Real Solutions - A National Credit Union Foundation Program

The National Credit Union Foundation and the REAL Solutions Program is pleased to announce that 23 partnering leagues will receive over $230,000 in project grant funds from REAL Solutions in 2010. (read more)

VITA, or Voluntary Tax Assistance Programs, is an IRS program that offers free tax help to those who qualify and help them take advantage of special tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. In a series of three webinars, Real Solutions will demonstrate how credit unions can provide this service to their community and gain meaningful new relationships with members.

Research by the Government Accountability Office and Internal Revenue Service indicates that between 15% and 25% of households who are entitled to the Earned Income Tax Credit do not claim their credit, or between 3.5 million and 7 million households. The average EITC amount received per family in 2002 was $1,766. Using this figure and a 15% unclaimed rate would mean that low-wage workers and their families lost out on more than $6.5 billion, or more than $12 billion if the unclaimed rate is 25%.

Over the next few months, we’ll talk about growth strategies for reaching…(read more)

It’s time to be real about social media. Throwing up a Facebook page, jumping into a blog, or blasting updates via Twitter because you heard you’re supposed to will exhaust you and annoy your members. To do it well (or decide if you should do it at all), you need to understanding, strategy, and the right tools to implement…(read more)

Do you know any REAL Solutions credit unions that have delayed confirming their eligibility for NCUA low-income designation or CFDI certification?

Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner announced the Community Development Capital Initiative (CDCI), and our expectation is that it will make hundreds of millions of dollars available to qualifying credit unions…(read more)

Almost every day I’ve seen a new press release, TV spot or blog post on why consumers should (and are) making the switch to credit unions.

It’s both a huge opportunity and responsibility for credit unions, but one thing it’s not: warm fuzzy altruism. It’s important to understand that implementing new products that help low-wealth members is a growth strategy. To succeed in this area, product and service development has to focus on empathy and service coupled with viability and sustainability...(read more)

Credit unions care about kids. We support all kinds of children’s charities, provide financial educational opportunities, support little league, athletic and after school programs. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty fourteen million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level, which is $22,050 a year for a family of four…(read more)

Yesterday I had the pleasure of talking to a representative from the FDIC who sought our advice on how financial instutions can provide access to affordable transaction products. I was able to give her a host of credit union examples as well as share our product toolkits with her. In talking with her I found that FDIC has just completed a “National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households”... (continue reading)

In my work I get to see the very best of what credit unions do to serve their members…and sometimes I find something extraordinary to learn about and to share to our REAL Solutions readers. One such place is Harbor One Credit Union’s Multi-Cultural Banking Center.

I, along with our field coaches and league liaisons, had the opportunity to visit the center and to see first hand credit union philosophy – I mean business philosophy working. This sustainable banking operation builds solid partnerships to bring the best of financial and social services to unbanked working immigrants.

At the same time the financial services are affordable but are sustainable building reserves for other members. For this reason, I asked Field Coach Mark Meyers to delve into what it takes to build this operation so that other credit unions can determine if they too can offer immigrants sterling service….

Jim Blake President/CEO was clear this was a business decision for them – a good one as the credit union has seen double digit growth in both membership and assets in recent months. This is a must-read.

Click here to download the HarborOne Business Strategy Highlight.

For the final vote in this contest, we had:

5 videos from
5 credit unions from
4 leagues that received
2,190 votes
and when the poll cut off at 11:59pm on Friday night, you had chosen…

Because of a very interesting end result (good interesting!) we’re pushing back the announcement of the video contest winner by one day. We apologize very much for all of you waiting, but we can’t wait to tell the story.

Stay tuned for tomorrow!

This article is the sixth installment in a monthly series of interviews designed to provide REAL Solutions® League Liaisons and other league staff up-to-date strategies used by their peers to grow their REAL Solutions® efforts. This interview describes the efforts of the Credit Union League of Connecticut (CULCT)and the Connecticut Credit Union Solutions Foundation to develop and implement a Financial Reality Fair experience for high school students. Please learn more from this interview with Barbara Bass, CULCT’s Vice President—Education and Human Resource Development.

After much deliberation, we’ve narrowed the amazing videos sent in by leagues and credit unions across the nation down to our top five. And now we need your help!

Click here to watch the top five and vote on the winner.

If you missed last month’s session with Filene’s Ben Rogers, don’t fret. Jeff Purvis sits down with Filene’s once-Young Adult Driver, now-Director of Research (congrats on the promotion, Ben) to discuss Filene’s latest findings on how to build accountability, measure success, and create a culture of listening, growth, and improvement around your Gen Y initiatives.

Click “Read more” below to dig into the details.

Opportunity creates opportunity. I have seen this so clearly as my career has developed. A manager took a chance on me when I said I was interested in politics. Before I knew it, I was lobbying in the Montana State Legislature and got my next chance in Washington D.C. Through my role there, I met so many people throughout the credit union movement and when it was time for me to move back west and get my first job with an actual credit union, I knew people willing to give me that opportunity.

Every day I see opportunity building opportunity at credit unions across the country. Credit unions give adoption loans so families can bring children into lives where they become thriving community members. Credit unions offer members that first loan that turns an entrepreneurial college graduate into the prominent local business owner. When chances are taken and opportunities are given, there is room for opportunity to be realized.

Unfortunately, in a time when so many more of us- credit unions and consumers- are watching every financial move with greater care than ever before, it is difficult to justify taking on additional risk and extending resources for new programs and services for non-established potential members. Instead, we happily offer credit to our well-established members and pay dividends that reward those who already have substantial balances while struggling to justify (to our regulators, our members, and ourselves) serving those most in need of traditional financial services…