St. Cloud Financial Credit Union ($430.0M, Sartell, MN) has quickly evolved from early adopter to advocate when it comes to digital assts.

The Minnesota-based cooperative has built a core-integrated digital asset vault, connected to multiple blockchain networks, and even launched its own stablecoin. But CEO Jed Meyer is quick to clarify this isn’t about chasing crypto because it’s new and buzzy.

“We never set out to be a trailblazer,” he says. “We always start with our member and work outward.”

This time, it started with a market penetration problem.

In 2019, the credit union had roughly 23,000 members in a market of 200,000 people and nearly 40 competing financial institutions. Through strategic planning sessions, two priorities emerged: to better serve underserved populations through customized products, and to understand where member money might be going next.

That second priority led the credit union to digital assets.

“We were seeing some deposit outflows,” Meyer says. “Not a ton, but enough to ask, ‘what are we going to do?’”

In 2023, approximately $1 million in deposits flowed from St. Cloud Financial to exchanges. In 2024, that number jumped to $15 million.

“That’s a 15x trend of liquidity outflows,” Meyer says.

Across the industry, the CEO estimates roughly 3% of deposits might already be leaving for digital asset platforms with no guarantee of return.

“With every innovation in the past 100 years, we were still needed at some point in the lifecycle of the dollar,” Meyer says. “This is the first time that might not be true. When a dollar leaves me for the DeFi space, there’s never a need for a centralized ledger ever again.”

According to Gallup, one in seven Americans reported owning cryptocurrency in 2025. For St. Cloud Financial specifically, Meyer says 16% to 25% of its members either already have or are showing interest in digital assets.

“Relevancy always equals ROI,” he says. “I’m more interested in plugging the hole in the bottom of the income boat than I am worrying about future dollars.”

Education Before Execution

Before building anything, St. Cloud focused on understanding the space.

The CEO says it’s difficult to find education materials, so the credit union helped foster the Minnesota Crypto Council, a nonprofit focused on education for members, staff, and the broader community. For four years, the organization has hosted quarterly sessions, developed training materials, and brought in subject matter experts.

That education-first approach proved critical not just for adoption but also for addressing skepticism.

“When you launch something like this, you have to speak to the 50% of your membership that doesn’t want it,” Meyer says. “This is optional. We’re not forcing anything.”

Industry peers might be even harder to convince. A fall 2025 report from American Banker found the majority of the banks, credit unions, and payments companies it surveyed remain in the discussions and learning phase. The uncertainty around regulations has slowed adoption, and one of the most common arguments against digital assets is its association with volatility and fraud.

Meyer flips that framing.

“What risk have I actually taken?” he asks. “Other than human capacity and time spent, what risk have I taken?”

In his view, the greater risk lies in waiting.

“I actually think people who say, ‘I’ll get to this in five years,’ are taking the risky position,” he says.

What Came First — The Vault Or The Coin?

Although much of the industry conversation has centered on stablecoins, St. Cloud Financial took a different path with the launch of its CU-Digital Asset Vault in March. Initially envisioned as a digital version of a safe deposit box, it quickly evolved into foundational, core-integrated infrastructure. Rather than building a single product, the cooperative deployed a core-integrated digital asset framework developed by DaLand CUSO – Coin-2-Core – capable of operating across multiple financial rails, from traditional payment networks to blockchain-based systems.

“The vault acts as a vault, but really it’s a switch,” Meyer says. “It turns my core into the wallet. It turns my core into the node. It allows me to plug into any DLT [distributed ledger technology] money network.”

At a structural level, the credit union designed the vault around member ownership, employing a self-custody model where members retain control of their digital assets while the credit union facilitates storage and movement. This is in line with the current regulatory environment, where full custody authority remains an area of ongoing clarification. Rather than push ahead in a gray area, Meyer says St. Cloud Financial has spent years engaging regulators at both the federal and state levels, including ongoing dialogue with the NCUA and the Minnesota Department of Commerce. In the meantime, the vault serves as both a practical member tool and a strategic bridge, connecting digital assets back to the cooperative’s core system without overstepping regulatory boundaries.

With the infrastructure in place, launching a proprietary stablecoin became possible. Although that was not originally a main objective of the strategy, a use case convinced the credit union to proceed. Two national food co-ops approached St. Cloud Financial looking for a settlement solution aligned with cooperative principles.

“We offered them USDC,” Meyer says. “They said, ‘We’re a cooperative, you’re a cooperative. We want a cooperative stablecoin.’”

Thus, St. Cloud Financial introduced the Cloud Dollar ($CLDUSD) in late 2025, making it the nation’s first credit union-issued stablecoin.

Still, Meyer cautions against overemphasizing this aspect of the technology.

“In five years, we’ll look back and say that was a small sliver of what we were actually talking about,” he says.

Don’t Stop Here. Stablecoins and digital assets have moved beyond “wait and see” into active development. For a look at both the risks and the opportunities in this next phase of financial services, read “What Should Credit Unions Know About Stablecoins?” only on CreditUnions.com.

Slow Rollout, Strong Signals

St. Cloud Financial has taken a measured approach to rollout.

Following an NCUA audit in late 2025, the credit union launched a friends-and-family pilot in December and expanded to full membership in March. Today, the credit union holds approximately 15 Bitcoin in its system and between 50 and 75 vaults in progress.

So far the most notable insight isn’t volume, Mayer says, but member behavior, especially among younger demographics.

“When they open a vault, they bring everything with them,” he says, indicating it’s been a way to deepen relationships and increase products per member. “We’ve been told, ‘Finally someone is listening to our generation and what we believe our wealth will be.’”

Consumers are already in the cryptocurrency space, and Meyer urges industry peers not to outsource those members.

“You worked hard for those relationships,” he says. “You cannot continue to give your relationships away to third parties.”

An Uncertain Timeline

Crypto is only the beginning for St. Cloud Financial. The same infrastructure that supports digital assets today could eventually handle tokenized financial instruments, identities, and other forms of value.

“This is going to be bigger than a product,” Meyer says. “It’s going to be bigger than one innovation.”

The CEO expects the traditional finance and digital asset ecosystems will coexist and, ultimately, St. Cloud’s strategy is less about predicting the future and more about preparing for it.

“If this takes another seven to 10 years, I’m okay with that,” Meyer says. “If this happens tomorrow, I’m okay with that.”

For credit unions, the question isn’t whether to launch a stablecoin or offer crypto trading. According to Meyer, it’s whether they will have a role in a financial system where money can move, store, and grow entirely outside of them.

“Our only play is to establish ourselves as the access point, the aggregator point, and the trusted advisor point,” he says.

