How Charity Helps Your Credit Union

There is no question that donating and being active in the community helps brand awareness and image. In the case of credit unions, it goes deeper than that since institutions are heavily centered on members. This is why it is important to maintain a positive presence in the community. Considering a majority of your members make up that population and have come to expect nothing but the best. There are articles helping spread the word on how charities help your credit union and it makes great press!

Being active with your community and your members takes on many different forms. We see credit unions do anything from present checks to organizations, sponsor events, have fundraisers, and even donate to their members directly through contests and giveaways. Simply being aware of community events and causes is a great way to start planning a charity campaign. Take notice of the types of activities your members are involved with and develop ways to cater to them. There is no shortage of ways to show you care about your community and it is all up to your institution to find a way to do so.

With that being said, your efforts do not go unnoticed. Your members appreciate being taken care of and your community will see the benefits of your support. After all, the whole point of doing charitable work is to create a better environment and to help people. Show them what the credit union difference is, and remind them of why they chose to bank with a credit union in the first place. Also, when you create a positive image for your credit union it opens the door for other opportunities. Not only do you get the satisfaction of doing something positive, but you also get the added benefit of people wanting to share your kind actions. This can develop into a great marketing strategy for social media platforms and other outlets.

Even Credit Union Vendors Participate

At Oak Tree, we encourage your credit union to give back as much as they can to help maintain a positive image and to keep members happy. We love to see the awesome things going on in the credit union community every day and are always looking for a feel-good story. We love acts of charity so much that we write about them in our weekly Humanitarian Highlight blogs on our website. Check them out to see all of the great things happening in the credit union world, and hopefully, we can feature you next!

Speaking of charity and the credit union community, we also wanted to remind you how this weekend begins the SacTown Virtual Run for 2021, a great cause to help the Children’s Miracle Network of Hospitals.

If you have questions about any of our products, feel free to send us a message at ClientServices@oaktreebiz.com.

CU Events Roundup Apr 2, 2021

Welcome to this week’s CU Events Roundup for Apr 2, 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. For CU Events Roundup Apr 2, 2021, we don’t have much outside of the upcoming events.

We are hopefully on the tail end of this pandemic that has disrupted so much, including the events that we often participate in for our industry. We know that there are some “LIVE” events coming up soon, as well as at least one Virtual/Live event. Stay tuned on those and more.

We saw there were a lot of schools and training that went virtual this week, but we’re a bit dry on any annual meetings or big conventions. 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.

Next Week’s Events

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 having their Annual Meeting next week, April 8-9. Is your credit union participating?

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 April 10th 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!

Coming Soon

Utah CU Association Annual Meeting & Convention looks to be going virtual on April 15th.

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 CU Events Roundup Apr 2, 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.

Making An Impact

Humanitarian Highlight 4.1.21

This is no April Fools’ joke. #CreditUnions from all over are making an impact within their local communities, and with the members, they proudly serve on a daily basis! They are truly making an impact on their communities!

Press play to watch this week’s #HumanitarianHighlight and to see why Oak Tree proudly serves the #CUindustry 🏆👍

Bellwether Community Credit Union

Bellwether Community CU employees donated $1,200 to Families in Transition-New Horizons, which helps families and individuals struggling with homelessness and food insecurity within the greater Manchester area and throughout the state.

Bowater Employees Credit Union

A Bowater Credit Union member has received a $1,000 Pay It Forward prize for her favorite non-profit doing good in the local area, Wild River Retreat. Bowater CU has asked its members to nominate their favorite non-profit, helping people in the counties eligible for credit union memberships. Up to five $1,000 prizes are awarded each year.

Dow Chemical Employees’ Credit Union

The pandemic prevented Dow Chemical Employees’ CU from holding their annual donation drive, which helps restock local pantries. This year, in lieu of their donation drive, DCECU purchased items to deliver to local organizations in a “donation blitz” over a period of a few weeks. This pivot allowed the credit union to provide a much-needed boost to a few organizations and would allow for restocks.

Land of Lincoln Credit Union

Land of Lincoln Credit Union donated $7,000 to several Illinois Police Departments for them to use as they see fit within the local community. The Departments received Visa Gift Cards, and the gift cards will be used at the discretion of the patrolling officers and offered to citizens of the communities they work in as they see a need.

