Lean on the Foundation to empower your members
This International Credit Union Day, discover how the National Credit Union Foundation can help your credit union improve financial well-being for all.
Each year, the credit union movement comes together to celebrate International Credit Union (ICU) Day. It’s an opportunity to showcase the true power and scale of a system that supports 125 million consumers every day. An opportunity to demonstrate our individual and collective legacy of impact and to unabashedly applaud the fundamental principle that sets our movement apart from the herd: an unflinching commitment to improving financial well-being for all.
At a time when 176 million people in the U.S. are financially unhealthy, this work has never been more necessary. That’s why in 2023, we’re calling on our friends, families and loved ones to “Empower your financial future with a credit union.”
The National Credit Union Foundation exists to help more people achieve financial freedom through credit unions. We are your Foundation. On ICU Day, don’t overlook the resources at your disposal to help your employees, members and communities empower their financial futures.
Catalytic Grants
With feedback from credit unions and system partners, our grants strategy is designed to address the challenges facing credit unions and their members, and capitalize opportunities with the potential to scale and support the broader system.
Applications are currently being accepted for two financial well-being grants. The first grant aims to measure and document the short- and long-term impact of holistic financial coaching programs and will pay for up to ten credit unions to implement the Pathways to Financial Empowerment service. Successful applicants will also be enrolled in Inclusiv’s new Financial Empowerment Learning Center training.
The second grant will provide successful applicants with up to $10,000 to enhance or establish a sustainable financial well-being program focused on addressing the issue of hunger—a core development issue affecting almost 34 million people nationwide.
Education and Training
The Foundation’s system-leading education program can help your employees better serve with empathy, deepen your organizational understanding and operationalization of the cooperative principles, and explore the “Why” behind your mission and how it relates to the broader credit union movement.
Perhaps best known is our signature Development Education (DE) program. This year marked the 40th anniversary of DE. For more than a generation, the program’s graduates have taken the knowledge and network developed through DE, and used it to empower the financial lives of countless consumers.
Actionable Resources
From our centralized position in the credit union movement, the Foundation is uniquely able to capture examples of excellence and bring them to the system. Ignite a deeper understanding of what’s possible with the latest case studies, how to guides, research and webinars in our Resource hub.
This ICU Day, let’s celebrate what we have accomplished as a movement, recognize the challenges that lay ahead, and commit to catalytic partnerships that will empower the financial futures of many, many more.