The post A Credit Union Journey Into Cryptocurrency And Stablecoins appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

Top-Level Takeaways

• Outcomes, not good intentions, better determine where work belongs in an institution.
• Narrowing focus areas can help a foundation gain clarity without sacrificing purpose.
• Financial education has a greater impact when people have access to tools and real-world application.

Financial education initiatives aren’t neutral. The credit union industry rarely talks about it this way, but balance sheets and data do.

At Wright-Patt Credit Union ($9.6B, Beavercreek, OH), leaders identified a clear pattern across its financial learning programs. Members who participated in that learning engaged more with the credit union. Deposits grew, loan balances shifted, and relationships deepened.

“Intentionally or unintentionally, financial learning became a pipeline into the credit union,” says Ivy Glover, director of community impact and development and executive director of the WPCU Sunshine Community Fund.

This created an opportunity for additional clarity and cohesion. Foundations are designed to give without expectation of a return. Credit unions, on the other hand, want to responsibly grow. So, what happens when a product or service does both? To answer that, Wright-Patt examined what it offers as developmental and what it offers as philanthropy.

“There’s overlap that should exist,” Glover says. “But there’s also overlap where we can provide more clarity.”

3 Questions To Rethink

Internally, the WPCU Sunshine Community Fund Board, senior leadership team and community development staff began examining the credit union foundation through a new lens.

“We started talking about this in terms of swim lanes rather than driving lanes, meaning there’s some fluidity,” Glover says. “Where does it make sense for the foundation to operate in a way that flows into the credit union and vice versa?”

To build cohesion and clarity as well as make a greater community impact, the credit union considered three essential questions:

1. 1. What do we want the foundation to represent or achieve over the next 5 years?
   2. Why would the foundation need to be a passthrough for nonprofit partners and neighbors?
   3. How can the foundation support execution of the mission and purpose for the credit union?

Ultimately, the group settled on a shared outlook.

“Programming should live under the credit union, and giving should live under the foundation,” Glover says.

Today, the credit union is figuring out how to make that outlook a reality.
Don’t stop here. While Wright-Patt Credit Union works to clarify the line between philanthropy and development, Marine Credit Union is intentionally blending the two. Read more in “How Marine Credit Union Shifted Its Foundation From Siloed To Symbiotic.”

From Strategy To Operational Changes

New strategies tend to take time to come to fruition. After WPCU clarified its outlook for the credit union and the foundation, however, it made some immediate changes. It narrowed the Sunshine Community Fund’s eight wellbeing focus areas to four and stopped pursuing major external funding to avoid competing against the very community partners it seeks to support.

“Our primary revenue resources come from are our employees, our members, and the credit union itself,” Glover says.

Today, a new model is emerging where the foundation functions as a funder, whereas the credit union increasingly handles delivery and engagement.

In three years, Glover envisions the credit union’s community development specialists and coordinators engaging with community partners, SEG organizations, and business partners while the foundation focuses on providing grants, investments, and funding for nonprofit partners. It could also support scholarships, housing initiatives, and, potentially, cover the costs to develop and distribute tools like the Pocket Money Mentor, a self‑paced workbook that helps build practical money habits around spending, saving, borrowing, and planning.

The Effect On Financial Education

The new approach means neither Wright-Patt Credit Union nor the WPCU Sunshine Community Fund has to eliminate programs. However, programs might evolve or move.

This is especially true when it comes to financial education.

In the past, the foundation handled WPCU’s Money Magnifier curriculum, a K-12 financial literacy program that aligns with state standards. After the credit union hired a community development coordinator to work directly with schools to manage student educational engagement, it blended the model. Today the foundation funds the development and provision of the curriculum and resources in community, and the credit union partner-employees use the resource to teach students directly.  The new structure takes into account the increased likelihood students will want to access WPCU products, such as checking accounts or auto loans, and provides an environment in which the coordinator can talk about it.

“We want to have the flexibility to pair the educational tools with real-world application and resources,” Glover says.

A Little Gray Is A-OK

Balancing purpose and impact for the credit union versus its foundation can be difficult, but this duo views the work as just another way to serve their community more effectively and efficiently while giving each organization a clearer role.

WPCU’s shift remains a work in progress, and given the diversity of missions and intended outcomes among credit unions and their foundations, Glover says there’s no one single structure that translates cleanly across institutions.

“No matter what structure you choose, there’s always going to be some gray area,” Glover says.

Glover doesn’t see that as a problem, however, because the core of the movement doesn’t change.

“At the end of the day, both entities exist to fulfill WPCU’s purpose and mission,” she continues. “The approach to making impact might look different, but helping people and the community live financially well and being there for them at every step is what we’re all here to do.”

Connect, collaborate, and leave inspired. Looking to pose questions, share best practices, and talk openly about foundation strategy and impact, funding and grantmaking, collaboration and partnerships, governance and leadership, and more? Connect with peers from across the industry at the Callahan Foundation Roundtable on June 2-3. Registration is open; contact Callahan to learn more.

The post The Line Between Growth And Impact Was Blurry. Wright-Patt Decided To Redraw It. appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

Top-Level Takeaways

• Differentiation comes from thinking beyond traditional banking norms.
• Credit unions can systematically create “wow” moments, but it must be part of the cultural.
• AI and engagement data is changing how credit unions measure emotional experience.

It’s a typical day at the office for Mike Dobbins when he picks up the phone to make a call.

“My name’s Mike Dobbins,” he says. “I’m the CEO of Alliant Credit Union, and I just wanted to call and wish you a happy birthday today.”

A voice on the other end pauses for a moment then replies, “Are you serious?”

“I am serious,” Dobbins assures.

“Are you really the CEO?”

“I am really the CEO.”

What follows is a brief conversation between the cooperative’s leader and one of its nearly 1 million members. At its conclusion, Dobbins is sure to tell the member that their relationship with Alliant Credit Union ($20.3B, Chicago, IL) matters to him and wishes them well.

Dobbins says he makes these calls as often as possible, not just for birthdays, but for other life events, too.

“As someone who started my career as a branch manager, I always remember the power of that personal touch,” Dobbins says. “Standing there when people come to the door, shaking their hand, learning about them — those things are powerful. We are digital-only in the sense that we don’t have branches, but we want to have great humanity.”

Indeed, as an early adopter of a digital-only model, Alliant has learned that removing branches doesn’t remove the expectation for connection. It’s a challenge that has pushed the cooperative to rethink everything from product design to staff training to how it uses data. Ultimately, it aims to not only serve members but turn them into advocates.

“You’re probably not going to tell a friend, ‘Here’s my debit card.’ But you might tell your friend, ‘I bank somewhere where people call me on my birthday,’” Dobbins says.

Operationalizing “Wow”

According to Dobbins, to succeed as a digital-only institution, two things must be true.

