The MEP was designed to make its 534 affiliated credit unions aware of their current engagement level, educate them about the league's benefits and services and grow engagement levels by providing an incentive for credit unions to use more services.

“The whole idea was to communicate with them on an ongoing basis precisely their engagement level,” Delker said. “But the key to that is education, informing them of the various ways in which they earn points. There may be some services credit unions are simply not aware of or were not participating in. By utilizing this program they learn how easy it is to become engaged in all of those various areas we’re measuring.”

Credit unions in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas earn points for participating in league and CUNA programs, events and activities in 20 different areas under five categories of advocacy, regulatory/compliance, education/training, initiatives/outreach and products/services.

For example, a credit union can earn one point for registering one person to attend a major conference and up to five points for registering more employees from the credit union for the conference.

Credit unions with point totals in the top 20% in each asset category then receive a $500 credit that can be used the following year toward league dues or new services. Credit unions also can donate the $500 to the Cornerstone Credit Union Foundation.

“The $500, obviously, to a large credit union is not going to make a significant difference,” Delker said. “Certainly, $500 for a small credit union is not an insignificant amount. We’ve heard lots of comments from small and midsize credit unions that they appreciate the opportunity to use that $500 toward their dues or another service.”

Although Delker said the Cornerstone league has always had a very high level of engagement from credit union members, he conceded there is always room for improvement.

“As 2015 progressed, we did see more credit unions taking advantage of more benefits of their Cornerstone membership,” Delker said. “At the end of 2015, we established an engagement benchmark, and at the end of this year we will be able to see exactly how current engagement levels compare to year-end 2015 levels. Hopefully, we will have more credit unions at the end of 2016 that increase their point totals over what they have in 2015. And if that's the case, then we know we’re moving the needle on member engagements.”

In January, the Credit Union Association of the Dakotas mimicked Cornerstone's program in the hopes it would increase engagement from its 78 affiliated credit unions.

Jeff Olson, president/CEO of the Dakotas association, said he is hoping his organization's newly launched reward program will also help move the member engagement needle.

Even though the overall engagement of the Dakotas association's credit unions is strong in many respects, some areas of engagement need improvement, he said.

“We’ve had a very poor response on CUNA's project zip code,” Olson said. “I think we had one member that was doing it. But we didn't push it. We didn't ask members to get involved with it, but we think it is a great program that we’ll see benefits from.”

The league has also had challenges with attendance at some conferences and chapter meetings, and making credit unions aware of some programs that need their involvement.

Olson said he believes the rewards-based member engagement program may motivate credit unions to step up their participation in league and CUNA events.

“I think it's an effort that we put forth with the board's support and blessing to offer our members by saying, ‘Hey, we have some great programs. We appreciate your continued support and we want to give you the opportunity that by staying engaged and by getting more people involved you can save your credit union some money,’” he said.

Credit unions in North Dakota and South Dakota can receive reward points by participating in CUNA and association activities such as Project Zip Code, CUNA's member activation program, CULAC/CUPAC, voter voice, CU Social Good, chapter involvement, attendance at compliance/regulatory seminars and conferences, association newsletter subscriptions, attendance at annual summit meetings, GAC meetings and Hike the Hill events.

Based on the number of points they amass, credit unions can earn $500. Like Cornerstone's program, the credit union can apply those funds toward league dues or conference or education seminar costs, as well as the association's foundation or GAC scholarships.

While it's unknown whether the programs will improve member engagement, they are attracting attention from other league CEOs.

Patrick LaPine, president/CEO of the League of Southeastern Credit Unions, said he is intrigued by the reward member engagement program and plans to develop a similar program for Florida and Alabama credit unions.

“I think it's a great idea,” LaPine said. “I’m looking at more data on it to understand what can be achieved, how to track it and how to reward. It's on our to-do list for the year.”

But LaPine said because every league is different, he doubted a rewards-based membership program will become a trend. For leagues that already have a high level of engagement, a rewards program wouldn't be needed, he noted.

For example, the Northwest Credit Union Association, like other trade groups, boasts a high level of engagement from its credit union members.

“We have a saying here internally that engagement is everybody's job 100% of the time,” Northwest Credit Union Association President/CEO Troy Stang said. “We look at engagement in a live setting on a regular basis.”

For example, association staff members have reached out to credit unions to encourage them to become key advocacy contacts for their local elected officials.

“We strive to ensure that there's a credit union professional assigned to those discussions with those elected officials, and we like to make sure that's done in a credit union setting or in the community that the credit union services,” he explained.

He noted that advocacy is extremely progressive in the Northwest because 50% of Washington and Oregon residents are members of a credit union.

“The consumer is choosing a credit union because of the relevancy and value cooperatives produce, and those cooperatives are choosing to operate under a state charter in many cases because the state charter allows for better relevancy and easier operations than a federal charter,” he said.

Last year, the Northwest association recorded 7,300 touchpoints or engagement in advocacy, community awareness and program activities with its 160 credit unions in both states.

“I think our members of the association are more engaged because they get that we produce strong advocacy, which leads to strong results and a better operating environment,” Stang said. “We couldn't do that if our members weren't engaged in our programming.”