CU Events Roundup Apr 16, 2021

Welcome to this week’s CU Events Roundup for Apr 16, 2021, where we will look at the Credit Union community and bring up some of the events we see going on. Oak Tree loves keeping tabs and participating in these credit union events. Please let us know if we missed out on yours and we’ll be sure to help promote it. The end of our SacTown Run event is almost upon us.

This Week’s Events

April has often been the busiest of months for us in the credit union industry when it comes to conventions and events. This year it has been a bit difficult to keep up with all the changes, but here is a few of the events we’ve been able to track.

Utah CU Association Annual Meeting & Convention

Utah’s Credit Unions came together this week for their 2021 VIRTUAL annual meeting. Did you see the speakers they had listed? I am sure it was a great event and here is hoping 2022 will be a live event!

Virginia Credit Union League Annual Meeting

We saw that VACUL had put out a call for the 2021 Annual Meeting, aka the “IGNITE” event, but we haven’t heard if plans changed or not. They had planned on the event being between April 14-16 at Virginia Beach.

SacTown 5k Run

We also wanted to bring up how we are participating in this year’s Credit Union SACTOWN Virtual 5k. The event ends next week, and if you have not signed up now you have until the 19th as a last chance entry date. They are allowing participants to do more than just running, so that’s great for those of us who tend to avoid running. Be sure to check out the Sacramento Running Association and remember that 100% of the funds go to benefit the Children Miracle Network Hospitals in California and Nevada. Thank you to the California Credit Union League and the Nevada Credit Union League for all you do as well!

Next Week’s Events

PSCU Virtual Member Forum is going virtual on April 20th.

Fintech is always in the news, and next week is a virtual hackathon for those interested.

Coming Soon

The Ohio Credit Union League usually has their inVest48 event around this time, but don’t worry — we saw they have it in May this year!

Speaking of events moving to later in the year, we saw that the NCPCU is doing their Strategy Summit in October this year.

That will do it for the CU Events Roundup on Apr 16, 2021. We hope you like this feature and we look forward to seeing how it can grow moving forward. If your credit union, credit union league, or credit union chapter has a big event coming up — drop us a comment or hit us up on social media.

CU Events Roundup Apr 9, 2021

Welcome to this week’s CU Events Roundup for Apr 9, 2021, where we will look at the Credit Union community and bring up some of the events we see going on. Oak Tree loves keeping tabs and participating in these credit union events. Please let us know if we missed out on yours and we’ll be sure to help promote it. We signed up for the Sactown, see below for more info on this.

This Week’s Events

April has often been the busiest of months for us in the credit union industry when it comes to conventions and events. This year it has been a bit difficult to keep up with all the changes, but here is a few of the events we’ve been able to track.

Hawaii Credit Union League’s 82nd Convention

Hawaii CU League went with “Renewed Commitment” for their 2021 virtual event. The HCUL looks to have lined up some great speakers and interesting discussions. Granted, we all have to agree having an excuse to visit Hawaii makes us really hope that 2022 is a live event again.

Cornerstone League’s Annual Meeting

Cornerstone has long operated as a membership and trade association for the credit unions located in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. They are at the tail-end of their Annual Meeting as this is being published. We can’t wait to hear more about how the event went! They had Sarah Thomas as their featured keynote, and we have to imagine it was very inspirational.

SacTown 5k Run

We also wanted to bring up how we are participating in this year’s Credit Union SACTOWN Virtual 5k. The event starts tomorrow and ends on the 20th, if you have not signed up now you have until the 19th as a last chance entry date. They are allowing participants to do more than just running, so that’s great for those of us who tend to avoid running. Be sure to check out the Sacramento Running Association and remember that 100% of the funds go to benefit the Children Miracle Network Hospitals in California and Nevada. Thank you to the California Credit Union League and the Nevada Credit Union League for all you do as well!

Next Week’s Events

Utah CU Association Annual Meeting & Convention

Utah’s Credit Unions will be coming together online as their 2021 annual meeting is going virtual. We see a bunch of great speakers from the credit union community! Remember, let us know about your annual meetings or conventions and we’ll be sure to help get the word out!! And we’re always on social media ready to engage with you about whatever you want to discuss! They have the speakers and other information posted.

Coming Soon

PSCU Virtual Member Forum is going virtual on April 20th.

The Ohio Credit Union League usually has their inVest48 event around this time, but don’t worry — we saw they have it in May this year!

Speaking of events moving to later in the year, we saw that the NCPCU is doing their Strategy Summit in October this year.

That will do it for the CU Events Roundup on Apr 9, 2021. We hope you like this feature and we look forward to seeing how it can grow moving forward. If your credit union, credit union league, or credit union chapter has a big event coming up — drop us a comment or hit us up on social media.

Championing Around Our Communities

Humanitarian Highlight 2.25.21

It’s the day of the week you’ve all been waiting for (Thursday, which means it’s almost Friday) but also, it’s time for our #HumanitarianHighlight! 😄 We gathered credit unions from all over championing around their communities to make them a better place!🏆🏡 

Press play to see their amazing work! 

If you know of a #creditunion who has positively impacted their community, tag us and let us know so we can ensure they get recognized!

American Eagle Financial Credit Union

Volunteers from AEFCU and Journey Home generously filled a truck with over 40 pieces of gently used furniture, including office furnishings from the CU’s former branch, which will be used to furnish Journey Home’s admin offices. Journey Home is a non-profit whose mission is to support local people transitioning out of homelessness.