“Your digital can’t just be good, it has to be pretty much everything,” he says. “But the most important piece is delivering ‘wows’ every time you get a chance. I use the term ‘beautiful’ in our strategy document because that’s what it has to feel like. You want that Tiffany bag experience.”

It starts with creating compelling products. The goal is to provide a seamless, visually appealing experience that consistently delivers quality.

“Customer expectations are shaped by experiences like opening an iPhone,” Dobbins says. “Everything is intuitive right out of the box. That’s the baseline. It has to be reliable.”

After onboarding, Alliant focuses on guiding members toward the ways they can use those products.

“Give members the tools and everything they need,” Dobbins says. “Then, use those high-value interactions, such as when you’re giving advice, to over-index on the wow factor.”

In fact, one of Alliant’s five strategic pillars is “Wow Servicing.”

“We have things like a Wow Lab with about 20 people in it every day experimenting with different ways to deliver high-touch experiences,” Dobbins says, “We experiment a lot, figure out what works, and when we come up with good ideas, we push them back out across the organization and encourage people to adopt them.”

For example, one employee who manages desktop computing suggested sending branded tennis balls with handwritten notes to members after hearing barking regularly in the background of calls. It’s exactly the kind of unexpected moment Alliant seeks to create. Employees also routinely make note of things like birthdays, anniversaries, illness, and other life events and then send physical greeting cards out to those members.

“If you walked into our contact center today, you’d find a mini Hallmark store,” Dobbins says.

For Dobbins, that kind of attention to detail must permeate the culture.

“You want people thinking about how to do things better and how to delight members,” the CEO says. “I’m just trying to lead by example.”

Data-Driven And Delightful

Of course, it’s not all just good vibes. A strong data architecture and a data insights team supports Alliant’s strategy.

“We measure everything,” Dobbins says. “If something doesn’t look right, we dig into it, figure out what’s wrong, and fix or improve it.”

Today’s advanced tools have only helped Alliant double down on insights. For example, it uses AI to examine contact center call transcripts.

“If we have 10,000 calls tomorrow, AI can analyze all of them, identify sentiment, determine how many were great or delightful interactions, and detect patterns or recurring issues,” Dobbins says. “We don’t have to wait to understand where we need to step in and improve.”

That discipline has helped Alliant turn insight into action. Today, net promoter scores are high, membership grew 2.48% from year-end 2024 to year-end 2025, and loans increased 4.11% during the same period.

“My objective for Alliant is to become one of the most recommended financial institutions,” Dobbins says. “Recommendations come from emotive experiences. I like to experiment. I’ll call people on their birthday to see if it creates a powerful reaction. I’ll call when someone opens a new account. If someone reaches out on LinkedIn or sends me an email, I respond to it myself because I want to learn.”

The CEO says the key is to look beyond financial services for inspiration and embrace unconventional thinking.

“Little things — things that bring joy and humanity — make a difference,” he says.

The post No Branches? No Problem! Alliant Delivers The Cooperative Difference Digitally. appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

That realization landed with force for Tracy Verner, community development manager at Alltru Federal Credit Union ($392.5M, Wentzville, MO). After years of watching members absorb financial education but remain boxed out of the system, she began pushing the cooperative to rethink what real progress looks like — what financial empowerment looks like.

“Financial empowerment is information combined with access,” she says. “Many financial institutions offer well-meaning financial literacy — workshops, gamified apps — but it’s still just information. We’re doing an injustice if we provide information without the tools to apply it.”

The philosophy has changed the way the St. Louis cooperative operates, from product design to employee training. The result? Stronger culture, deeper partnerships, and helping more people who otherwise might have remained unbanked.

Gaps And Barriers

To truly empower members, it’s necessary to understand the barriers they face and examine who the credit union is not yet serving.

“If you’re truly committed to empowerment, it’s your responsibility to provide access,” Verner says. “Credit unions were built on inclusion, so ask: ‘Who’s being left out, and why?’”

An early experience in Verner’s credit union career underscored to her the importance of doing things differently. Speaking with a workshop attendee after an event, Verner learned the woman couldn’t open a checking account.

“I was floored,” Verner says. “She had steady income working for the city of St. Louis but couldn’t access a checking account. This was before fintech tools like Venmo or Cash App. She was receiving paper checks, and when the city stopped issuing them, she was forced onto a prepaid card with fees.”

Verner met with her boss and learned the woman had an incident in her ChexSystems report that barred access to checking. In these kinds of screening systems, even a single overdraft charge can easily turn a short-term issue into a multi-year obstacle. At the end of 2025, approximately 6% to 7% of U.S. households were unbanked, according to Bankrate, largely because of prior banking problems.

So, Alltru turned ChexSystems off.

“This was before the Bank On movement even reached St. Louis,” Verner says. “Altru was already questioning those barriers. Leadership was already asking why.”

Don’t stop here. The community development manager at Alltru FCU turned in her barbells for bank accounts and is building access one account at a time. Read more in “Tracy Verner Is Breaking Barriers In St. Louis Finance.”

Expanding Access Without Increasing Risk

Opening access at scale shifts responsibility inside the institution and can raise questions about risk management, making effective collaboration with finance and compliance teams essential.

“Our compliance manager tracks outcomes closely,” Verner says. “We’ve found people flagged in ChexSystems do not show higher fraud or delinquency rates. The data simply doesn’t support the perceived risk.”

Alltru regularly evaluates programs and purposefully keeps guardrails flexible. For example, the credit union noticed an issue involving fraud through ATM deposits among its youth workforce program. So, it pivoted.

“Instead of shutting it down, we increased our fraud education efforts, reduced ATM withdrawal limits, and added monitoring,” Verner says. “We didn’t stop the program. We refined it.”

Alltru takes the same creative approach to lending. Traditional secured loans tend to rely on upfront cash or collateral. That’s a barrier for members without savings. Alltru’s credit builder loan removes that requirement, although it doesn’t release funds immediately to reduce risk while still helping members build credit. In practice, however, early usage indicated Alltru needed to recalibrate the loan.

“Initially, it was $1,000 over 12 months,” Verner says. “We realized some members couldn’t handle that.”

Today, the Missouri cooperative offers loan options as low as $300 because even $30 every month can help members without creating excess financial strain. Alltru has also gradually leaned into relationship lending, and half of its first-time auto loan borrowers don’t have a credit score.

“You start with good intentions,” Verner says. “Then you refine based on real needs.”

Empowerment As An Organizational Mindset

Financial empowerment starts with understanding the consequences of credit union decisions. Verner spends time in the community working alongside nonprofits and listening to members outside the branch to identify where well‑intended policies still limit access.

“Being in the community, working with nonprofits, seeing real challenges brings up more questions,” she says. “It forces you to ask why.”