Oahe Federal Credit Union

There was a large apartment fire that displaced many residents of the Edgewater Apartments last January in Pierre, South Dakota. Thankfully no casualties, but the fire left severe damage and many residents were left homeless. The credit union starting spreading the word that they would accept household donations, as well as an established account for cash donations at the credit union. The community came together and the donations came pouring in. At the end of the collection, the credit union was able to donate numerous household items and a total of $112,730.26.

Vermont State Employees Credit Union

Vermont State Employees Credit Union is providing a total of $50,000 to five Vermont non-profits through their member-directed giving program, We Care 2. These donations will help these selected organizations continue to help Vermonters meet their essential needs, focusing on food, shelter and heat, and COVID-19 relief efforts.

Zia Credit Union

Zia Credit Union employees collected $1,045 through the Zia CU Employee Giving Campaign. All of the funds raised were donated to the United Way of Northern New Mexico, an organization that helps fight for health, education, and financial stability.

Oak Tree Business Systems, Inc.

We also wanted to bring up how we are participating in this year’s Credit Union SACTOWN Virtual 5k. The event starts April 10th 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!

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.

On a final note, we have started a new feature, the Credit Union Roundup, and we hope you return tomorrow to see what is going on in the Credit Union community.

SacTown Virtual Run 2021

When Covid hit last year we saw a lot of our favorite events end up being canceled, and as time went on we in the credit union industry found new ways to adapt to the “New Normal”. We have seen many annual events go virtual as well as many credit union conventions and conferences as well. This year the Sacramento Running Association is hosting their SacTown Virtual Run 2021 as a Virtual 5k and we are once again a proud supporter for this great cause.

They are allowing the runners to be more than just runners as they can participate in a myriad of ways. It is a great way to help raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network of Hospitals and you should really sign up today as the event is coming up very soon!

All of the money raised goes to the hospitals and our money is going to help the Children’s Hospital Orange County (CHOC), a great charity that many in our organization have long great histories with. They are busy every day helping kids of all ages with problems, such as Hudson. Hudson was only 15 months old when he was first diagnosed with kidney cancer. He then went through a surgery to remove the tumor and a kidney. The brave child then endured 6 months of chemotherapy. Today he is seven years cancer-free! It is hard enough for adults in battling cancer, but it has to be even more difficult for a child to be brave in such situations.

That is why we are so proud to help this organization and the charity. Once again, be sure to check out the run and sign up!

Migrating to Chip Cards for Security

Keeping data secure is always a top priority for Oak Tree. It`s one of the reasons we offer data integration with our forms packets. Data integration makes credit union business more efficient and safer for the members and institution. Yet the fight for data security is ongoing. New mandates and regulations have chip card processing vendors on their toes. Most industries are required to be in compliance by the end of the year or face fines. It is time for your credit union to look at migrating to chip cards for security if it has not already done so.

The move is an effort to protect client data. Chip cards work by linking customer data to a small EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) chip on the face of the card. It offers more security than traditional magnetic stripe cards. Here are three security feature highlights.

3 Reasons Chip Cards Are Safer Than Their Magnetic Stripe Counterparts

• Fraud. Chip cards prevent people from making purchases by physically swiping a fraudulent credit card. It works. Many places have seen these types of purchases all but eliminated.
• Cloning. Chip cards are extremely difficult to clone. Magnetic cards are much easier. The reason is, magnetic cards make use of static data. A $20 skimmer is all a thief needs to create a clone. Chip card data is dynamic. It always changes. In order for a data hack to occur, a thief would need to access the chip`s physical circuitry.
• Better Encryption. Magnetic stripe cards broadcast data through the reader as-is. Chip cards encrypt the language as soon as it “dips” into the reader. The card communicates with the merchant through secure encryption the entire time.

This is why migrating to chip cards is one of the best long-term moves for member security. Chances are, chip cards will undergo a few rounds of revision over the next few years to streamline security and data linking. Our forms will remain constant, though. Always compliant and accessible when you need them, they are the perfect companion to ensure the entire chip card application process is secure.

When it comes to Credit Union Consumer Lending Documents and Data Linking Services, Oak Tree is here for you.

