MILWAUKEE — The Wisconsin Credit Union League is doing something about compiling and organizing the industry's now-mushrooming track record on advocacy and community outreach by building Web sites, blogs and eventually a data storehouse accessible to the media.
"We've long needed to turn all the anecdotal data we've assembled into categories that can be useful not only to credit unions but also to really tell our story to lawmakers, the media and the public," explained Brett Thompson, league president/CEO.
Under current planning, league officials said they expect the stored data representing hundreds of news clips, press releases and narratives drawn from Wisconsin CUs to be ready in the database by yearend when it can be accessed by CUs in the state and elsewhere.
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Some of the material will be taken from Real Solutions payday and tax assistance projects, under the league's two-year-old tie-in with Filene Research Institute and now the National Credit Union Foundation.
At the same time, the league said it hopes its CU-accessible Web site, called "1 with the League" will become "a one-stop-shop for credit unions to engage in advocacy." The Web site would contain numerous tools for CU executives to develop positive CU messages and relationships, said the league.
The Web site would contain material helpful in "correcting misinformation and providing sample communication materials," said Chad Helminak, public relations assistant.
More importantly, the resource storehouse and Web site, "will offer credit unions a way of creating an online profile of their own advocacy efforts."
Thompson, the league CEO, said once the data is compiled, it will become useful internally to CUs "who can learn from the experience of others."
By next May, the league said it hopes to develop an easy-to-use Web site that can be accessible to the public and legislators by which users can locate the many examples of CU outreach and ventures benefiting community welfare.
The site and blogs would permit CUs to communicate more freely on advocacy projects and relationships being built across the state, said Helminak.
On Real Solutions, each CU would have its own "page" on the Web site where it can showcase information about various projects and also report on lawmaker and media visits, said Helminak.
"We'll capture a lot more with CUs doing this on their own instead of the league trying to gather the details," he said.
League staffers, he said, will also be able to edit CU materials to ensure they are current, clear and appropriate for public consumption, said Helminak.
Based on contacts with other leagues, Helminak surmises the Wisconsin resource center "is unparalleled in the movement." He also related that at a league communicators' conference over the summer he emphasized the importance of data collection in conveying a persuasive and positive CU message.
Data management "is a critical tool," he said noting the league's experience in collecting Real Solutions data.
Such "data piles up fast," he said noting the job can become overwhelming unless properly managed.
"We noticed that we were seeing tons of press clippings, press releases, tips and leads all e-mailed to us and shared by credit union and league staffers," said Helminak. Some of it "ended up in someone's file folder, rendering it useful or accessible only to one person."
With this site, "we'll all be part of one big, informed advocacy machine," he concluded.
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