For many credit unions, deciding which charities to give totakes time and much planning.

One example of that jumpstart occurred in early October whenMy CU Services LLC, a wholly-owned CUSO of Mid-AtlanticCorporate Federal Credit Union, in Middletown, Pa., startedpromoting its electronic bill payment donation option. The featureallows members of 750 credit unions nationwide to send donationselectronically to charities of their choice. For each donationmembers send by Dec. 31, My CU Services will give $1 to theChildren's Miracle Network. Jaime Agostino, marketing manager forMy CU Services, said the donation option has been available forseveral years.

“We wanted to come up with a way to call attention to some ofthe different features of EBP,” she explained. “We thought theseason of giving would be an ideal time for credit unions tohighlight to members a great way to make a donation to charities oftheir choice.”

To help get the word out, the CUSO is providing newsletterarticles, commercials, Web page banners and a how-to guide thatcredit unions can customize.

“One of the great things about the system is it enables you tomake a donation on behalf of different people,” Agostino said. “Forexample, a donation to the Red Cross can be made on behalf of maybea family member. You can choose to send an email to someoneannouncing your donation or have the charity send anacknowledgement to that person.”

Another feature is the contribution can be sent to alittle-known charity as well as a large one. If the charity doesn'talready exist in the system, the donor simply needs to provideinformation such as the telephone number and address so the giftcan be sent either electronically or by check.

Agostino said some charities make it easy to chip in at thistime of year. Approach the local supermarket and there may be aSalvation Army bucket and a bell ringer. There's probably a Toysfor Tots drop-off box at the shopping center nearby. Still, othercharities may not be as visible.

“For me personally, diabetes is a big thing,” Agostino said. “Ihave family members who have diabetes and complications fromdiabetes. So it's a cause that's near and dear to my heart. Theydon't necessarily have a lot of donation buckets and boxes. Butevery year at this time I send money to them. There's no strugglewith 'where can I drop this check off?'”

Making a holiday offering is also easy at the $180 millionSinging River Federal Credit Union in Moss Point, Miss. FromNov. 11 through Dec. 20, for every approved loan, the credit unionwill grant $5 to a member's choice of the Wounded Warrior Project,the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, orOur Daily Bread.

Through a campaign launched in November, for every approvedloan, Singing River FCU granted $5 to a member to donate to theWounded Warrior Project, the American Society for the Prevention ofCruelty toAnimals, or Our Daily Bread.

Trudi Mullins, vice president of communication and teamdevelopment at Singing River, said the charitable idea got underwayfour years ago as part of a rebranding effort. A centerpiece ofthat was community involvement, she noted.

“When we say 'Life's better at the river,' we see that as anobligation to improve everybody's quality of life,” Mullins said.“It started with a $5 donation to Our Daily Bread, a local charitythat feeds homeless people and shut-ins.”

So far, the response has been phenomenal, Mullins said. Thecredit union's goal was 300 additional loans but it easily exceededthat by about 10%. This year, Singing River wanted more of amember's choice, so it added Wounded Warrior and the ASPCA to thefold.

Mullins acknowledged that the list of charities seeking help isextensive, and members can feel overwhelmed. Singing Rivercontributed to various charities throughout the year including thenational American Cancer Society in October and the local chapterof the American Heart Association in the spring.

“We like having Our Daily Bread in the mix because we've had arelationship with them and with the challenging economy, the numberof homeless and hungry has increased,” Mullins said. “Because wehave such a high demographic of outdoor sportsmen here, animalswere a logical choice. Wounded Worrier reflects our large number ofmilitary and veterans.”

The job of Singing River's marketing department is to encouragepeople to take action, Mullins said. Because there can be lot ofholiday clutter, to cut through, she advised finding a need,ideally something nobody else is doing, and then work to meet thatneed.

Sometimes a holiday event develops into a tradition, perhapswith a few modifications from year to year. That seems to be thecase at the $48 million IndustrialCentre Federal Credit Union in Muncie, Ind. For 20 years, thecooperative has sponsored a program that helps families during theChristmas season.

“It kind of changes and grows every year,” said BrittaniRichards, ICFCU marketing director.

Originally, the credit union focused on families who weremembers or somehow associated with the credit union. In 2012, ICFCUstarted raising money for Secret Families Christmas Charity, whosemission focuses on families with children who would otherwise gowithout the holiday. The charity said it helped 187 families lastyear.

Nearly all of ICFCU's 60 employees donated to Christmas Familiesthroughout the year. During the holiday season, members cancontribute at either of the credit union's two branches. The moneyis used to buy groceries, toys and other items. There's also amitten tree indicating a specific need a family has such as wintercoats or gloves.

This year, the credit union is also assisting a family with ninechildren, four of them adopted and five foster children. The familyis experiencing some tough times, so in addition to contributing toSecret Families, ICFCU employees and members are pitching in tosponsor them as well.

Even with this and other charitable activities, “You can't helpeverybody,” Richards said. “You need to focus in on what you wantto do. We don't try to stretch ourselves too thin. The key is tofind an organization you're passionate about that ties into yourmission. It's rewarding for our employees and our members when theyknow they're really able to help someone and they see ithappening.”

More traffic than usual was expected on Dec. 5 at the $3.5billion Redstone Federal Credit Union's officeMore traffic than usualwas expected on Dec. 5 at the $3.5 billion Redstone Federal CreditUnion's office in Huntsville, Ala., which was the drop-off site fortelevision station WAAF's Can-a-thon drive for the ChristmasCharities Year Round agency. Actually, RFCU President/CEO JoeNewberry said all of the credit union's branches acceptedCan-a-thon donations for local food banks, a tradition that startedin 2001. Newberry underscores the point about focusing in on acause that everyone can get passionate about.

“Our members are so generous. Every time we ask for their help,they come through.”