I need some wisdom from the crowd. What do you have to say about small credit unions?

I have two upcoming presentations that I am giving at CUES Conferences on the topic of small credit union success. The first is at the CUES Canada West meeting in Ottawa on May 4 and the second is in Cancun on June 24. Here is the official description of my presentation.

Small is beautiful. Your credit union can remain small and successful

With the tidal wave of mergers and consolidation within the Canadian and US credit union systems, it seems as though getting bigger is the only way for credit unions to survive. However, there are fine examples of very successful credit unions that are bucking the trend and purposefully remaining small. Tim McAlpine will explore how these credit unions are using marketing, technology and good old-fashioned member advocacy to not only remain small, but also continue to be viable and successful.

I have a good outline of what I am going to talk about, but I need some additional examples from throughout North America to prove my case in these four areas.

1. Small credit unions with a differentiated and relevant brand
2. Small credit unions marketing with a modest budget
3. Small credit unions mastering social media
4. Small credit unions making meaningful member connections

Now its over to you, my Internet friends: please fill in the holes with awesome examples from your neck of the woods. I will be sure to give you credit in my presentations. Please post your example in the comments or e-mail me at tmcalpine at currencymarketing dot ca.

UPDATE: I define a small credit union as having five branches or less and 20,000 members or less. Assets are a very hard measure to go by because Canadian credit unions can have up to four times the assets of a similar member-sized US credit union.

Thanks in advance!

Tim