In a recent Filene Research Institute pilot called “It's a Money Thing,” offered in collaboration with Currency Marketing, credit unions shared fun, creative, financial education content packets with their members. The monthly content packets included graphics for social media, videos, infographics, articles, handouts and presentations.

Each month, the main character in the content packets, Jen, shares a story from her life that highlights what she is learning about her finances. Topics include such important matters as Budgeting Basics, Foiling Identity Theft, Living on your Own, Leasing vs. Buying a New Car and Emergency Fund Boot Camp. There is a new topic every month and the topics are aligned with the National Financial Literacy Standards.

A key question during the pilot was: If we make high-quality financial literacy content that is clever, concise and easily accessible, will it be adopted?

Our study demonstrated that this approach can increase engagement. The following results are from credit unions that participated in the pilot:

• A 9% increase in members under 35;

• Satisfaction with social media engagement increased by 100%; and

• The credit union website, social media and financial education presentations in schools were the most popular ways to use the content.

Your credit union can make a difference with our next generation of members. Financial literacy can be fun. Consider ways that your credit union can evolve financial education efforts to be crisp, engaging, fun and delivered through multiple channels. Imagine the impact if your credit union could create jubilant enthusiasm with millennials. MacKenzie reminded me that learning is fun. We provide a better experience than visiting the dentist and if we want to create a future for credit unions that includes Gen Y, it's time to put this knowledge into action.

5 Steps to Engaging Millennials Using Financial Literacy

1. Make it fun. Create or leverage content that is playful and fun. Cartoon videos work!

2. Try new channels. Share content in multiple social media platforms, in your branches, in schools, on your website and on your blog. Having content in different locations will ensure you reach a broader audience.

3. Keep it short. Keep videos under three to five minutes as attention spans are very short. Ninety second messaging is even better.

4. Engage your team. There is no better way to reach your members than to create evangelists with your internal team. Be sure you share all the new content with your internal Gen Y team members. Use their feedback to make your approach even stronger.

5. Keep it coming. Create an ongoing plan that keeps content fresh and refreshed regularly. A content calendar with a regular approach will build stronger, long-term success.

Tansley Stearns is chief impact officer for Filene Research Institute. she can be reached at 203-859-2666 or [email protected].