The fourth quarter of each year always brings out the best inpeople, wouldn't you say? The holiday season brings families,friends and communities closer together. Having spent the last fewyears working within our industry, it's become obvious to me thatthe credit union philosophy of “people helping people” means moretoday than it ever has. Especially during this time of year.

We all know the meaningful and stark contrasts between creditunions and banks – we answer to our members and the community, notto stockholders. However, have you or your organization'sdecision-makers taken the time to evaluate the actualimpact they can make on the communities they serve? We're generallytalking about implementing the “triple bottom line” philosophycoined by British business author John Elkington. The strategy addssocial responsibility to your organization's income statement in aneffort to increase sustainability for all players impacted by yourbusiness. Doing so can be a relatively easy process to implementand can often net long lasting positive effects on society, theeconomy and the environment.

At Diversified Members Credit Union, charity and communityoutreach are the pillars of our foundation. You too can usher in atriple bottom line philosophy of social responsibility for yourorganization while creating long-lasting and positive impact forgenerations to come.

Each year we begin our social responsibility discussions byselecting reputable local foundations with a proven track record ofmaking a difference. These foundations are then allocated specificmonths of the year based on relevance to the season, and we featurethose organizations as the Charity of the Month. During theirmonth, we collect financial donations from our members throughlobby collection boxes, conduct a Popcorn Day when all proceedscollected are donated to the charity, and finally, each week wehave a day when employees can “dress down” by making a donation insupport of the monthly charity.

DMCU's Dorena Dann sells baked goods forBreast Cancer Awareness Month.

There is little financial commitment to implementing somethinglike this for your organization, and considering the small amountof time dedicated to support, it's a pretty simple way to give backto the communities you serve. This is just one simple idea,however. To truly make an impact, you'll need to think outside thebox and dig deep for creative strategies. Fortunately, I've takenthe time to list a few examples below.

Hold a Bake Sale

In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, DMCUconducted a bake sale for our membership. We asked staff to eitherbake or purchase baked goods to be sold in our lobbies and allproceeds would go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Not only didmembers enjoy the baked goods, we created genuine excitement in ourlobbies as our membership supported what we were doing by bringingin friends and family members. At the end of the day, we raised atotal of $1,104.06 in baked goods with all of it being donated tothe Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Hold a Backpack and School Supplies Drive

Over the summer, we held a drive to collect new backpacks andschool supplies to donate to a local woman's shelter. Our theme was“Back-to-School” and we utilized little- to no-cost methods topromote the event. Through the combined efforts of members and ourown employees, we were able to donate more than 30 backpacks andnumerous school supplies to students in need.

Hold a Non-Perishable Food Drive

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and the holidays, you can alwaysexpect a fantastic turnout when it comes to holding anon-perishable food drive for those less fortunate. The setupinvolved for this task is very easy, as many food banks will assistyou by providing any required materials. After asking our membersand employees to help donate to Gleaners Food Bank, we ended upcollecting more than 3,400 pounds of food and more than $1,000 incash. The best part of this charitable endeavor was many of ouremployees volunteered at the food bank warehouse on the weekends –on their own time!

DMCU's Marsha Glass, Jill Kyles, Dennis Mollner II,Nia Hicks and Shari Quinkert show off their total donation forGleaners Food Bank.

Shelter administrator Curtis Steen Franceand DMCU employees Shari Quinkert, Jackie Fowler and Sati Smith arepictured here at the credit union's backpack and school suppliesdrive.

There you have it – a few ideas for how you can make ameaningful impact on your community. Many of you have alreadyimplemented a philosophy of charity and community outreach, as itis in our DNA as credit union employees. If not, we hope theexamples above help create a template for you to base your strategyaround. Here at DMCU, we believe we're setting the standard forthese efforts and we know that together, we can empower and enrichour communities.

Happy holidays on behalf of DMCU!

Dennis Mollner II is the marketing specialistfor Diversified Members Credit Union. He can be reachedat 313-568-5000 Ext. 238 or [email protected].