NCUF Will Still Make Grants

I would like to provide a bit of clarification to David Morrison’s Oct 29, 2003 story on the National Credit Union Foundation, “NCUF Getting Out of the Grant Business, Letting State Arms Take Over.” While our board has decided on a new grantmaking strategy for 2004, as accurately reflected in the quote about wanting to help hundreds of credit unions rather than tens, we are by no means “exiting the grant business” as suggested in the story’s headline and lead paragraph. We are simply changing how we make grants. For 2004, grant funds will be made available for high impact national programs. In addition, and in keeping with past practice, NCUF will continue to fund individual credit union projects through discretionary grantmaking. We look forward to making an even bigger impact on credit unions with our new strategy next year, and to working with state foundations and leagues on meeting their credit unions’ needs with the Community Investment Fund dollars generated by their own state’s investors. We look forward to continuing our role as credit unions’ intermediary with the federal government, bringing significant dollars into the system for credit union development projects. And, we look forward to working directly with credit unions on the types of projects we’ve always funded – and will, for the foreseeable future. Thank you for your ongoing coverage of our activities and for this opportunity to clarify the NCUF’s position on grantmaking in 2004. Gary A. Officer Executive Director NCUF Madison, Wis.