Of course, asking why only matters if it changes how people make decisions, which is why financial empowerment at Alltru also rests on a shared understanding of what it means to struggle, how strain shows up in everyday life, and who needs support.

“The rising costs of housing, groceries, and auto loans have impacted everyone,” she says. “This isn’t someone else’s problem. This is about our neighbors, families, and even our coworkers.”

That awareness changes decisions, from product design to flexibility at the margins. As a credit union focused on empowerment, Alltru is willing to look for ways to preserve access instead of restrict it.

Forward-thinking credit unions are leading with financial wellbeing. Alltru FCU’s evolution from education to true financial empowerment reflects a broader shift across the industry. The Member Engagement and Financial Wellbeing Consortium, led by Callahan & Associates in collaboration with Gallup, helps credit unions embed financial wellbeing into strategy, product decisions, and culture. Through shared insights and peer collaboration, participating credit unions are aligning around what drives real member confidence, engagement, and long-term growth. Learn how the Consortium is helping credit unions turn empowerment into measurable impact.

The post Why Financial Empowerment Matters More Than Financial Literacy appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

Most young people don’t choose their first financial institution. They inherit it from their parents, walk into the branch down the street, or choose whatever account is easiest to open at the time.

Six years ago, Excite Credit Union ($618.1M, San Jose, CA) decided not to leave that relationship to chance. Instead, it set a goal that every child would have a savings account, reshaping how it approaches youth banking and even establishing Excite Foundation to realize that vision.

“A foundation makes a lot of sense,” says John Hogan, executive director of Excite Foundation. “It allowed us to expand our reach, create a vehicle for external funding, and work with automatic enrollment opportunities.”

In 2020, the foundation launched its signature program: College in My Future. Every year, it automatically enrolls approximately 600 incoming first graders in San Jose’s Franklin-McKinley School District in a savings account they can access after turning 18. The program aims to start building college savings early, particularly among underserved families who might otherwise delay or lack access to those tools.

Inspiration For Early Wealth Building

The foundation modeled College in My Future in part off a playbook published by Prosperity Now, a nonprofit focused on economic equity and wellbeing, and the City of San Francisco’s Kindergarten to College program.

“This ties into the broader children’s savings movement, which has been around for more than 15 years,” Hogan says. “Learning from others is key. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.”

Upon enrollment, the program includes a $50 seed deposit from the foundation. There is also an annual deposit match, which is typically $25 or $50, depending on funding. Importantly, these are not bank accounts; they are ledger accounts, internal records the foundation holds to track balances on the student’s behalf until they access funds later.

“We don’t collect Social Security numbers or tax IDs,” Hogan explains. “That’s one reason you can’t scale this model with traditional bank accounts. You need more information to open those.”

This method removes certain barriers to access that identity requirements can present. It also reduces regulatory friction and protects the credit union from housing hundreds of dormant, inactive accounts.

Excite Credit Union also supports early savings through its Step Up Savings program, which matches deposits at key milestones. Whereas College in My Future focuses on broad access and automatic enrollment, Step Up Savings offers a more traditional, opt-in pathway for families. Read more today.

Inclusion Is Easy. Engagement Takes Work.

A primary measure of success for the program is parent engagement, determined by how many parents have claimed their child’s account or whether they’ve started contributing on their own. According to Hogan, engagement is 20%-30%.

“With automatic enrollment, the benefit is inclusion, but the downside is that parents don’t always know about the account,” the executive director says.

The foundation has introduced incentives to encourage stronger engagement  this. For example, parents receive a bonus when they find their account online and create login credentials.

The foundation also goes directly to parents for feedback.

“We recently implemented a parent advisory group,” Hogan says. “It includes seven moms — five native Spanish speakers and two native Vietnamese speakers. In this school district, about 60% of families are Hispanic and about 24% are Vietnamese, so representation is important.”

This council of local moms advised parents are more likely to engage if communication comes from the school. So, the foundation now often sends communications through the school’s parent portal.

“The school will send a message saying, ‘You’re going to receive communication from Excite Foundation. Be sure to check it.’ That’s helped move engagement closer to 30%,” Hogan says.

The Excite Foundation also mails home paper statements, using school district envelopes that include the logos of both entities. These communications provide a translation in Spanish or Vietnamese in addition to English, which Hogan says has further increased engagement and driven more inbound calls.

Relevance In A Crowded Landscape

Perhaps even harder to address than engagement is the fact College in My Future is not the only early college savings program, leaving parents to sort through competing messaging.

In 2022, California launched a program called CalKIDS, which provides $500 to low-income public school students. This accounts for approximately 85% of the school district the Excite Foundation supports. The federal government is also launching its own program under Tax Code Section 530A, commonly known as “Trump Accounts.” These provide $1,000 for children born in certain years, with additional funding coming from philanthropic sources like the Dell Foundation.

“That raises the question: is our program still needed?” Hogan asks. “We’ve continued, but we now spend more time talking about CalKids than our own program because we want families to access $500, not just $50.”

Thankfully, all these options do not have to be mutually exclusive.

“One limitation of CalKids is that parents can’t contribute additional funds,” Hogan says. “Our program could complement that.”

CalKids also functions more like a 529 plan with restrictions on qualifying expenses. Despite its name, College in My Future does not.

“Our program used to be restricted, but based on feedback from our parent advisory group, we removed those,” Hogan explains.

Now, when children turn 18, they can use the funds from their Excite Foundation accounts for anything, not just education expenses.

In 2023, Excite Credit Union and Excite Foundation received separate grants totaling a $1 million from California’s ScholarShare Investment Board (SIB) to continue to raise awareness of early childhood savings. Looking ahead, Hogan says he hopes to identify more ways to consolidate options and maximize impact.

The post Excite Foundation Breaks Down Barriers For Children’s Savings appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

Completed in 2021, the Texas cooperative’s headquarters is a monument to modern sustainability, with water capture and reuse, solar panels, and geothermal energy. The three-acre property offers 52% more square feet of space than the old HQ at a 90% reduced utility cost, using roughly the same amount of water as two families of four. The building has drawn enough interest to warrant its own website, offering a behind-the-scenes look at its design and performance, and the credit union regularly hosts tours for stakeholders, students, and community groups interested in sustainable development.

Credit Human’s 200,000-square-foot headquarters building spans 12 floors. It includes four levels of parking and supports 500 employees.

Two “living walls” of plants greet staff and visitors on the first and fifth floors of Credit Human's HQ. The credit union reclaimed most of the wood used in the building from buildings in San Antonio.

The building uses 97% less potable water than a typical commercial building. Tanks above and below ground can hold 140,000 gallons of rainwater, which the credit union filters and uses to flush toilets and irrigate.

