How Non-Profit Foundations and Credit Unions Can Directly Impact Their Communities

By design, credit unions are not-for-profit entities designed to support the community and ensure no one gets left behind in their pursuit of their unique financial goals.

Many credit unions also have a charitable arm that are pulled in every direction to support their community. A baseball sponsorship here, a weekend festival there, and before you know it, the impact budget is used up; and sometimes there is limited true impact.

Both credit unions and non-profits have the same mission-driven goals; and both need to constantly and regularly check their investments to ensure they are making the most direct impact possible.

This is both a marketing and strategic growth problem and an opportunity to address at the strategic level.

Take TDECU in Houston, Texas, for example. They are pillars in the Houston community, but over time, their investments were being spread more and more thin with limited strategic impact.

Much like marketing and sales partner to define ICP (Ideal Customer Profiles), foundations must also have clearly defined target areas of support and the intended impact. But it has to go deeper than that. That strategy must also include desired outcomes.

Think of non-profit giving as though you were applying for grants. To apply for grants, you have to “show your work.” What do you intend to do, and how to you know it was successful?

A few key questions to ask as you stand these up and gut check your giving strategy:

• If our focus in on community impact, how will we measure it? Just by dollars, people impacted, or press stories?

• Do we have a limit on number of people per dollar that must be impacted by our work?

• Are logos and mentions enough for our dollars?

For the TDECU foundation, their executive director said it best in an article on CreditUnions.com.

“If we’re not able to tell our members at the end of the year where that money went, how it was spent, and what the outcome was, then we’re not fulfilling our responsibility,” Crystal Harris, Executive Director, TDECU Cares Foundation, said.

Community impact is vital for non-profits, but so is building long-term relationships. The check can not be the end of the relationship. It’s a partnership.

When I was making community investment decisions, I never wanted to “sponsor” anything. Sponsorships are great, but they lack impact. I wanted to make investments in outcomes.

That’s how TDECU has approached their giving strategies; with a focus on impact and not a photo-op.