MADISON, Wis.— Credit union charity is a great thing, but it shouldn’t be done in a vacuum. A much more effective avenue for industry philanthropy should have a tight focus on helping members’ financial health, according to one person.
“Credit unions contribute to a wide variety of charities,” says Christiane Gigi Hyland, executive director of the National Credit Union Foundation here and previously a board member of the National Credit Union Administration. Those contributions, “while great,” don’t necessarily contribute to strengthening credit union engagement with members, she said.
“Credit unions exist to serve members, and a focus on member financial health is an avenue that increases member engagement,” Hyland said.
Hyland’s remarks are part of a CUToday series on “fake news” in the credit union community, meaning myths and misperceptions by CU leaders that may need some rethinking and action.
National statistics show “more than half the population is struggling financially,” Hyland pointed out, which means some of many are credit union members and even employees. It’s the primary reason Hyland believes the focus of credit union philanthropy should be on the day-to-day financial health of members.
New Partnership
To that end, the National CU Foundation is partnering with the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) on a pilot program with six credit unions in an effort “to really look at members and understand what members are going through” with their financial health, according to Hyland.
The participating credit unions include BECU in Tukwila, Wash.; Community Financial Credit Union in Plymouth, Mich.; IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union in Moline, Ill.; University FCU in Austin, Texas, and Virginia Credit Union in Richmond, Va.
Some credit unions that started out serving a large sponsor community then diversified their fields of membership “may not have a good understanding how that member is doing in 2017,” said Hyland.
Hyland believes credit unions can underscore the value of the cooperative by linking their philanthropy to members’ financial health,
As an example, she cites financial reality fairs that are sponsored for students by many credit unions. These give students some financial education and a chance to experience what’s ahead for them as adults in learning to plan and budget according to their means.
“This helps kids learn the difference between want and need,” she said. This kind of grounding can be very helpful to students who may not otherwise get any information on personal finance.
Getting Down to BizKid$
Gigi Hyland
On a broader scale is the Foundation’s Biz Kid$ program, the award-winning TV show broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). BizKid$ also includes a financial literacy curriculum, a website and a social media presence.
The National CU Foundation is responsible for fundraising, outreach and administrative responsibilities for Biz Kid$ and its literacy programs provide credit unions with financial education materials for kids.
“Many credit unions have leveraged this to do entrepreneur contests,” she says.
Summer camps mix in financial education with all the normal kinds of activities kids do at camp, and this connects directly with the financial health of children of credit union members or staff, said Hyland.
NCUF has ten employees and a 17-person board. It focuses on three areas: financial health and philanthropy, leveraging the credit union “difference” in values and principles, and disaster recovery.
Among its other efforts, the Foundation collects contributions from credit unions to help members and employees after disasters. The NCUF, for instance, raised $300,000 to aid people who were impacted by last year’s Louisiana floods.
It works with the state credit union leagues to best target those donations. Hyland estimates the organization has raised $6.5 million in recent years to help survivors of disasters like Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Sandy.
—Mark Fogarty