My friend Jeff Hardin, the CU Communicator, posted a video interview with SECU's CEO Jim Blaine.
The SECU Foundation received the 2008 Wegner Award from the National Credit Union Foundation.
At $15 billion in assets under management, more than 1.4 million members and 214 branches, this is one huge credit union! A number of years ago, they switched the $1.00 per month maintenance charge on their 700,000 chequing accounts to a $1.00 per month donation to their charitable foundation.
This change in accounting generates more than $8 million dollars annually. These funds are contributed back into the communities SECU serves. Wow!
Think about how powerful and simple this idea is. Just imagine if all 172 million credit unions members world-wide donated $1.00 per month to credit union foundations in their own communities. $1.00 is like a quarter of a specialty coffee! Imagine the collective good that the credit union movement could do with this money.
Kudos to the SECU Foundation and kudos to Jeff for sharing the story.
Tim