbeque restaurant in town. They don’t live in penthouses in New York or San Francisco, they live in Minneapolis, Verona, Brentwood, Oakville or Springfield. What a powerful message to send to people in your community – “Hey, I’m here and I’m just like you!”

Have you ever watched the local news when they have someone holding up a gigantic cardboard check with $10,000 in matching funds to the local food bank or holiday toy collection? When people in the community see that, they see Generous Bank on the check and think, “Wow, that was great!” Smiles all around and the hope is that the next day someone watching that show will need a car loan or want to open a savings account for their young child, and they’ll remember Generous Bank.

The leaders at Generous Bank have had matching campaigns in the past, and they will in the future. They know how satisfying it can be to support nonprofits in their community and they also know how much a giving campaign costs in terms of employee time and talent, marketing resources and administrative support. Here’s the thing – they can write big checks – cool! Credit unions can too – also cool!

The big difference for credit unions is how they are embedded in the community – you are on the street, working in and with our communities (not in the penthouse throwing paper money off the balcony). Your funds are handed out to local people and target specific areas of need. Local credit unions can match each individual donation to local nonprofits that real folks care about! Imagine if that gigantic check they hold up on TV had everyone’s name that donated listed on it!

There is a better way to optimize resources while maximizing community reach and engagement. NetGiver provides a way for credit unions to promote safe and secure giving campaigns within their membership and enhance their community relationships with non-members. Our proven process helped one Minnesota credit union double its donation to local nonprofits. Reach out to us for the case study that proves community camaraderie serves up commitment to core values for credit unions.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Reach out now and schedule a 1:1 with us to learn more about leaning into the community.

Thriving Credit Unions - Thriving Communities