Posted by Christopher Stevenson
Recently, a friend of mine decided he wanted to volunteer at his credit union. He understood that it wasn't a board election time and wasn't even sure he wanted to be on a CU board without a better understanding of what it entailed or how his expertise might benefit the organization, but he wanted to volunteer in some capacity.
He went to the credit union's Web site, but there was no information for potential voluteers, so he clicked "Contact Us" and wrote a brief email to the credit union expressing his desire to help. That was about six weeks ago and my friend has yet to receive a response.
I understand that my friend's experience is with a single credit union, and his situation may not indicate a larger pattern across the industry, but I wonder how many credit unions actually actively seek volunteers. I did a quick check of five credit union Web sites (not exactly a sample I could use in real research, but I was just checking my assumptions). My sample included small, medium and large CUs from different regions in the country. All the sites listed who the current board members are; some listed supervisory and other committee members; none showed me how I can volunteer or listed what kinds of volunteer opportunities might be available.
I hear complaints from both credit union staff and volunteers that it's nearly impossible to find potential board members, that no one wants to volunteer at the credit union. Meanwhile, the average age of credit union board members creeps up higher and higher, even as credit unions strive to reach younger markets. What are credit unions doing about it? Are marketers taking on the task of promoting volunteerism in the CU? Given, having a stable of volunteers isn't exactly an instant money maker for credit unions, but shouldn't CU marketers be doing more to get the word out about the benefits of volunteering to the individual and community? We include the volunteer board made up of credit union members as part of the credit union difference; let's market it like it matters.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe credit unions nationwide are doing a lot more than I think they are (after all, I only checked five Web sites). If your credit union is marketing volunteer opportunities like they matter, leave a comment; tell me about it. I'd love to be proven wrong, because in credit unions, the volunteer board matters.
