10 Ways Credit Unions Can Transform Millennials into Members

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10 WAYS CREDIT UNIONS CAN

TRANSFORM MILLENIALS

INTO MEMBERS

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K im Vu is the vice president of community investment and social impact for

the Northwest Credit Union Association (NWCUA) and also serves as the

executive director for the Northwest Credit Union Foundation (NWCUF). In these

roles, Vu focuses on highlighting the meaningful impact credit unions have on the

communities they serve. She also identifies effective impact and evaluation models

that foster strategic partnerships and fully leverage the foundation’s ability to

empower and further connect credit unions and communities.

Vu came to the NWCUA from Technology Credit Union in Silicon Valley where she

was responsible for managing outreach initiatives including strategic community

partnerships, employee volunteer programs, advocacy and advising social venture

tech startups. She helped to facilitate such success stories as Corduro, a mobile

donation platform, and GoVoluntr, a resource that connects volunteers to nonprofits.

Vu holds a degree in business management from San Jose State University and

a master’s degree in leadership from St. Mary’s College. She has also earned

certificates in foundation management & strategic philanthropy as well as private

banking from Cannon Financial Institute. Her professional honors include recognition

as a Silicon Valley Business Journal Woman of Distinction in Banking & Finance,

Silicon Valley 100 Women of Influence and Top 40 Under 40. She has also participated

in the World Council of Credit Unions Young Credit Union Professionals program.

Her favorite part about working in the credit union industry is that it empowers those

who may not have a voice in the community and gives them a means to be heard

through financial empowerment.

Kim Vu Northwest Credit Union Association (NWCUA) and Northwest Credit Union Foundation (NWCUF)

http://www.nwcua.org/

http://nwcuf.org/

https://www.nwcua.org/about-nwcua/staff/kvu

http://www.nwcua.org/

© 2009-14 CafeGive, All Rights Reserved.33 © 2009-14 CafeGive, All Rights Reserved.

Ask a hundred marketers what they’re thinking about right now, and ninety-nine will give you the same answer: Millennials.

Across all kinds of industries, millennials (young people born between the early 1980’s and the early 2000’s) are a highly sought-after market segment and the subject of countless studies and opinion articles. And with good reason: millennials, AKA Generation Y, account for over 25% of the U.S.’s population and are expected to spend upwards of $3.39 trillion annually by 2018.

MILLENIALS

http://www.oracle.com/us/industries/financial-services/gen-y-survey-report-165297.pdf


- 10 Ways Credit Unions Can TRANSFORM MILLENNIALS INTO MEMBERS -

For credit unions, banks, and other members of the financial industry, millennials are especially significant. While their collective spending power cannot be denied, most of this generation entered the workforce at the peak of the worst global economic recession since World War II. Many young people face debt, economic uncertainty, and therefore a complicated relationship with financial institutions. As companies across all industries struggle to connect with this unique demographic, credit unions and millennials may find themselves on opposite ends of a growing cultural divide, with few resources to understand each other and little of the understanding necessary for a long-term relationship.


Enter Kim Vu. As vice president of community investment and social impact for the Northwest Credit Union Association (NWCUA), executive director for the Northwest Credit Union Foundation (NWCUF), and a self-identified millennial, Kim believes that credit unions and members of Gen Y are a perfect match: both share the same socially-conscious values and commitment to their local communities.

We spoke with Kim about some of the ways credit unions can attract millennials and transform them into members. Here are her ten tips for marketers.

- 10 Ways Credit Unions Can TRANSFORM MILLENNIALS INTO MEMBERS -

CREDIT UNIONS

GENERATION Y+=

PERFECTMATCH!

https://www.nwcua.org/about-nwcua/staff/kvu


One of the simplest ways credit unions can attract young people is connecting with them where they’re most concentrated: colleges and universities.

1 leverage UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS



“Most credit unions don’t have the capacity or bandwidth to go out into their communities and volunteer every day in the masses,” says Kim. “But they can leverage their partnerships with colleges and universities to reach more people through financial education programs and other volunteer opportunities.”

She sees the relationship as mutually beneficial: college students have the opportunity to volunteer in their community as part of a trusted organization, and credit unions get to foster relationships with young people while increasing their giving efforts—all of which serves the community.

- 1. leverage UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS -

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Throughout her years working with credit unions, Kim has seen how giving opportunities and cause marketing can lead to increased sales and membership.

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2 SOCIAL IMPACT can lead to sales


$


Take an interaction she witnessed between a credit union and a mother/son volunteer duo:

“A parent signed up to volunteer with the credit union for Habitat for Humanity, along with her son, who needed volunteer hours to graduate. The conversation and time we spent together actually resulted in a mortgage referral. Because we were out there in the community, building a great relationship with members, it directly resulted in sales, even if that wasn’t our initial intent. That’s the other part of community engagement: it’s not only nice to do, but relevant to members. You can position it toward their interests.”

- 2. SOCIAL IMPACT can lead to sales -

In fact, research supports this. A Boston Consulting Group study found that Millennials are more likely than any other consumer group to recommend brands that support causes to friends, and to seek out and financially reward companies that give back.