First Heritage Federal Credit Union

First Heritage FCU wanted to honor one of its board members, Mary Ann Thomas, for her contributions to the credit union over the last 40 years. The CU made a $4,000 donation to a local charity of her choice, which she chose to divide between two organizations that are close to her heart: the Southeast Steuben County Library and the Corning Food Pantry.

Foothill Credit Union

Foothill CU generously donated over 2,000 notepads to Arcadia Unified School District. These notepads were donated in support of their upcoming Middle School Wellness Conference that they are holding for their students.

Mutual Security Credit Union

As part of Mutual Security’s commitment to better their local community, they made a donation of $1,000 to Alliance for Community Empowerment, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Alliance’s mission is to improve the quality of life for economically disadvantaged individuals in the Bridgeport area by providing the necessary resources to improve education, housing, health, and welfare programs.

University of Hawaii Federal Credit Union

Throughout this pandemic, UHFCU has partnered with Aloha United Way to offer support to thousands of local families in their community affected by the COVID crisis. UHFCU helped raise the donated funds by creating custom face masks with inspirational sayings on them and selling them to those interested. Over 3,500 masks were sold, and the proceeds from the masks as well as generous contributions from UHFCU members resulted in a total of $19,000, which helped over 1,200 individuals and families.

Desert Financial Credit Union

Desert Financial CU challenged its community and members to raise funds to benefit 1 Darn Cool School located within Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The credit union matched the first $20,000 in donations, and they raised $5,000 over their goal. With Desert CU’s match, they were able to gift the Children’s Hospital nearly $46,000 to help children undergoing treatment to continue their education.

Pelican State Credit Union

Pelican State CU chose The Family Village, as their charity of the year. The credit union has hosted several fundraising events for the cause, and with the help of the Beak Squad, Pelican’s volunteer fundraising committee, they were able to raise a total of $4,258.37. The donation will go toward items to help local children who have been separated from their homes by a traumatic event.

Thank you for reading this Humanitarian Highlight! Please check out last week’s, and please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions about our products & services through our email or by phone (800) 537-9598.

Credit Union Leadership

Credit Union Leadership Inspirational Quote

In a commentary article posted on CU Management, our CEO, Richard Gallagher discusses the end of another year and how it affects credit unions. A few great inspiring quotes to help inspire your credit union leadership as well.

There are so many things to do before the end of the year: new budgets, policies, mergers, systems, digital, digital, digital, and, of course, strategic planning for regulatory compliance. We understand the frustration. With 30-plus years of experience in providing always-compliant forms, finding balance is tough. So how do you do it? How do you strike a balance between managing operations, meeting year-end goals and planning for the new year without the Grinch coming in to ruin Christmas? Here are a few time-tested tips based on quotes from famous people. We are not sure if they will help with your holiday preparations, but they will make a positive impact on your business areas for sure.

1. “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” This Mark Twain quote speaks to a universal truth: authenticity. It is especially important during this stressful time of year. To be effective with your credit union operations, be consistent. Be results-driven. Be passionate. Let your staff know when you are stressed and don’t forget to let them know when they have exceeded expectations. Being an authentic leader will help your team keep pace for the remainder of the year and set performance expectations for the next. 

Richard Gallagher

To read more about how your credit union can navigate mobile banking and the solutions, go check out the CU Management article and then maybe check out our credit union forms and documents which we provide all the necessary training to ensure your CU is ready to lead the way.

_{(note: this is an older blog entry and has been edited since originally posted.)}

Quality of Life

The Credit Union Contribution

Make no mistake – “Quality of Life” drives us all. Our actions each day, sleeping, waking up, eating, working, exercising, socializing, and so very much more, are all motivated by individual day-to-day factors such as being tired, hungry, lonely, wanting better fitness, wanting to “feel” better, and so on. But at the end of the day, what we all want is a better “Quality of Life”; for us and for our loved ones.  As a part of the Credit Union Community, it is important to think of the quality of life and the credit union’s contribution to it as it pertains to the members and the staff.

This is exactly what your members are after. Each and every member walking through your Credit Union’s door, calling your Call Center, Emailing you, Chatting with you online, Responding to your Direct Mail – they’re all looking for something they believe will improve their Quality of Life – true needs, true wants, and true desires.

Your Credit Union’s internal policies dictate just how far you can go to respond to your member’s needs, wants, and desires, but within those policies, YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

The Difference

This difference – improving their Quality of Life – can be profound. A safe place to invest their money, a debit/ATM card for safe access to their funds, a credit card for important purchases, an auto loan for a better/safer set of wheels, a home equity loan to access their well earned but unassessed property equity – all ways that YOU can help.

There is a saying that being a professional means doing what you need to do even if at times you don’t really feel like it. Passing through this barrier can indeed help you help others, and improve their Quality of Life along the way. By being there where you are, when you are, fully prepared, and knowing your job better than anyone else, you stand to help improve each and every member’s Quality of Life that you come in contact with.

So make your way through your day, of course working on improving your own Quality of Life, but realize that your members are expecting the same – and doing just that is in your hands.

At Oak Tree, like you, we’re constantly taking stock in our purpose in your day by giving you the very best in easy to use forms that are safe, compliant, and purposeful, making it easier for you to do your part to never miss any opportunity to improve your members “Quality of Life.”

For more information please visit www.oaktreebiz.com, and learn about our products & services for your credit union.