Going Green From Construction To Culture

Sustainability is a key focus at Credit Human — the credit union has worked since 2019 to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 81% — yet the catalyst for the new HQ came down to operations.

Before moving into its current building, Credit Human operated two corporate offices in San Antonio. Leadership needed a unified footprint and additional space as the organization grew, turning their sights toward downtown. After a lengthy search, it selected a new address: 1703 Broadway.

That location, however, wasn’t just about square footage. Credit Human developed the building in partnership with Silver Ventures as part of a broader Class A office complex known as the Broadway Office Development. The site sits adjacent to Pearl, a 23-acre mixed-use redevelopment built on the former Pearl Brewery site just north of downtown San Antonio, one of the city’s most visible examples of urban revitalization.

Public-sector collaboration played a key role in bringing the project to life. The City of San Antonio and Bexar County provided financial support for infrastructure improvements, including upgraded intersections, expanded sidewalks and bike lanes, new green spaces, and a public parking garage. Credit Human also partnered with the San Antonio River Authority to incorporate low-impact development strategies that filter and manage stormwater runoff before it reaches the San Antonio River.

Although the building boasts cutting-edge features, leaders emphasize that its innovation lies in the way its systems work together.

“The majority of the technologies that we have in this building are 10 years old or more,” says Francisco Manon, senior manager of support services at Credit Human. “But making multiple building systems work together under one coordinated design hadn’t been done to this degree in the region.”

That level of integration introduced real-world friction during construction. Manon and his team navigated challenges with city inspectors who were unfamiliar with some of the interconnected systems, and the project — like nearly everything else at the time — faced pandemic-related supply chain delays.

Yet the greatest obstacle wasn’t technical. According to Beth Keel, sustainability programs manager, the real work was in getting stakeholders to think differently.

“The biggest challenge was a cultural change rather than technical,” she says. “We needed to help stakeholders move from thinking ‘we’ve always done it this way’ to asking what’s possible.”

One person already on board with the new approach was CEO Steve Hennigan.

“This is something our CEO started talking about six years before we started designing or selecting a property,” Manon says. “He wanted to do whatever was theoretically possible in this building.”

When it came time to move employees into the building, the organization adopted a deliberate onboarding process to teach employees how to operate in their new workspace, from sorting trash, composting, and recycling to eliminating single-use plastics and even removing vending machines and soda.

Keel continues pushing that cultural shift with ongoing education.

“I do lunch and learns every quarter,” she says. “We bring in partners like CPS Energy or SARA, the San Antonio River Authority, to educate our staff not only on greenhouse gas emissions but also what’s possible for their own homes and communities.”

Manon echoed that employee engagement is essential. Sustainability investments won’t perform as designed if the people using the building don’t participate.

Sustainability Is Good Financial Sense

Operating green isn’t just good for the environment, it can benefit the balance sheet, too. The same systems that reduce emissions also reduce operating costs, which creates a path for more investment.

“We have proved that not only is it good for the environment, but it makes financial sense,” Manon says. “We created a revolving fund and reinvest all the savings we produce with these kinds of investments into more projects.”

Manon ties the approach to measurable targets and long-term planning. For example, Credit Human has an organizational goal to reduce its emissions based on previous buildings up to 75% by 2030.

The financial framing also shows up in projects beyond its own headquarters.

“We’re installing solar arrays even in the new financial health centers, which normally are leased space,” he says. “We know we’re going to recoup that investment in six to seven years.” Looking ahead, Credit Human is in the design phase of a 100-year-old building in New Orleans, where the credit union believes it can target net zero despite the complexity of renovating a historic structure.

A Continued Ripple Effect

In addition to encouraging lifestyle changes among its staff, Credit Human has rolled out eco-friendly products for members.

The cooperative has a sustainable home lending program focused on geothermal, solar, water, and other home upgrades and has helped match homeowners with trusted companies, which leaders describe as a “high point” borrowers point to. As Credit Human invests in sustainability, leaders argue that members are poised to benefit.

Closer to home, the impact of the headquarters extends beyond its walls. Since opening, the Financial Health Center at 1703 Broadway has recorded increased foot traffic, new member accounts, and deposit growth as well as helped expand community partnerships. The building also includes a community room available free of charge to local nonprofits, reinforcing its role as a shared resource within a rapidly developing corridor.

Ultimately, Credit Human’s headquarters is an example of sustainability as an operational strategy rather than a marketing move. The building’s specs are impressive, but the team’s most significant insights for other credit unions are more about execution:

1. Don’t cap ambition by designing to the minimum standard and build for integration.
2. Plan for a culture change and invest in employee engagement.
3. Frame the ROI like a long-term owner, not a short-term builder.

The post Credit Human Redefines ‘Green’ In The Heart Of Texas appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

For the past 20 years, Holy Rosary Credit Union ($487.1M, Rochester, NH) has operated a career and technical education (CTE) banking program at Spaulding High School through the Richard W. Creteau Regional Technology Center, pairing classroom instruction with an on‑campus branch. This year, enrollment is at full capacity. There’s even a waitlist.

But it wasn’t always that way.

The New Hampshire cooperative made some changes due to the impact of COVID. Because the program relies heavily on hands-on instruction, a staffing gap and lack of in-person instruction put its future at risk. Five years ago, Carlynne Pouliot, who was at the time assistant vice president of financial services, stepped in to rebuild the program. Today, it’s on firmer footing.

“It’s really evolved in the past four years,” Pouliot says. “This is our most successful year since the pandemic.”

According to Pouliot, who is now vice president of retail and business development, student feedback and a deeper relationship with school administration has helped strengthen the program. The biggest factor, however, was finding the right teacher.

“I have the best students,” says Kayleigh Erwin, who has run the program for two years. “Yes, they can be a little silly. Of course, they’re high schoolers, but they are still hardworking.”

Real World Experience Is The Differentiator

Sometimes, the best way to learn is by doing. HRCU’s flagship course is Banking & Financial Support Services, a year-long course that blends financial literacy with workforce development.

In the classroom, students cover personal finance topics such as budgeting, saving, and investing while also learning about banking regulations and working with members.

“The first month is learning cash handling, confidentiality, and our teller system,” Erwin says. “Even if they don’t go into banking, it’s usually their first customer service experience.”

The on-campus branch is open three days a week, and each student is assigned one shift per week as a part of their instruction. There, they handle real member transactions with the same systems tellers use in all HRCU branches. Additionally, students in the Hoy Rosary banking program have the opportunity to earn college credit.

“Students in the tech center can earn three free college credits, so this helps them save money,” Erwin says.

Last year, Erwin worked with Great Bay Community College, submitting her credentials and curriculum for approval. Now her class counts as ECON 225 Personal Finance (worth three credits).