- 2. SOCIAL IMPACT can lead to sales -

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https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/marketing_center_consumer_customer_insight_how_millennials_changing_marketing_forever/

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Of course, colleges aren’t the only opportunity for millennials and credit unions to give back together. Credit unions’ own volunteer programs can draw in socially-minded young people looking for a credible and accountable organization to participate in to give back.

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3 shared community, SHARED VALUES



“When you look at volunteer programs in any organization,” says Kim, “A lot of times the programs are focused on employees and families, not other community stakeholders such as your suppliers or your members. Engage the entire community with you as you’re doing community work. Millennials are coming to you as a trusted source not only for finances, but also for community involvement.”

- 3. shared community, SHARED VALUES -

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“One of the biggest challenges in attracting members is awareness,” says Kim. “It’s always been a big challenge. We put our heads down and do the work—we do so much for the community at different levels but sometimes we forget to tell our story.”

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4 LET THEM KNOW you’re out there


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“But once a potential member becomes aware that the credit union exists and what they’re doing for their community, they’ll turn around and flip all their accounts over to a CU. Building community impact into your business strategy and telling the story about it is closely related to leveraging the community work you’re doing—what, how, and why it matters. Are you telling everyone in your community about it? Giving back helps CUs tell that story.”

- 4. LET THEM KNOW you’re out there -



- 4. LET THEM KNOW you’re out there -

Since most millennials currently prefer national banks to credit unions, it’s important for CUs, community banks, and other social businesses to let members of Gen Y know they’re out there, and how they are meaningfully different than the competition.

http://www.cuinsight.com/press-release/survey-finds-that-gen-y-prefers-national-banks-while-seniors-prefer-local-banks



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In her role at the NWCUA, Kim spends much of her time looking at ways other organizations and corporations manage their social impact programs. She encourages credit unions to use outside industries for inspiration, and not to get discouraged by scale.

5 think BIG IDEAS, small scale



“Large corporations—your Southwest Airlines and Coca-Colas—are about big ideas at a big scale, which can be intimidating for credit unions. I’ve heard people say,’Because it took a big budget, it’s not relevant to us.’ Wrong! Think about how you can take a big social impact idea and make it viable for a credit union commuity.”

- 5. think BIG IDEAS, small scale -

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As the social entrepreneurship and social innovation movements grow even larger, credit unions can take a cue from the creative ways startups and nonprofits are addressing the same challenges.

6 take a cue fromSOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS



Kim said that CUs of all sizes can learn from online and social media platforms that crowdsource powerful community involvement; treating macro social issues and short-term needs with the same level of service:

- 6. take a cue from SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS -

“I really like DonorsChoose’s approach. It’s been fascinating watching them evolve over the last few years from an immediate need solutions-based organization to what they are today, shifting the conversation about education policy and community impact.”

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...And then show them how your CU fits in. All your CU members, and 20-somethings in particular, need to know how your credit union relates to their everyday lives and that you understand their goals and aspirations.

7 tell THEIR STORY



“Surprisingly enough, millennials and credit unions have very similar value sets, but the match isn’t happening as quickly,” says Kim. “Young people say, ‘I want more in life than just a paycheck. I want my job to mean something.’ But they’re not going in droves to CUs to get jobs or memberships. I would love to see us really get involved in telling millennials’ stories from their perspective. When you want to take a year off in Nepal, for example, you should know exactly what CU services are available to you so you can do international service work and not have to worry about your banking needs.”

- 7. tell THEIR STORY -

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Because of their size, credit unions are typically focused on local, with a few exceptions. This is an advantage over for-profit banks, at least when it comes to winning over young adults looking for a personal connection with their financial institution. But there’s always more opportunity to go deeper, Kim believes.

8 forget local, GO HYPER-LOCAL


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“Millennials do care that their funds are spent locally,” she says. “We have a different make-up than previous generations. We want things to be different in the society around us.”

And credit unions, she explains, can offer both social and financial peace of mind: “We can in fact cover everything. We got it, and we can take care of you.”

- 8. forget local, GO HYPER-LOCAL -


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“Millennials are a key, critical success factor,” says Kim, referring not only to their importance as members, but potential staff members and leaders in the credit union community. Credit unions, she argues, won’t survive if they aren’t actively recruiting young people.

9 members are MORE THAN CUSTOMERS



- 9. members are MORE THAN CUSTOMERS -

“In the case of co-ops, for example,” she says, “the people running them are their members. You have to bring them in as consumers/members, and then find opportunities to develop them as leaders. There needs to be the same development in the credit union industry.”

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Between volunteer events, financial education workshops, and social media engagement, credit unions aren’t hurting for ways to connect with Millennials.

10 there’s MORE THAN ONE WAY to connect



- 10. there’s MORE THAN ONE WAY to connect -

And as different kinds of organizations get more involved in social impact, Kim is convinced that the relationship between CUs and their Millennial members will only deepen and grow:

“As Corporate Social Responsibility gains traction, there will be so many more opportunities to define companies as pillars for the community. Organizations are made of people, and there’s a lot of things we’re seeing that are starting to shift with the way people within these organizations engage with community, like, closing the gap between neighborhoods and businesses, and moving beyond just basic volunteering and fundraisers into skills-based volunteering, civic engagement and other, deeper ways to connect.”


on how you can make a positive impact while growing membership rates,

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10 Ways Credit Unions Can Transform Millennials into Members