High Fives for the Close of Another Year

Wow - yet another year is about to sail right out the door! At this time of the year, lists of the biggest news stories and happenings seem to pop up in the media. Here are a few outstanding credit union happenings & award-winning performances from NC and elsewhere, in no particular order. I welcome your input on your personal CU highlight list for 2007 …

•  Much of the subprime mortgage mess has emerged in the headlines the past few months, but the Center for Responsible Lending in Durham studied the problem carefully long before most people were aware that a crisis loomed. Self Help CU’s Martin Eakes testified before the Senate in February this year, and a number of credit unions stepped up with specific product solutions to the problem in the months that followed. It’s great that we have such passionate advocates for consumers in the NC CU movement!
• State Employees’ Credit Union and Local Government FCU were two such credit unions that developed specific solutions to help refinance members out of these mortgages made by other lenders. As a result of their efforts, “Home for the Holidays” will have a special meaning for more than 500 NC families.
• While those 500 families no doubt love their credit union, a more fun marketing effort happened this year for people who love their hoopty! Carolina Postal Credit Union’s I Love My Hoopty campaign and blog generated a lot of attention, and gave owners of beat up cars everywhere a virtual hangout.
• Matt Davis, the Credit Union Warrior, gets the nod for most creative and cost-effective marketing campaign. Matt created a series of videos to run in conjunction with the credit union’s Football Pick ‘Em contest. As part of the video pitch, Matt encouraged credit union members to sign up for e-statements, offering a chance to win a cash prize. Members increased e-statement participation by 35% in a little more than two months, signing up more than 1,000 members. Total dollar cost of the campaign? A little less than $2,300 - which was the cash prize!       
• Team Little Guy, the rascally band of twelve credit union runners, ran the 208-mile Blue Ridge Relay Race in September. Thanks to the generosity of credit unions and credit union people, TLG raised more than $70,000 for the Micro Community Grants program of the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation! The TLG blog, which chronicled the team’s preparation for and running in the race, received more than 12,000 hits in three months.
• Cooperative award - to the multiple credit unions who linked up with Carolina Postal Credit Union to support Operation CU Troop. Thanks to the efforts of credit unions of all sizes from Charlotte to Reidsville, the holidays will be a little brighter for troops stationed overseas.
• Coolest Social Media Campaign - Young & Free, produced by Currency Marketing for Common Wealth Credit Union in Alberta. We’ve blogged about Y&F in this space before, but check out the site - as they have announced the Young & Free spokesperson - now the real fun begins heading into 2008!
• Coolest CU blogs: Hopewell FCU (OH), Piedmont CU (Danville, VA), Tinfoiling (Mt Lehman, BC CU CEO Gene Blishen) and Verity CU (WA). Credit unions entertaining the idea of starting a blog should check these folks out!  

That’s just a few of my personal favorites from the year that is wrapping up. Feel free to share your own highlights & award list in the comments section!

Finally, I heard a great song performed at a holiday concert this past weekend. It’s a Kwanzaa song titled Eya Ache.  The term Eya Ache, while not directly translatable, means “to bring forth one’s good.” Thank you for bringing forth your good through your work in the credit union industry. Your efforts have great impact on the lives of millions. For this fact and for you, I am very thankful.

Short Takes and Teases for A Friday

Ever seen those inane television 6 o’clock news “teases” that seemingly come on while you’re around the dinner table? Stuff like, “A new study says a popular food may kill you, and you may be eating it now … we’ll have the story at 11.” Well, this serving of CU Communicator won’t kill you (and hopefully it’s not inane), but it is going to leave you hanging just a bit. There’s good stuff happening out in NC CU Land, and I thought I’d give you a peek at what’s happening (without playing spoiler).

First, a short take … as you stock market watchers know, the Dow gave up more than 300 points yesterday … part of a rout in the global equity markets. The culprit, in part? Our old buddy, the subprime lending issue. Of course, daily movements in the markets are usually about expectations, not reality. Still, 300+ points is a big number on one day. Which leads us to our first tease …

Foreclosure is about reality, not expectations … Kudos to State Employees’ Credit Union, which is about to roll out a big number of its own very soon, perhaps even today. About six weeks ago the credit union rolled out some products aimed to help members trapped in risky subprime mortgages. Well, SECU is working up a press release that will share the dollar figure of mortgage refi’s in these products so far.

How big a number is it? Well, there’s six zeros at the end, and two crooked numbers leading the train. Like I said, it’s a big number.

Better than “the big number” though is the fact that hundreds of families in NC will keep the keys to their slice of the American Dream in their pockets, and won’t have to turn them over to an auctioneer. Hundreds helped - in just six weeks.

Again, kudos to SECU for really being about “people helping people.” If you’ve taken a pass on this issue so far and you could be helping, you might want to set aside some time today to take a look in the mirror.

Tease #2: another credit union that gets it … Carolina Postal Credit Union. In this space last week, we chatted about CPCU’s Priority Payday Checking, and the credit union’s intense focus on serving the member, not the bean counters. Yesterday, the Marketing Diva of CPCU (and world renown) blogged an update about the product … and the credit unions that are looking at adopting this program.

What the Diva won’t tell you (yet) is that the credit union is about to roll out one heck of a great product and promotion. It’s one part loan, one part slang, and one part duct tape (I’m not kidding). Best of all, it’s a great fit with their members. More to come …

Tease #3: are we having fun yet? Wow, the folks at Members Credit Union sure look to be! The credit union is putting a new spin on its annual “Football Pick ‘Em” contest this year. Click here to go to the Credit Union Warrior blog to view some videos about “Football, not Futbol.”

The CU Communicator especially enjoyed Office Destruction and Face Paint … although the keen acting abilities of CEO Jack Braswell are on display in Management Meeting.

More on how the credit union plans to use these videos next week on CU Communicator. In the meantime, be careful what you eat for dinner.