Kingston CCU connects with youth through financial education
You know who your vulnerable members are. They are students struggling to balance school, work, budgets and expenses. Or they are young parents working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Nicolus Blunt, MSR with Kingston Community Credit Union, saw a need for financial education in his community, and how it could help members in need.
“We believe that through education, our members and community are empowered with the skills and knowledge to make informed and effective decisions with their financial resources,” explained Nicolus. “This creates a ripple effect in achieving a more socio-economically balanced society.” This is why Nicolus entered his credit union in the It’s a Money Thing 365-Day Content Adventure Contest.
Fun and educational financial content
It’s a Money Thing is a financial education program for credit unions. It provides watchable, helpful information in six Internet-friendly forms—a video, an infographic, an article, a handout, a presentation and social media graphics. The content also works well in the offline world, in class presentations, as handouts in branch, and as sharing tools at community events.
“Our passion is helping credit unions reach and teach young adults about everyday financial topics that aren’t adequately being offered—for various reasons—at many schools,” explained Tim McAlpine, president and creative director of Currency Marketing, the creators of the It’s a Money Thing program. “Kingston Community Credit Union’s passion for this shone through in Nicolus’ entry, and that’s the real secret behind credit unions that are successful at making a difference in their communities—their passion.”
Lifting Up the Community Through Financial Education
Kingston Community Credit Union is a triple bottom line organization that balances financial stability, profitability and community ensuring the benefit to members is felt outwardly and sustainably. With this in mind, Kingston Community Credit Union partners with several community organizations, chosen by staff each year. Some of these include Junior Achievement, Kingston Employment Centre and Kingston Employment Youth Services.
“The It’s a Money Thing material would be used to strengthen our financial literacy presentations and improve the effectiveness of the seminars we teach across various employment centres in the city,” Nicolus said. “Sharing financial literacy is critical to social equity and a future that brings together the future leaders of our country with co-operative ideals. We look forward to collectively strengthening our efforts to help our community reach its goals.”
How Kingston Uses It’s a Money Thing Content
In its contest entry, Kingston CCU laid out several ways they wanted to use their content:
At community-held “Movies in the Square” held in the heart of the city of Kingston
On a new website
Through a stronger social media presence
In seminars with community and employment services groups
Their biggest wins have been in two areas—website exposure, and strong response through in-person seminars.
“We’ve had great response from our financial literacy seminars,” Nicolus reports. “The content is very easy for us to download, save and use.”
Here is how Kingston CCU is using the content today:
On a specific It’s a Money Thing website section
On their website’s homepage
On Facebook
Via Twitter
In regular seminars and info sessions
On their employee intranet
On YouTube
Some Surprising Findings
“The children we presented to at family services really enjoyed the content—particularly the banking and credit score modules,” Nicolus reported.
We look forward to seeing Kingston Community Credit Union continue with its great plan for sharing the content to advance learning and improved financial literacy in its communities.
Kingston Community Credit Union was one of four winners of our 365-Day Content Adventure contest. We gave four lucky credit unions the chance to reach their young adult members with amazing financial education content free for one year.
For more information about It’s a Money Thing program for your credit union, visit our info page at www.currencymarketing.com/money-thing.
Tim McAlpine is the President and Creative Director of Currency Marketing. He is best known for developing the Young & Free Marketing Program and the It's a Money Thing Financial Education Program that credit unions from around North America are using to connect with new young adult members. He is also the driving force behind CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec competition and a co-founder of the CU Water Cooler.
