"Best Practices in Credit Union Efficiency" is the first of four, free white papers being offered by the CUNA Community Credit Union Committee.

The paper details "cost-structure benchmarks and current best practices for community credit unions operating in an environment filled with anxiety, guarded optimism and pure exhaustion from the tolls of the Great Recession,'" according to the CUNA committee. It also focuses on ways to generate returns through such means as growing self-service channels and marketing strategies to lower the cost of member acquisition, cross selling and retention.

Nearly 2,000 of the 8,000 credit unions nationwide have community powers, and there are noticeable differences in the expense and revenue structures of these institutions, according to the committee, which formed in 2006.