Pouliot says this helps to further connect academics with real-world careers.

“Research shows students who earn college credits in high school are more likely to enroll, stay enrolled, and graduate,” she says.

Students in the year-long program can also earn a $750 scholarship from HRCU based on their performance.

Students who might not want to commit to a year-long class have the option to take Introduction to Banking. This eight-week feeder course for the main program covers the same personal finance topics but offers a more general overview of banking concepts and industry basics, such as the history of the credit union movement. The shorter format lowers the barrier to entry and has proved to be popular.

“It increased enrollment,” Pouliot says. “Next year we expect 20 students, split into two classes. We have already filled next year’s program.”

Student Growth. New Opportunities.

The program’s growth and popularity has enabled HRCU to offer an expanded extended learning opportunity (ELO) this year. This advanced, individualized experience is designed to allow select students to take full ownership of branch operations.

“One of our students this year will be an intern next year running the branch for a dedicated class period,” Pouliot says. “She’ll have a job description role responsibilities. We’re fully confident in her skills.”

Responsibilities include opening the branch, managing a cash drawer, and handling day-to-day operations on their own. The role also extends beyond the classroom, incorporating a paid internship component during both the school year and summer.

What sets the ELO apart is it’s fully self-directed.

“There is no curriculum,” Pouliot says. “We create a job description, they come into the role, and then they self-operate. They have to connect back to the ELO director about their training, their experiences, and the projects they’re working on.”

The credit union trusts these students to operate at a professional level, making this the highest tier of responsibility within the program and a direct bridge to workforce readiness. Moving forward, HRCU hopes to expand this offering to accommodate more students in the future.

Enrollment and participation are important success metrics for these courses, however HRCU also monitors branch usage, account openings, and how effective the program is as an opportunity to help students adapt into the career world.

In regard to that last item, the credit union has multiple success stories, including one from several years ago in which a former student stuck with banking and eventually returned to work at HRCU as its consumer lending manager. According to Pouliot, they remain in the industry to this day after moving to a different state.

More recently, a student who graduated from the program last year as a senior is now working full-time in the credit union’s main office.

“We also hired a part-time student from our program last year,” Pouliot says. “He’s in his junior year of high school, so he works with us every Saturday.”

Evolution Based On Student Voices

Perhaps the biggest reason the banking program is so popular is the fact that student feedback plays such a major role, not just in how HRCU structures classes but in how it approaches youth banking overall. This year, HRCU established an annual volunteer student focus group open to all students.

Pouliot says it’s been an invaluable resource.

“Every piece of data we’ve got from those focus groups we’ve put into play,” the VP says. “Now, marketing and I can present to our executive team about how we can restructure our teen accounts based on the feedback we’re receiving from those focus groups.”

Student insights support services, too, not just products. For example, students told HRCU they wanted to know more about budgeting, so the credit union is hosting a seminar on the subject in May just for them. Erwin says there’s a strong interest in how savings and credit work, and she receives several questions about how students can get the most out of their money. She also says students are a lot more engaged than some might think.

“There’s a misconception that students aren’t motivated, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” she says. “They want to learn, attend college, and give back. They challenge themselves. They hold jobs while balancing CTE, clubs, and volunteer work. They are working.”

Hands-On And All-In

Pouliot says HRCU’s banking program relies heavily on participation from credit union leadership and strong integration with Spaulding High School and the surrounding community.

“Our board is hands-on,” she says. “We have our chair of the board, our vice chair of the board, and another board member who attend the focus groups. When we do donations at the school, the board comes.”

The credit union also hosts panels with employees from different departments so students can see different career paths that are available.

“We invite the business program, the marketing program, and our banking program,” Pouliot says. “It’s a well-rounded panel.”

The value of a strong relationship with school administrators also cannot be understated.

“Anytime we have challenges, we go to the school administration,” Pouliot says. “There’s a director of the CTE and she really helps us create our partnership. We work together as one big team.”

HRCU even attends open houses and orientations for incoming eighth graders, and credit union staff are regulars at events like fundraisers and sports games.

Concern for community is one of the industry’s cooperative principles, and it’s one HRCU emphasizes when working within the school. For example, after learning how many students rely on a local food pantry, the credit union and its student participants began making regular contributions, including organizing donations and physically helping stock it. Students also attend community events the credit union is involved in.

“They’re giving back to their peers, and they value it,” Pouliot says. “They embrace the community impact of the credit union, and that’s huge.”

The post Inside An In-School Model That Links Classrooms With College And Careers appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

Top-Level Takeaways

• Digital tools and affordable platforms lower the accessibility barriers that often prevent members from starting an estate plan.
• Financial literacy programming and one-on-one coaching help members overcome the discomfort of talking about death, inheritance, and financial planning.
• Multi-generational banking under one institution benefits families, too, especially during transitions for caregivers.

It’s not called the Great Wealth Transfer for nothing.

According to research and consulting firm Cerulli Associates, $124 trillion in assets is set to shift hands by 2048. The lion’s share of that — as much as 81% — will flow from the Silent Generation and baby boomers to, mostly, Gen X and millennial heirs.

Tom Montilli, chief operating officer at Harvard Federal Credit Union ($1.2B, Cambridge, MA), says it’s a major life change set to impact members regardless of which side of it they’re on.

“We see a lot of responsibility in making sure our members are financially healthy and prepared for these major life events,” Montilli says. “That’s where we know the greatest need will be over the next decade, and we want to make sure we’re well-positioned to help them through it.”

There’s a common misconception that wealth transfer matters primarily when dealing with significant assets. According to data from the Federal Reserve, the average inheritance in the United States is $46,000 to $58,000 per household; however, large, wealthy estates heavily skew this figure. In reality, 70% to 80% of U.S. households never receive an inheritance. For households that do, the amount is often quite modest, with the bottom 50% averaging less than $10,000.

Still, according to Montilli, that money matters.

“Any inheritance deserves care and planning,” he says. “Something is always better than nothing.”

ESTIMATED WEALTH INHERITANCE THROUGH 2035
FOR U.S. HOUSEHOLDS | DATA AS OF 2023
SOURCE: CERULLI ASSOCIATES, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, IRS, SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

What Keeps People From Making A Plan?

When it comes to estate planning, some communication is better than nothing, too. But that’s not happening.

A Fidelity Investment study released in 2025 concluded that a full 35% of parents 55 or older don’t want their children to know how much they’ll get. A 2024 Catalyst Advisory’s study estimates only 14% of American adults have had detailed, meaningful conversations about inheritance; 36% have never discussed it at all.

“Families don’t like talking about death or money, and combining the two is especially uncomfortable,” Montilli says. “There’s also the sense that it feels overwhelming or complex just to get started, and sometimes there’s a false sense of security like maybe someone else has taken care of it.”

