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In the fourth quarter of 2015, $165 million KALSEE Credit Union took advantage of Love My Credit Union’s national video contest, “Share the Love”. Along with strengthening its connection with members, the credit union was able to support a much-loved local charity, Kalamazoo Animal Rescue, while its video gained 4,125 votes overall. View all of the inspirational videos.
The credit union, headquartered in Kalamazoo, Mich., intensified its social media presence, portrayed the personal passions of staff, while simultaneously helping a popular community cause, Kalamazoo Animal Rescue. The competition was coordinated by CUES Supplier member CU Solutions Group, Livonia, Mich., and ran for three months, October through December 2015.
According to www.LoveMyCU.org, Share the Love highlighted how credit unions nationwide give back to their communities, sharing their work on videos. Participating credit unions promoted their videos on social media, with members and non-members subsequently voting online for their favorites. Based on the number of votes each video received, three CU winners were selected monthly (from three asset groups) and cash prizes awarded to their chosen charity, in addition to the $15,000 grand prize.
Concern for the Community: A Core Principle at KALSEE CU
“Our employees are animal lovers, so we selected Kalamazoo Animal Rescue to be our donation recipient,” says Marketing Manager Carrie Susemihl. “But when creating the video, we opted to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the many different passions embraced by staff, such as the American Cancer Society, Toys for Tots, Kalamazoo Air Zoo and Big Brothers Big Sisters.”
Throughout the credit union’s video, employees, in their own words, reveal their love for the Kalamazoo community. To foster member engagement, Susemihl promoted the video via Facebook (regular posts, paid ads and boosted posts), Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn, on the CU’s website, and through periodic email blasts and in-branch signage.
Michigan Credit Union League Representative, Meredith Willey, reports that at the campaign’s conclusion, 132 videos were submitted by CUs nationwide, nearly 426,000 votes cast and $105,000 donated to charity. “During our 2015 Share the Love campaign, we saw a great movement within credit unions rallying their employees, board members, credit union members and charities to showcase how credit unions truly do give back to the community. The winners relied on several forms of social media to get the message out to vote not only for their credit union but more importantly, their respective charity.”
While KALSEE CU wasn’t an overall winner in the2015 campaign, the CU did amass 4,125 votes for its video. And, Kalamazoo Animal Rescue was a winner as well, with the CU making a $1,000 donation to the organization.Willey concludes that for 2016, “We’re kicking off the campaign to make it bigger and better, and we’re looking forward to “sharing the love” with even more charities.”
Stephanie Schwenn Sebring established and managed the marketing departments for three CUs and served in mentorship roles before launching her business. As owner of Fab Prose & Professional Writing, she assists CUs, industry suppliers, and any company wanting great content and a clear brand voice. Follow her on Twitter @fabprose.
