5 Ways to Excite Employees About Community Relations

It’s no secret that a tight connection with the local community is key to business success. This concept especially holds true for credit unions. Too often, though, financial institutions take the easy way out and don’t do anything beyond writing checks and giving them to local organizations.

Instead, an impactful community relations strategy begins with purpose, which comes from your credit union’s story and employees (otherwise known as your biggest brand ambassadors). Gone are the days when credit union leaders come up with their next big community event without employee input and bring it to their team to implement.

With this in mind, here are five ways to get your employees excited about your community relations programs:

1. Leaders, walk the walk. As a leader, it’s essential to champion a community-oriented mindset, because your support and passion will naturally have a trickle-down effect to your team. Get started by serving on boards or joining community groups that tie back to your credit union’s mission.

As an example, our credit union was founded by seven teachers who were originally denied a bank loan. Depositing $99.25 collectively, they started a financial institution of their own, which is now known as Achieva Credit Union.

With this story in mind, our President/CEO Gary Regoli now serves on the board of directors for the Pinellas Education Foundation here in Florida, a coalition of businesses and community leaders working to improve the quality of public education.

2. Create a culture of community involvement. Now that you’re leading by example, avoid creating an environment where employees feel guilty for taking time out of the work day to do something community oriented. Within reason, be open to supporting “on-the-clock time” for volunteering or helping with your community events.

For example, some of our Achieva team members are involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and they often take an hour or two during the work day to visit their little Brothers and little Sisters, making meaningful connections.

3. Get back to your roots. As you look to get involved in community groups that tie back to your credit union’s story, take it a step further by giving proceeds from your community events back to those groups. We put this into practice by turning proceeds from our events into classroom grants, which are used to teach financial literacy or offer special programs to K-12 students.

As an example, a local high school used one of our classroom grants to create a coffee cart program. Students served coffee to teachers and peers, while learning things like budgeting, managing inventory and customer service skills in the process. The concept introduced students to business basics and ways to handle transactions.

4. Involve employees in the process. Give your staff a seat at the table when brainstorming and planning community initiatives. The only way to get them engaged is through hearing directly from them.

One of our most popular events came from something you’d least expect: The movie “The Little Rascals.”

In 2010, our CEO challenged our team to create a signature event that raises money for local schools while raising Achieva’s visibility in Florida’s Pinellas County. It turned out that one of our staff members had just watched “The Little Rascals” and found inspiration in the movie’s soapbox car rally. The result was the start of Achieva’s annual Box Car Rally, an action-packed event where families and kids race Soap Box Derby-style cars down a hill in downtown Clearwater, Fla.

The event just celebrated its ninth year – with more than 2,500 spectators watching 300 box car races – and has raised more than $175,000 to benefit local schools.

5. Let employees experience the impact. Invite your employees to see their ideas in action by encouraging them to attend events where they can connect with community members who benefit from initiatives.

For instance, some of our Achieva team members recently visited middle school students with special needs to see how the funds from one of our events, the Run for Good, were put into action. The students took part in a hands-on activity where they learned about bees and made bee hives. And, our team members got a chance to be with the kids and experience the students’ excitement – it was truly priceless.

A final thought: Though volunteerism does start from the top, the payoff you get from involving your employees from start to finish is invaluable. It’s also worth mentioning that an exciting community relations strategy is a solid way to attract and retain top talent.

Chelsey Wilson is Marketing & Events Manager for Achieva CU. She can be reached at 727-431-7362 or cwilson@achievacu.com.