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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Kim 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)

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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

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- 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.

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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
+
=
PERFECT
MATCH!

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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

$

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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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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


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“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 -


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- 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.

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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


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“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 from
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS


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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


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“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


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- 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


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- 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,
visit cafegive.com.
For more ideas
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10 Ways Credit Unions Can Transform Millennials into Members

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