As credit unions continue to look for ways to measure their community impact, many are also producing community impact reports to highlight how they give back to their communities and make a difference in people’s lives.
In 2022, employees of Langley Federal Credit Union ($5.1B, Newport News, VA) raked up more than 2,000 hours of volunteer service. Langley FCU’s foundation — Langley for Families — donated more than $1 million in 2022 to support its community’s healthcare, housing and human services, education, and safety and security. And during a single day of service, the two entities had teams of people deployed at nine different project sites. There’s a lot to celebrate, and the community impact report is one way to do that.
Here, Liz Wolfson, director of foundation and events, and Jerome Fowlkes, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, share how the credit union and its foundation have coordinated to produce a community impact report that helps drive engagement among key stakeholders.
Why did Langley start to produce its own community impact report?
Liz Wolfson: As our donations and efforts began growing, we wanted to make sure our employees, our members, local non-profits, and community knew about the deeper impact we were having. The Langley for Families foundation was formed in 2014. The impact piece is a great way for all our stakeholders to see how our combined impact is strengthening our community. It also helps us build trust and drive engagement.
What does Langley hope to accomplish through the report?
LW: The outcomes are different for each of our key stakeholder groups, but motivation is a common goal. It should motivate our employees by showing them all the various ways to give their time, talent, and treasure. It should encourage individuals from outside our organization to get involved — as either members, employees, or partners. And it should inspire the community by showcasing our combined impact.
How do you distribute the report?
Jerome Fowlkes: In addition to the report being publicly available on Langley’s website and our foundation’s site, we also share it with all employees via our intranet and distribute printed copies to our business partners — it provides concrete examples as our executives tell Langley’s story during our charitable golf classic, which is one of our largest fundraisers.
Lastly, Liz has the opportunity to speak with every new class of employees and provides this piece to get them excited about the organization they have joined and inspire them to get involved in multiple ways.
What kind of feedback have you received about the impact report?
JF: The feedback has been very positive. What really stands out about this piece is the dollars invested. The foundation is not even 10 years old, yet we were able to hit the $1 million milestone for the first time in 2021 and exceed it again in 2022. When you add in the credit union’s charitable wing, that’s a total of $1.6 million we’re pouring into the communities we serve. It’s impressive.
Our other initiatives also resonate with readers. We include the number of volunteer hours and number of employees who volunteer throughout the year and during special events such as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. We had teams of people deployed at nine project sites that single day. In 2022, Langley employees volunteered a total of 2,370 hours.
Does creating the report help the credit union or foundation in other ways?
JF: Yes, it’s a great way to look back on what we’ve done. It demonstrates how far we’ve come, what we did, and how successful we were. Although we have a board and grant committee that shapes the initiatives we want to fund and our priorities moving forward, the report shows how well we’re doing in key areas. It also motivates us to ask what we need to do collectively to have an even bigger impact next year.
What lessons have you learned along the way? What advice do you have for others?
LW: The biggest thing we changed from 2021 to 2022 was focusing on telling the story of the year versus highlighting all the initiatives separately [click here to download the 2021 report]. We want to start with the key community needs before moving on to how we addressed them and sharing the overall statistics to tie it all together.
In terms of advice for others, occasionally I’ve seen community impact reports that sneak in a sales pitch. That’s not a great look and could take away from the heartfelt component of the piece. A community impact report should demonstrate how you are a servant leader within the community. It’s not a sales brochure.
JF: Giving back to the community is deeply ingrained at Langley. All vice presidents, senior vice presidents, and C-suite executives serve on at least one board. In some cases, individuals serve on multiple boards. These local organizations see our commitment firsthand throughout the year, but this piece summarizes our actions, advocacy, and community involvement for everyone. We’re always trying to better understand local needs. It’s not just about giving cash and writing a report — it’s a real commitment to being part of our community. That’s what I love about Langley.
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This interview has been edited and condensed.
