Page 7 - Contact Q1 2016 - final
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Chapter Profile
Small Chapter Makes a Big
Showing for Credit Union Advocacy
2015 PAC Fundraising Chapter Events
180.21% 143.21% 2
of goal of goal
Held in 2015
Federal PAC raised State PAC raised
$27,106 $11,764
Financial Education Foundation
12 $6,265 3
Student credit unions in area Including donations from the Grants awarded for
schools operated by five chapter as a whole and 90% of Community Reinvestment and
credit unions Financial Education projects
member credit unions in 2015
The Blue Ox chapter blew its fundraising goals out of the “The people involved understand that we need to bring in and
water last year, eclipsing its state PAC goal by more than 143 mentor new, younger people. As a result, we invite younger
percent and its federal PAC goal by more than 180 percent. Of individuals into the meetings and try to get them onboarded
the 10 credit unions in the chapter, nine exceeded their so they can see the experienced people in action. We’ve had
fundraising goals for 2015. new leaders come in and we attempt to mentor them and get
them heavily involved and spend time in order to get them to
According to chapter chair Scott Pauly, CEO at Awakon FCU, carry on this tradition.”
advocacy has long been part of the chapter’s culture.
With the November election on the horizon, Pauly said that
“We’ve come to know that’s what we do,” explained Pauly. many within the chapter are already forming relationships
“We’re not going out of our way to do it, it’s just a normal with potential legislative candidates in 2016.
part of our process to be politically involved and to be
involved in fundraising.” “We are already positioning ourselves with all of the candidates,
so that’s going to have a positive impact on the outcome
One motivating factor, he added is “a bit of fun peer pressure” regardless of who’s elected,” he said.
that comes through competition with Blue Ox’s sister chapter,
the Mid-Michigan chapter. When asked what advice he would give to other chapters
hoping to boost their own advocacy efforts, Pauly was quick
“We keep an eye on them and they keep an eye on us,” he said. to point out the importance of an informed electorate.
“It’s a friendly competition, but it keeps those initiatives at
the forefront when you know other people are watching.” “A big factor is doing research and sharing that research at
a chapter level,” he said. “Talk about the positions of the
The Next Generation of Credit Union Advocates candidates; talk about who’s running for what position and
Don Mills, CEO at Alpena Alcona Area CU, emphasized that what their initiatives are. Sometimes we just assume that
the members of the chapter all understand the importance of everyone in our chapter knows the issues, but often that’s a
their collective advocacy efforts. poor assumption on our part as leaders that everybody knows
and understands what positions are going to be filled in the
next election cycle and where we should be focusing our efforts.”
Contact I First Quarter 2016 7
