What’s It All For? Defining Your Credit Union’s Purpose

Up until the age of 22, I had a very clear purpose: Finish school, graduate college and get a job. I completed multiple internships in college, got good grades and was very involved in the journalism school at my university. I knew what my purpose was as a student; society and my parents had almost entirely determined and defined it for me – finish school or I was on my own, without any help from my parents.

So once I graduated from college and the excitement of never having another midterm wore off, I felt a bit lost in the sauce. I eventually got a job in journalism, and once again, I felt as though I had a purpose. I was absolutely convinced I would change the world through journalism, and all my life’s decisions were shaped by that goal. The long hours and low pay at my first journalism job were par for the course. It was all part of the plan – one step on the long staircase of my career. Hardship was a bit easier to digest when I knew I was working toward something.

A few years later, all of those dreams came crashing down when I, emotional and naïve at the time, left my job at age 25. I had been working for a production company creating museum exhibits for The U.S. Holocaust Memorial in Washington and the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta. Every day, I left work exhausted and drained, but I was very proud of the work I was doing knowing it would impact millions of people. Still, I knew it wasn’t a sustainable existence as I could barely pay my bills, and was working late and on the weekends. I remember calling my dad the day I decided to quit and telling him I felt as though I had lost my purpose in life. On top of it, I didn’t have another job lined up.

I had already spent a good chunk of my life so far working toward achieving my goal of enjoying a long career in journalism, and I told my dad I was done with it all. Little did I know, I would return to journalism a year later, but at the time I believed I was leaving my chosen career path, and that was devastating.

It felt as though I was in a moving car without a driver. Where was I going? What would I do? Well, life eventually worked itself out after a year of odd jobs and wandering. I got a job as a writer and, once again, I felt as though my life had a bit more meaning again.

Over and over, I’ve redefined and reshaped my purpose; I’m even doing it as I type this. I want to leave an impactful legacy, and give back to society in ways that are meaningful, valuable and bring me joy. Figuring out my purpose has been a slow process, but I know I’m moving closer toward that goal every day, and that makes it a bit easier to hear my alarm clock in the morning and get out of bed.

My desire to have a meaningful purpose is part of the reason why I was drawn to writing about the credit union industry. So many credit unions have made serving and improving their local community – not just for credit union members, but all community members – their purpose.

When I interviewed Joan Nelson to discuss her Volunteer of the Year award, I was impressed by the fact that the credit union she serves has such a defined purpose, and that everything it does is driven by that purpose.

“We really believe in the people helping people mission as a credit union and we strive to make that, you know, first and foremost in everything we do,” Nelson, chairman of the board for the $2.9 billion Coastal Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C., said.

Nelson went on to say, “Our overarching theme is impact, both for our members, for our community and for our employees. It’s about ensuring we’re bringing best-of-class products and services to our members and becoming their predominant financial institution. It’s about providing support to our community and making a difference in terms of helping our community grow from a financial health perspective, to making sure they don’t have any food insecurities. Anything that would touch their lives – we want to make sure we’re a part of that. We want to make sure we continue our legacy as being one of the best places to work in the triangle.”

Coastal’s website even boasts a section called “50 Years of Sharing: Stories,” which features individual stories about Coastal’s impact. When you read these stories, you can see how the credit union’s mission and purpose – the impact noted by Nelson – has been put into practice.

I believe every organization should have a defined purpose. If your credit union doesn’t, then how can you define a strategy or goals? How can you know what you should be accomplishing if you’re not aligning your activities to a shared purpose? Without a purpose, all your activities become individual tasks that are disjointed and don’t lead to meaningful progress toward something.

So what is your credit union’s purpose? Does it have one? If not, perhaps now is the time to find one.

Send me your stories on purpose – in life or at your credit union – to the email listed below.

Tahira Hayes is a correspondent-at-large for CU Times. She can be reached at thayes@cutimes.com.