What if the real measure of financial success wasn’t a budget but a sense of peace?
At Affinity Federal Credit Union ($4.2, Basking Ridge, NJ), the journey toward supporting true financial wellbeing began with a simple realization: financial stress isn’t solved by spreadsheets.
“Finances, for the majority of existence, have been a math problem,” says Grant Gallagher, director of financial wellbeing and brand communications at the New Jersey cooperative. “People weren’t thinking about it from the emotional perspective, the psychological perspective, the impact it all has on you.”
The team at Affinity saw that as an opportunity to move beyond traditional education and focus content and programs around something deeper — emotional connection.
“We wanted to make sure we were heard in that space,” Gallagher says. “You can’t tell people you’ve got this great solution if they don’t understand what the problem is.”
The credit union boldly embraced financial wellbeing with Wellbeing And Your Wallet, a multi-channel initiative that includes a podcast, surveys, and even a community award all designed to help members feel supported, not just informed.
Raising A Voice About Financial Wellbeing
Affinity kicked off its financial wellbeing initiative with a podcast that builds on existing resources, such as the credit union’s weekly webinar series and blogs.
“We wanted to educate people on the concept of wellbeing,” Gallagher explains. “We had one of our former chiefs co-host when we first started it. That helped build momentum.”
Although Gallagher says the audio space is pretty saturated today, that wasn’t the case four or five years ago, when Affinity FCU debuted the podcast. It initially released new episodes every month but increased to a biweekly pace to improve audience engagement. The podcast covers a variety of financial topics but occasionally dips into different areas of wellbeing, too, such as physical, community, career, and more.
“We’ve had a lot of success expanding beyond that initial focus and pulling in different guests that are experts in their space,” Gallagher says.
As of late July, the credit union had recorded more than 60 episodes.
Data Points And Smart Pivots
After launching the podcast, Affinity turned its attention to developing a wellbeing index based on the credit union’s own consumer research survey of tri-state area residents. The index gauged outlook on topics like financial optimism, stress and insecurity, emergency preparedness, and even food insecurity. This provided a useful point of comparison against Affinity’s existing research conducted through Gallup as a member of the Member Engagement & Financial Wellbeing Consortium.
Although the index initially provided beneficial insights, Gallagher says the general consumer sentiment ultimately did not deviate much from member sentiment. The credit union ceased publishing after a handful of surveys, opening the door to focus on other opportunities.
Research Insights From Gallup
Emotionally engaged credit union members are:
- 5.4× more likely to stay loyal
- 2.5× more likely to hold multiple products.
- 5.6× more likely to see their CU as a trusted advisor.
“We pivoted and focused more on our event- and concern-specific topics, like cost of the day at the shore,” Gallagher says. “Inflation has been a conversation starter for four or five years now. It’s died down somewhat, but the cost of vacation was a significant concern that we saw over and over again.”
Members as well as local media embraced the new approach, and two years ago, Affinity expanded it to include cost of holiday spending.
“Focusing on practical advice and practical data that people can use has been popular,” Gallagher says.
Importantly, these initiatives inform and support the evolution of one another. The consumer research and survey data inspired podcast content, whereas the podcast helped shape ideas for further exploration.
Deepening Community Relationships
A podcast that marries finance plus emotion? Check.
Practical advice? Check.
Now, what about communitywide recognition? Check that, too.
In 2024, Affinity partnered with an area hospital and Gallup to launch a trio of Wellbeing Awards to recognize organizations that prioritize impact, innovation, and enhancing the wellbeing of community or individuals in financial, community, and physical spheres.
That year, the credit union recognized:
- Share My Meals, which addresses food insecurity.
- Jazz for Prostate Cancer Awareness (Jazz4PCA), which advocates for education and early detection of the disease.
- New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA), which combines political advocacy, public outreach, and community empowerment programs.
The second annual awards included recognition for:
- Miriam’s Heart, which supports children in adoptive and foster care families.
- Therapeutic Touch, whose services included in-home massage care for clients suffering with chronic conditions.
- Clever Girl Finance, which empowers women to “ditch debt, save money, and build real wealth.”
According to Gallagher, the awards are an opportunity for Affinity to support local organizations doing important work that need extra visibility.
“We’re two years in and have had some stellar people win these awards,” the director says. “We’re proud of it. We’ve been able to highlight great organizations and build our relationships with them.”
That relationship building extends beyond the awards ceremony, as the credit union has maintained ongoing volunteer relationships with multiple awardees.
“It’s been a nice, cohesive, ongoing snowball of wellbeing,” Gallagher says. “We’ve been putting together a five-year strategy, and we’re looking to do more and more. We’re just getting started.”
Register Now: A Roadmap To Credit Union Growth. Join Callahan & Associates and Gallup on Oct. 1 to discover how emotional engagement and the perception of care drive member loyalty and participation. Combining Gallup’s specialized research in human behavior and decision-making with Callahan’s decades of credit union expertise, we’ll share research and insights on how these factors strengthen member financial wellbeing and fuel sustainable, profitable credit union growth. Register now for this free webinar.