5 Secrets of Credit Union Charity Events That Get Results

In the credit union industry, community service is an honored principle — one that’s especially promient in November and December, when many credit unions plan charitable endeavors. Those efforts could be wasted if nobody donates to the cause, participates in the event or helps do the work, but there are ways to avoid feeble philanthropy. Here are five secrets for rallying more volunteers, wooing more donors and getting the word out, all from credit unions that ran record-setting charity events this year.

1. Cast a really wide net for volunteers

Employees aren’t the only source of volunteers; reaching out to members can vastly improve participation, according to Lisa Lehman, who is a marketing manager at Park View Federal Credit Union in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The credit union, which has $177 million in assets and about 10,700 members, recently ran a Veterans Day community service event, during which volunteers stacked wood, sorted books and donations, cleaned, did yardwork and provided other help to show appreciation for military veterans.

The event, now in its fifth year, had a record number of volunteers in 2018. Park View encouraged its employees to get involved, Lehman said, but it also reached out aggressively to its membership base to boost volunteer head count. The efforts drew families with kids, retirees and other people with connections to or passions for the cause, she added.

“We encourage all our employees to spend the day; they get paid their normal wages for the day volunteering. Then we invite any of our members to join us as well, so that’s kind of who we target in terms of participants,” Lehman said.

2. Advertise digitally

Posters and in-branch advertising aren’t enough anymore — credit unions that want outstanding results from philanthropic events need strong social media and web advertising plans.

“We definitely did exceed what we were thinking would happen,” said Heather Plum, who is a public relations strategist at Veridian Credit Union. The Waterloo, Iowa-based credit union, which has $4 billion in assets and about 225,000 members, runs a “Spark the Spirit” campaign in which employees nominate local nonprofits (30 this year) for a chance to win up to $5,000. The credit union then asks the public to vote online to choose which charities receive the money. Almost 60,000 votes came in over just 11 days.

“We send an email out to our membership. We do paid things like social media ads, but we also do organic content on social media and our website as well,” she said. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn were all in the mix — TV, radio and billboards were not, though Plum said the credit union might explore those channels in the future.

3. Keep the event dates and the general theme consistent

“We’ve increased every year what we’ve accumulated in donations,” said Kylie Perry, who is a marketing strategist at Vermont Federal Credit Union in Burlington, Vt. The credit union, which has $556 million in assets and about 39,800 members, runs a food drive to benefit a local food bank. This year’s food drive collected 5,196 pounds of food, beating last year’s take.

“I think year after year people have grown to know that this event is happening, because the date is always usually pretty consistent,” she said. “So we don’t have to promote it year over year as much, because people know it happens the same time every year.”

4. Get the beneficiaries to help promote the event

Veridian provides a media kit to its nonprofits so they can do their own outreach for the event. The kit includes things such as promotional wording to share, Facebook cover photos and Instagram profile pictures. “We make sure they’re all the correct sizes,” Plum added.

Park View often rallies its business sponsors for added outreach. That doesn’t just amplify the promotional efforts, it frequently boosts head count (they often provide volunteers). “Sponsors all share it on social media,” Lehman explained. “So that’s another avenue — ways we get volunteers and spread the word about it as well.”

5. Let the staff decide

All three credit unions said that one of the biggest keys to record-setting philanthropy was getting significant, meaningful input from their employees regarding everything from which nonprofits to support, to how the event should work. It not only helped recognize worthy causes, they said, it sparked buy-in that led to higher volunteerism, more outreach and better results.

“Right away, you’re going to get that engagement and connection if someone knows that we’re going to a nonprofit that they are passionate about,” Lehman explained.

Cultivating engagement and passion is even easier if the effort starts during the recruiting process, Perry added. “The people that we hire are just like-minded that way — they want to be involved in the community,” she said. “I think that’s why they choose to work for a credit union. They value what we value.”