CU Events Roundup Mar 26, 2021

Welcome to this week’s CU Events Roundup for Mar. 26, 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.

We are hopefully on the tail end of this pandemic that has disrupted so much, including the events that we often participate in for our industry. We know that there are some “LIVE” events coming up soon, as well as at least one Virtual/Live event. Stay tuned on those and more. Let’s look at CU Events Roundup Mar 26, 2021.

This Past Week

CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Virtual Conference

This past week was the big Marketing and Business Development Council Conference put on by CUNA. They held 13 sessions over three days to help their council members. If you were a part of it, let us know how it went!

NAFCU Virtual Regulatory Compliance School

NAFCU Virtual Regulatory Compliance School is wrapping up today and that means there are a bunch of upcoming Compliance Officers in the credit union field. I hope they all know how much Oak Tree puts importance on compliance for credit unions!

Next Week’s Events

We saw online at 10times that NACUSO Network Conference was supposed to take place at the end of March, but it looks like they rescheduled this for a live event in November. So who is ready to go to Las Vegas in November? We might have to check this event out!

Coming Soon

School of Business Lending™ II: Financial Analysis and Diagnostic Assessment put on CUES next week, it will be virtual.

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 CU Events Roundup Mar 26, 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.

Lending A Helping Hand

Humanitarian Highlight 3.25.21

We are thrilled to present to you this week’s #HumanitarianHighlight! Let’s hear it for those lending a helping hand! 🍿

Credit unions everywhere are lending a helping hand to their local communities, their members, and those in need. #Creditunions are a great example of what it means to be a part of a community, and here at Oak Tree, we are proud to be a part of the #CUCommunity. We see these posts as our contribution to lending a helping hand. 😊🤝

Firelands Federal Credit Union

Twice every year, Firelands FCU offers qualified members the chance to skip one of their monthly loan payments. For every payment that members skip, Firelands FCU donates $5 to a local organization in need. With their Winter skip-a-pay offer, they were able to distribute a total in donations of $3,000 to area churches and food banks which will help provide meals and self-care items to those in need.

Cloverbelt Credit Union

Cloverbelt Credit Union’s employees banned together and assembled 100 Literacy Kits for kids in their local school district on behalf of the United Way of Marathon County. Included in the Literacy Kits were classics such as Curious George, and other well-known children’s books.

California Coast Credit Union

California Coast CU, its members, and its local community raised $35,000 in donations during a recent initiative that was put in place to support local minority-owned businesses as well as, four local non-profits. All have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign members were encouraged to shop locally, and every time their Cal Coast MasterCard debit or credit card was swiped, the credit union would then donate proceeds to the Strategic Alliance – San Diego, which represents minority-owned businesses.

Alabama Credit Union

Alabama Credit Union has donated $100,000 to the University of Alabama in Hunstville (UAH), a part of the University of Alabama System, as a commitment to establish the Alabama Credit Union Professorship in Entrepreneurship within the College of Business. The College of Business will use the professorship to recognize one or more faculty who focus on the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, or business strategy.

Achieva Credit Union

Achieva Credit Union has donated a total of $60,000 since the pandemic started to aid and support local education programs across its geographic footprint. Traditionally, fundraising for education is done through local community events, but with no events this past year being held, Achieva has kept up its support with direct donations made through the Achieva Foundation. Their Foundation is a 501© (3) Corporation committed to supporting organizations that create opportunities for social and economic enrichment of the communities that Achieva Credit Union serves.

Welcome Federal Credit Union

Welcome Federal Credit Union made a $2,521.70 donation to the American Cancer Society. Since August 2020 Welcome Federal Credit Union has been an American Cancer Society partner, and since then, more than $29,000 has been raised through their partnership.

Educational Employees Credit Union

Abc30, Disney, First Book, and Educational Employees Credit Union all came together and donated a total of 5,000 books to Fresno Unified School District. More than 600 students at King Elementary will receive a free book to read, and five other schools in the district will also receive free books. This is all a part of Disney’s “Magic Storytelling” Campaign, and it comes at a perfect time as most kids still do not have access to a public library.

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.

On a final note, we have started a new feature, the Credit Union Roundup, and we hope you return tomorrow to see what is going on in the Credit Union community.