Three years ago, when the financial situations of many Americansbegan heading for a  fall, the New York City-based, $1.6billion, 320,000-member Municipal Credit Union took the opportunityto advertise how its services could help consumers manage theirstruggles.

Mortgages and personal loans with highly competitive rates and ano-fee Visa credit card were just a few products Municipal CUpushed to the public, and its new campaign didn't just tellconsumers how to save money–it helped the credit union achieve asignificant increase in membership. Municipal CU signed on 34,975new members in 2009 and 37,950 in 2010.

Municipal CU's story is one of success, but as a whole, thecredit union industry is struggling to build membership. Accordingto the Filene Research Institute, credit unions added around 2million members in 2001 and 1.2 million members in 2006, but willbe lucky to gain between 600,000 and 700,000 in 2011.

Figures posted on CUNA's website reflect minimal overallmembership increases. The national CU membership change is 0.6% from April 2010 to April2011, 0.3% from January 2011 to April 2011 and 0.1% from March 2011to April 2011.

“Membership growth trends are definitely in decline,” saidFilene Research CEO Mark Meyer. “Also, as the definition of'community' has changed, from employer to city and now to likeinterests or social network, credit unions have been slow to adapton how to reach these changing communities.”

Reports of membership growth from state CU leagues vary. TheMichigan Credit Union League showed a 0.1% gain in total number ofcredit union members in the state from December 2010 to March 2011;the Kansas Credit Union Association reports a 4.03% membershipincrease from the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of2011 (along with a 1.94% decrease in the number of creditunions).

Credit union membership in California declined by 3.63% from theend of 2009 to the end of 2010 and by 6.74% in Nevada during thesame time frame, the California and Nevada Credit Union Leaguesreported. The New Jersey Credit Union League cites a membershipdecline of 2.6% from March 2010 to March 2011.

One key to Municipal CU's success was a back to basics marketingcampaign, the CU said.

“We let people know that we can help them save money, and thatit's a no-brainer,” said Ken Currey, Municipal CU's vice presidentof business development. “With the economy being so bad, we had toget back to basics. We just really spoke the truth about whatmembers needed to do in this tough economy.”

Municipal CU's promotional campaign focused on how its productscould boost members' savings, especially in comparison tocommercial banks, which began hitting customers with rising fees atthe time. The CU's member growth efforts included placingtelevision ads, increasing its involvement in the community andsending the message that its advertisements contained “no fineprint.”

“It was about getting our name out there,” Municipal CU VicePresident of Marketing Steve Kibitel said. “For our business modeland for what we were looking to achieve, we've done really wellwith member growth.”

Another CU reporting positive member growth is the $1 billion,86,552-member, Spokane, Wash.-based Numerica Credit Union, which doubled its membership from 2002to 2010. From 2008 to 2009, the CU added 4,358 members, increasingmembership by 5.4%, and from 2009 to 2010, it signed 6,381 members,increasing membership by 7.4%, Executive Vice President JenniferLehn said.

Lehn explained the CU made a number of changes to help increasemembership as economic conditions evolved. For example, she saidsince the majority of new members join based on recommendationsfrom friends and family members, the CU strived to maintainexcellent service.

A diverse approach to lending has also spurred member growth.Lehn said Numerica focuses on four types of loans–consumer,indirect, mortgage and business services– and that mortgageofficers succeed at bringing in long-term members. The CU alsoboosts membership by lending to consumers with less than stellarcredit.

Lehn said the CU also has four businessdevelopment officers who acquire and work with select employeegroups and regularly measure new membership from each group. Shealso noted that since 2002, the CU completed eight mergers andincreased its number of branches from six to 17.

“It's difficult to say what has worked the best,” Lehn said.“New branches work in tandem with select employee group efforts.Indirect lending can bring in large numbers, but these aredifficult to make stick.”

Credit unions face the unique challenge of marketing to severalhard-to-reach demographics. Myer said these include Gen Y, many ofwhom lack knowledge of credit unions, the “inertia stuck bankingmember,” who may praise credit unions but not actually join one,and baby boomers, who are moving their nest eggs out of creditunions upon retirement.

To reach these groups, CUs formulate targeted strategies. Forexample, Numercia CU created a section on its website especiallyfor Gen Y, which features promotional activities such as amoney-related video contest.

CUs that do succeed at membership growth enjoy direct impact ontheir bottom lines. Municipal CU's assets and member fundsincreased by $76 million in 2010, and earnings on its MCU Visacredit card increased by $8.8 million in 2010. Kibitel added thatmember growth resulted in increased revenue from mortgages andpersonal loans. Lehn said Numerica CU's return on assets since 2002have been “strong to outstanding.”

Myer added that a slow, steady membership growth approach isbest for a CU's overall health.

“Nothing else–not assessments, interchange or businesslending–is more important to the long-term health of the creditunion than membership growth,” Myer said. “But blockbustermembership growth is probably not the right goal. Instead, astrategy that produces 2% and 5% membership growth consistentlyevery year is a good sustainable way to grow.”