During the past year, eight credit unions across the country have helped members to save more than $8.3 million in interest savings while also supporting local charities by participating in the Community Challenge program.

The interest-savings and charitable-giving campaign was designed to help members save money by consolidating or refinancing current loans that they have with other financial institutions, said Dan Altenbernd, chief operating officer of MemberTree Consultancy, a division of Fargo, N.D.-based H2M, which oversees the program.

To develop the Community Challenge program, MemberTree partnered with the $317 million United Teletech Financial FCU in Tinton Falls, N.J.

The community-wide program has an interest savings goal, which when achieved, triggers a predetermined donation to local charities.

During the first two years of UTF's Community Challenge, members cut interest expense by $3.6 million and local charities received more than $31,000, the credit union said.

“Everyone wins with this campaign,” Altenbernd said. “The credit unions gain new members, those members save money, the local charities get a much-needed cash donation and communities are united in a worthy cause.”

By using the program, the $787 million Collins Community Credit Union in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the $80 million Pinnacle Credit Union in Atlanta enabled their members to gain a total of more than $2 million in interest savings this year, which exceeded both institution's goals, the cooperatives said.

“We received positive feedback from members who were delighted at the money they were saved by refinancing their loans,” Pinnacle Marketing Manager Cynthia Nesbitt said. “They were equally excited with the donations made to The Children's Village and The Circle of Love.”

The two charities received $2,500 each when the credit union reached its interest-savings goal, Nesbitt said.

Pinnacle was pleasantly surprised at the promotion's popularity, she said.

“Since we had never done this type of promotion based on dollars saved, we were not sure how long it would take to reach a million dollars saved,” Nesbitt added. “We exceeded the goal in four months, thanks to a couple of large mortgage refinances.”

To host the contest and provide a donation to the winning charity, Pinnacle invested $12,963, Nesbitt said.

Measuring ROI was easy, she added.

“We use an average loan and average loan interest rate to determine the total income, less total expenses (marketing expense and cost of funds) to determine the ROI,” she explained.

For other cooperatives considering whether to launch a community challenge, Nesbitt advised them to ensure staff engagement and not to overextend the campaign.

“My advice would be to keep the staff engaged,” she added. “If the promotion continues too long, the staff and members get bored.

The $126 million Jersey Shore Federal Credit Union is in itssecond year of hosting a Community Challenge.

“Last year, our 50^th Anniversary Community Challenge brought in more than $4 Million in refinanced loans,” said Virginia Williams, CEO of the credit union based in Northfield, N.J. “The average interest rates on those loans were over 15 % APR and we were able to reduce that to an average 7.03% APR.”

Participating members were elated to lower loan payments or pay off loans more quickly, she said.

The credit union has almost surpassed $4 million in this year's challenge, Williams said said.

“It's incredible to see such success with these marketing programs and it would not have been possible without MemberTree's guidance and eye-catching designs,” she added. “They worked with us to slightly change the program this year and the results have been amazing.”

The turnkey program was a breeze to launch, she said, and included a microsite, television ads, press releases, social media strategies and one-to-one consultation.

The $56 million Bay Area Credit Union has also reported positive results with the program.

“Ever since interest rates have plummeted, we needed to generate an increase in our loan growth,” said Val Strickland, marketing director for the cooperative based in Oregon, Ohio. “We've always been very community-minded and felt this was a perfect fit.”

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Loan Consolidation Promo Adds Community Donations

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