Perceived complexity and stigma often prevent members from taking the first step, but a lack of dialogue can raise the risk of damaged relationships, financial confusion, and legal disputes over assets.

“They see this monumental task ahead of them, but even starting with basics like a power of attorney helps tremendously down the road,” Montilli says.

Ditching The Traditional For Digital

A few years ago, Harvard FCU addressed some of these barriers through a partnership with Gentreo, an online estate-planning platform founded in part by a Harvard alumni. The service helps users create, manage, and securely store the legal documents needed to organize their affairs. Instead of working directly with an attorney, users complete guided online questionnaires that generate legally valid estate-planning documents tailored to their them.

“The cost model allowed us to subsidize it for many members,” Montilli says. “Even at full price with the credit union discount, it’s about $100 a year, but depending on the relationship, that could be $50 or completely free. It was about making this affordable and lowering that barrier to entry by keeping things simple.”

Harvard FCU continuously promotes this service to its members. There was strong adoption in the beginning, but Montilli says there’s still a long ways to go.

“We want to do more through education and communications to help normalize the conversation and give people guidance on how to start the process,” he says.

Today, Harvard FCU’s partnership with Gentreo extends beyond its digital vault to in-person education resources. The credit union’s community engagement team offers several webinars and workshops about estate planning in general as well as what tools are available and how to use them.

Montilli says the credit union typically times these events around major holidays, when multiple generations are more likely to come together.

Expanding Investment And Advisory Services

Another key piece of Harvard FCU’s wealth transfer strategy is personalized investment services, which it offers through a broker-dealer partnership. Members can sign up for appointments both in-branch or through Zoom.

“With many large investment firms, if you don’t have a million dollars in invested assets, it’s hard to get true one-on-one attention or guidance,” Montilli says. “Again, our goal is to make these services accessible to all members. We believe someone with a $50,000 inheritance deserves the same care and attention.”

The chief operating officer says it’s important members know they don’t have to act too quickly. Priority No. 1 is simply securing the money. From there, advisors encourage them to take a breath and wait until they’re in a less emotionally charged place.

“That’s when you make better decisions,” Montilli says. “There’s no rush, but it is important to start.”

Connections For The Long-Term

With a growing number of families set to experience this shift in the coming years, Montilli says credit unions are in the exceptional position to “right-size” traditional estate planning so any member can benefit.

“This is where credit unions have always been strong: providing personal service and one-on-one guidance regardless of affluence,” he says.

An increasingly top-of-mind focus at Harvard FCU is encouraging multiple generations to bank together within the same institution. There are clear balance-sheet benefits to this, but it also means easier financial oversight, shared account access, and smoother transitions for caregivers. Montilli says the goal is to establish long-term trust.

“One advantage of being not-for-profit is that we don’t have to look at these conversations through a sales lens or quarterly quotas,” he says. “We’re thinking about relationships that span decades.”

The post The Great Wealth Transfer Is Also A Relationship Transfer appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

U.S. households love rewards programs. According to a 2025 survey by Deloitte, such programs not only drive loyalty and boost brand engagement but also increase perceived value, a sentiment shared by 80% of those polled.

Nuvision Federal Credit Union ($3.9B, Huntington Beach, CA) put a simple, cooperative spin on incentives with Added Advantage, a loyalty program the credit union rolled out in 2017.

“Many financial institutions reward individual products, like a checking account or loan, but we wanted a program that recognizes the overall relationship,” says Tom Sweet, senior vice president of marketing for the credit union. “The more business a member does with Nuvision, the higher their score. The higher their score, the higher their benefits.”

What Do Members Really Want?

Sweet says Added Advantage emerged from Nuvision’s broader effort to evolve from a product-focused model to a relationship-based member experience.

Once the idea took shape, the credit union spent roughly a year to plan, model, and test the program before bringing it to market. During that time, teams worked on design as well as operational processes to support the program across digital and branch channels.

“One of the biggest challenges was designing a system that balanced simplicity for members with meaningful incentives for deeper engagement,” Sweet says. “Another challenge was operational readiness, ensuring our systems and staff training were aligned before launching the program broadly.”

Although Sweet and his team created the program, he describes its development as a continuous, multi-department effort.

“Executive leadership supported the strategic vision of the concept, whereas front-line teams provided important feedback on what members value and how the program would work in day-to-day member interactions,” he says. “We wanted the program to be easy to understand while still accurately reflecting the strength of a member’s relationship with the credit union. That required thoughtful modeling around scoring, benefits, and long-term sustainability.”

Since its introduction, adoption has been strong and steady.

“Members appreciate that the program is free to join and that benefits are tied to everyday banking activities they are already doing,” Sweet says.

Simplicity With Meaningful Incentives

When members opt-in they receive an Added Advantage score, which increases as they use more Nuvision products or services.

“It is similar to a FICO score that provides better rates with higher scores,” Sweet explains. “The more a member banks with Nuvision, such as maintaining deposits or financing loans, the higher their score becomes.”

As the score increases, members unlock additional benefits, including lower loan rates, higher certificate interest rates, and cash-back incentives on loans.

The credit union combined digital communications and traditional marketing campaigns for the program’s rollout, although Sweet says support from branch and contact center teams is an essential part of the ongoing awareness strategy.

“Front-line employees were and continue to be key ambassadors for the program,” the SVP says. “They help members understand how the program works and identify opportunities to increase their score by expanding their relationship.”

Today, Nuvision measures success through a variety of key performance indicators, including enrollment and participation, growth in multi-product relationships, and deposit and loan balances.

“Ultimately, the most important measure is whether the program helps members deepen their relationship with Nuvision over time,” Sweet says.

As deposit and loan growth becomes more competitive, those deeper relationships can have a direct impact on balance sheets, not just member experience. For example, Nuvision’s asset growth accelerated notably in recent quarters to reach 18.48% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, loans grew 15.4%, more than double the 6.0% peer group average for credit unions of a similar size. Nuvision’s ability to sustain higher growth supports the idea that member engagement is strong.

Ditch The Gimmicks

Looking ahead, Sweet says Nuvision sees Added Advantage as a long-term platform rather than a static offer. It’s designed so the credit union can continuously enhance the program with new benefits and partnerships over time.

Nuvision Credit Union’s Added Advantage rewards program emphasizes relationship depth, encouraging members to build a broader connection with the credit union rather than rewarding individual transactions.

Added Advantage benefits at Nuvision FCU tie member engagement to higher certificate yields, loan discounts, and cash incentives.

“As member behavior and financial needs evolve, the program can adapt to ensure rewards remain relevant and valuable,” Sweet says.

For credit unions seeking a similar program for membership, the marketing leader says to start with the member relationship, not the reward.

“The most successful loyalty programs aren’t about points or gimmicks,” he says. “They’re about encouraging behaviors that strengthen the relationship between members and the credit union.”

It’s also important to invest in member education early, especially when communicating the financial value the program offers.

“If members can easily understand the program and see the impact on their financial lives, adoption and engagement will follow naturally,” Sweet says.

The post A Rewards Program That Relies On Relationships, Not Usage appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

Top-Level Takeaways

• Marine Credit Union thoughtfully embedded its foundation into its own strategic plan, aligning both around a shared community focus.
• Integrating programs, resources, and employees has made the foundation an extension of the credit union.
• Governance, shared leadership, and deliberate communication also ensures alignment across day-to-day operations.

Marine Credit Union ($1.1B, La Crosse, WI) doesn’t lack commitment to community impact. It stood up its Marine Credit Union Foundation in 2013 to address issues like financial education, food security, and affordable housing — systemic challenges that have no quick solutions. Despite its good work, there were opportunities to further align its work with the credit union’s overall strategy.

“We had been doing a lot of great work in the community, but it wasn’t always connected back to the broader strategic priorities of the credit union,” says Joumana Mcdad, chief service delivery and experience officer at Marine Credit Union. “It felt like separate efforts that were sometimes competing with each other, whether for staffing resources or marketing support.”

So, the Wisconsin cooperative and its charitable arm embarked on a year-long journey to redefine how each interacts with the another. With alignment and integration, the foundation shifted from being a stand-alone effort to a built-in contributor to credit union strategy.

“At Marine, we operate under a three-stakeholder model: When we prioritize the well-being of our employees, we create a culture where people feel valued and supported. That care naturally extends to how our employees serve our members with compassion, empathy, and excellence, and when our members are well-served, the communities that we serve grow stronger and more resilient,” Mcdad says.

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The Power Of An Outside Perspective

When making this strategic shift, the duo did not act alone.

Mcdad, her team, the Board, and Executive team tapped an outside consultant to conduct a full foundation assessment. This included everything from bylaws, policies, and procedures to the organization’s management agreement, especially when it came to how the credit union supported the foundation through in-kind resources. The evaluation also included advice related to programs, budget, and grant opportunities.

“Once we had that assessment, we took those recommendations and distributed them across our executive and leadership teams,” Mcdad says. “That helped everyone feel ownership. They weren’t just observing the change. They were actively helping build it.”

Looking back, Mcdad notes this was especially important because it allowed leaders to make decisions with greater objectivity. The team reworked the board structure and made sure the foundation was clearly aligned with the broader credit union.

“We embedded the foundation into the credit union strategic plan and defined where it fits within the overall strategy,” Mcdad says.

Structure, Governance, And Shared Ownership

The foundation’s early model was anchored by a dedicated board of community volunteers, with limited direct involvement from credit union leadership beyond a liaison role served by Mcdad. Credit union staff supported volunteer and community efforts, while board governance remained primarily community led. As board terms expired, leadership used the transition as an opportunity to realign governance more closely with the credit union.

Mcdad now serves as board chair, leveraging her role overseeing community engagement, members, and branches for the credit union. Marine Credit Union’s CEO, Tom Knothe, serves as vice chair. But these aren’t the only two credit union representatives.

“Where we really started to get smart was in bringing on a Marine Credit Union board member to also serve on the foundation board,” Mcdad says. “She acts as a liaison at the board level, and that’s where we started to see stronger alignment take shape.”

The credit union’s vice president of community leads day-to-day operations for the foundation and functions as its executive director. Two credit union middle managers round out the foundation board as treasurer and secretary.

These key personnel changes didn’t just align the foundation with the credit union on paper, they ensured the foundation had an org chart to support the credit union’s strategy.

In addition to the newly established alignment, leaders also had to ensure they built buy-in at all levels of both organizations.

“The biggest lesson was the importance of over-communicating and making sure everyone feels part of the process, which means involving the right stakeholders early,” Mcdad says. “Alignment in isolation doesn’t work. You need input across the organization, and you need people to feel ownership in bringing the strategy to life.”

In practice, this means a lot of meetings. The executive and middle management connects frequently, and organization-wide updates are shared during monthly town halls.

“We want employees to feel embedded in the foundation and connected to its mission,” Mcdad says. “The best way to do that is to make them part of the vision and part of the decision-making.”

Open communication is one way the credit union brings in employees. Another way is through employee giving. It introduces employees to the Marine Credit Union Foundation during onboarding and allows employees to contribute any amount through payroll deductions, which the credit union matches at a 2:1 rate. It then pools the funds and redistributes them across the organization for departments to use as charitable budgets.

“Our branches and teams are closest to their communities,” Mcdad says. “They know the needs and the organizations. Why not let them be part of that impact?”

From Alignment To Action

After aligning strategy, organizational structure, and employee support, leaders then ensured the foundation’s programs connected directly to credit union products and services.

For example, Marine Credit Union identified fragmentation within its financial education efforts. To address this, the organization hired a financial education director who oversees efforts like the foundation’s Finding HOME program, a free, 12- to 18-month program designed for individuals facing barriers to homeownership.

“By the end of the program, we typically see significant improvements in credit scores and savings and ultimately, we’re able to make a mortgage through Marine Credit Union,” Mcdad explains. “That’s where the alignment comes to life.”

So far, 39 program graduates have achieved homeownership. On average, participants reduce debt by approximately $12,000 annually and increase their credit scores by roughly 90 points.

By focusing on alignment, Marine can now look ahead to helping more people than before.

“In the past, because of resource constraints and the disconnect between the foundation and credit union, we couldn’t expand the program across all our markets,” Mcdad says. “Now that resources are aligned, we’re able to scale it much more effectively.”

From Siloed To A Strategic Lever

Today, the Marine Credit Union Foundation plays an essential role in the credit union’s community support efforts.

“If you put the community at the center of everything you’re doing, the foundation becomes a key lever,” Mcdad says. “Our credit union’s community team is out in the market building relationships and partnerships. Then, the foundation comes in as part of that conversation, supporting those partners through homeownership programs, financial education, and charitable contributions.”

Mcdad describes the next phase as deepening the foundation’s presence in the community and broadening its financial education efforts. Marine Credit Union is also focusing on how to continue to position the foundation as an extension of the credit union’s identity rather than an aside.

“It can be a real differentiator for credit unions,” Mcdad says. “If you build strong programs within your foundation, especially ones that are unique or highly impactful, you can use that as part of your broader brand. Not everyone has something like this. If you get good at one or two things, that becomes part of how your credit union stands out.”

The post How Marine Credit Union Shifted Its Foundation From Siloed To Symbiotic appeared first on CreditUnions.com.