A Blueprint To Build Better Volunteers

“Concern for community” is a foundational principle for the credit union movement. Even as cooperatives work toward the positive development of communities, the world evolves and changes around them. In response, industry leaders and their teams must adapt, too, and uncover new ways to better serve their communities.

3Rivers Federal Credit Union ($2.4B, Fort Wayne, IN) has long encouraged a concern form community among its staff. Not only does the credit union include volunteerism as a core values, but it also holds an annual companywide Give Back Day and gives employees two full paid days off to volunteer.

In 2022, the executive team enriched the credit union’s volunteerism with the establishment of its Community Leaders program.

Creating Community Leaders

The Community Leaders program provides a how-to guide for effective nonprofit board and committee participation and draws employees from across branch locations, departments, and all levels of leadership.

“We want it to be a mix and an opportunity for different types of roles to interact,” says Heather Bontempo, community engagement manager at 3Rivers. “That allows for our culture to be what it is — focused on continuous improvement and innovation.”

Interested employees must secure management approval before applying for a spot in the program. A committee then reviews applications.

“A lot of times we are looking at individuals who are already involved,” Bontempo says. “We want people who have shown the commitment to volunteering and being out there in the community.”

Program topics include a deep dive into fundraising, strategic planning, and the expectations and rules associated with being a board member. The group also spends time together working through potential scenarios and typically give presentations related to issues specific to their communities.

Once individuals have graduated, the credit union shares their bios with hundreds of organizations across the area. It also occasionally askes graduates to mentor an incoming batch of program participants.

Lessons Learned

Bontempo says the three-year-old program continues to evolve as more individuals go through it. For example, the program included two, four-day sessions in 2022 and 2023 but changed that in 2024 to five days held only once per year. This helped 3Rivers expand the program to include more information while emphasizing the stature and importance of the initiative.

Also this year, the credit union is making efforts to better connect with area nonprofits.

“That’s one big, big takeaway I’ve heard from everybody in this program,” Bontempo says. “We don’t know what nonprofits are out there.”

This November, 3Rivers plans to bring area nonprofits in-house for a speed dating-style event designed to introduce community leaders to those organizations and vice versa. Once the first half of the event is concluded, all staff will then have an opportunity to come in as well.

“The more information, the more connections we have will allow us to better serve in our communities,” Bontempo says. “It also allows [team members] to then be happier in their role because they’re feeling more fulfilled having found those opportunities.”

What’s Next?

Graduates of the Community Leaders Program have joined a variety of non-profit boards, including Community in Schools, Junior Achievement, and Kiwanis Club. Today, 3Rivers has partnered with more than 300 organizations across its field of membership and staff members have completed approximately 440 volunteer hours so far in 2024.

“Last year we were over 3,100 but Give Back Day will account for a large portion of our final total,” Bontempo says. “We have 380-plus people that all do four hours each.”

Although the credit union has not set specific targets for 2025 yet, Bontempo says she hopes to facilitate more ongoing communication and collaboration with program graduates.

“I want to start reengaging with them, bring them back together to form a true group that can continue to grow, learn, and develop together,” she says.

3Rivers will also begin gathering more data to further examine the program’s effectiveness.

“We’ve never really surveyed the people that have gone through to be like ‘Hey, are you on a board? Do you volunteer? What are the organizations?’” Bontempo says. “That’s data that I’m going to be collecting.”

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