Posted by Lisa Hochgraf
Yesterday $1.3 billion Technology Credit Union, San Jose, Calif., announced to the press its "Community Change Project: What Would You Change with $1,000?" It's really pretty cool.
The contest runs through Aug. 31 on Tech CU's blog. Individuals are invited to submit their ideas for a community project aimed at creating social or environmental change in the Bay area. A short summary of all project submissions will be posted on the Tech CU blog where visitors can review, comment and vote on each submission through Sept. 7. The top five vote winners will be featured on the blog during the week of Sept. 10. Then, on Sept. 19, Tech CU will select and announce the grand pize winner of $1,000 cash to support implementation of the proposed project.
Here's why I think this is so cool:
1. This is a pretty creative way to drive traffic to the CU's blog.
2. Technology CU is combining the larger goals of social and environmental change with its blog, akin to Vancity's Change Everything blog.
3. Multiple channels are being used to market the undertaking, including the traditional press release I received; information posted on the blog; and a new iTunes Podcast, the Community Chatter Channel. (I was a little surprised to find the information about the program in the "Our Current Promotions" area of the blog, right above pitches for checking accounts, CDs and mortgages. I think the campaign would be even stronger if it were not intermixed with product marketing.)
4. The Community Change Project fits in with Tech CU's yearlong focus on social responsibility. The CU launched its social intiative on March 6 with Tech CU Community Spirit Day, which brought together more than 15 Bay area non-profits to dicuss what good could be done collectively and raised more than $4,000 in donations from employees, members and a company match. The CU is also sponsoring a series of community service events thoughout the year.
I was going to say that I wasn't sure $1,000 was enough reward, but Tech CU's VP/Marketing Kathleen Litman converted me on that point when I read her quote in the release:
"Blogs have become such a powerful tool for exchange of ideas," Litman said. "We thought it would be interesting to see what could happen if we created a blog event for social change. What if we gave people an incentive to share their own great ideas?
"Change can happen in many different ways, as much through the efforts of individuals as through great big organizations. Just because a project is small doesn't mean it can't have a big impact, and so we're very excited to see what people come up with."
I'm excited to see how this pans out, too, and hope Tech CU gets lots of good proposals!
