With clear messaging, CUs can guide members toward what they need.

By Sundeep Kapur

I still cringe about how my financial institution handled the Target card breach. My first card was cancelled, a new card suddenly showed up, and every time I called to ask for information, I was told something new and different! My financial institution could (and should) have explained the breach to me on one of my visits to its website.

By Roberto Cesar Durscki

In 2013, I attended CEO Institute I at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. This year, I continued with CEO Institute II at Cornell's Johnson School. (That's me in the photo at the beautiful museum on the Cornell campus.)

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation manages a $40 billion endowment. The foundation focuses on strategies where it can make the biggest impact to reduce inequities around the world in the areas of health, poverty and education, developing strategies to focus on each of these areas globally and in the U.S.

By Lisa Hochgraf

Over the last few years, participants in CUES Net, the CUES members-only listerve for which I serve as staff guide, have congratulated a number of "Netters" on their retirements. In addition to sending along well wishes, the CUES Net community entertained dialog about such topics as what made good retirement gifts (and the tax implications of some options) and what moving companies to use.

Don't lose sight of members' perceptions.

By Brett Christensen

Not surprisingly, a credit union loan program that effectively serves members is more likely to rate well on other lending metrics, such as loan-to-share ratio, loan growth, and delinquencies. But as you lead your people through the trenches of making loans every day, it's easy to lose sight of how members perceive your lending operation. When you're ready to take a pause and consider this key question, here are some food-for-thought questions you'll want to answer: