ORLANDO, Fla. – Neither Hurricanes Frances, Ivan or Jean could stop Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union's membership promotion from being a success. Over 75,000 scratch-off game pieces inviting existing members to "spread the word and share the gift of CFEFCU membership" were mailed as statement inserts. Existing members were encouraged to scratch off the first of three circles on the card and hand the card to an immediate family member or eligible co-worker. The prospective member would then scratch off the second circle and take the card to a branch to open at least a savings account. Once a new member account was opened, CFEFCU staffers would scratch off the third circle to reveal the prize ranging from $5 to $100. With every card a winner and no limit to the number of times a member could win, CFEFCU Senior Vice President of Marketing Jennie Sims says the promotion was almost a guaranteed slam-dunk. The $22,000 campaign, which was launched in late August and ran through October 31, helped CFEFCU land 1,024 new members and brought in $3.38 million in deposits and $1.45 million in loans. "I wish we could claim the brainstorm idea but actually at a recent conference we heard about another credit union that had success with a similar campaign," said Sims. "What we liked about the scratch off idea is that it was fun and something that hadn't really been done around here -especially by a financial institution." The $760 million credit union tapped Tampa-based Promo Printing Group to design two scratch-off cards-one for members and the other as an incentive for employees. Every two weeks, the top teller and top MSR in each branch that referred eligible friends and family was awarded a special "employee only" scratch off card for prizes ranging from $1 to $50. In addition, employees were awarded with small weekly prizes to help keep the momentum going, says Sims. Employees with three or more new member referrals were also entered in a special drawing for a five-day, four-night cruise for two, a surprise week's vacation and spending money. "We are really pleased with this promotion especially since we had a six-week period of back-to-back hurricanes," said Sims. "We'd definitely run a similar campaign in the future." [email protected]