Credit Unions are known for their commitment to Financial Education. Year after year the League Awards Committee recognizes the best programs that are submitted for judging for the Desjardins award. Some of the approaches are broad and some smaller but all try to accomplish the same goal. As Credit Unions we want our memberships to be better consumers of financial products and services. One Credit Union produces an entire video series that walks the main character through different financial situations and gives their members graduation certificates after they finish the series. Another Credit Union has a branch in a local elementary school and is building and training the next professional generation of credit union workers. Still others send their staffs into local schools and teach a program of materials designed to help students become better financial citizens.
These approaches may seem too broad for your Credit Union to achieve. You might not have the resources to devote as much energy to this priority as you might want to—but you do want to encourage Financial Education. Isn’t there a simpler and yet effective way? Well, yes, there is!
North Carolina Credit Unions are asked to try Financial Education in 2013 in a simpler way—yet one that can be extremely effective. All we need to do is ask our staff and members how they will make our collective goal happen. During the month of April, Financial Literacy Month, credit union staff and members will be encouraged to “pledge your support for financial education.” The pledge will be answering a simple question such as “I pledge to support financial education by _____” with options such as “making a donation to support financial education initiatives, take a financial education class in the next month, educate myself about the importance of budgeting, spread the word about the importance of financial education, make an extra car or mortgage payment this month, spend less on eating out, or etc. ”
If this approach piques your interest then please learn more about the proposed campaign by going to www.financialeducation.coop, seeing the free resources available for your Credit Union to download for promotion. We’re targeting Wednesday, April 3 as “Financially Fit Day” to ask your members to make their pledges. In addition the Foundation is targeting April as a fundraising month for credit union staffs in fun and creative ways. More details will come soon! In the meantime, you may click on the linked Power Point presentation for a program overview. If you have any questions, please contact John McGrail at the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation.