Credit unions play a crucial role in the success of America Saves Week (ASW) each and every year. They are the institutions that individuals turn to in order to keep their money safe and secure. They are also host to the most frequently selected savings products used by our savers: traditional savings and share accounts.
ASW is an annual opportunity for financial institutions to encourage individuals to save money, with an emphasis on reaching low- to moderate-income families. And engagement doesn’t have to be complicated. ASW puts the spotlight on two components that are already woven into the fabric of your institutions: awareness and financial action. In fact, many participating institutions have found that ASW gives them an opportunity to highlight the great work that their employees and communities are doing year-long and provides an extra boost to their community outreach.
During ASW 2016, America Saves Designation of Savings Excellence designee LUSO Federal Credit Union (Massachusetts) leveraged their social media network to not only bring awareness to ASW, but to engage their community in sharing their savings goals and providing important resources that would help their members in reaching those goals. “We really tried to get our community involved during America Saves Week, especially through our ‘saving selfies’ campaign, which was run in the lead up to America Saves Week,” says Jennifer Calheno, CEO and president of LUSO Federal Credit Union. “By encouraging Members to take pictures of themselves and their savings goal, the idea was to help get people thinking about their finances and starting conversation in advance.”
America Saves Designation of Savings Excellence Designee Air Force Federal Credit Union uses ASW as an invitation to communicate with and engage its members throughout its myriad channels. In 2016 alone, Air Force FCU hosted 18 free financial classes, attended by over 900 individuals; they launched a multi-platform social media campaign; and they offered a special share certificate that offered 3.00% APY exclusively to its active military members.
America Saves will be offering the Designation of Excellence for Credit Unions again this year, recognizing those credit unions that succeed in promoting savings or other wealth building accounts and had high levels of accounts opened or added to during America Saves Week 2017. This year, the Designation committee is especially interested in recognizing credit unions that help their members save automatically. Click here for more information about the America Saves Designation of Excellence for Credit Unions.
How will you encourage people to save?
Registration for America Saves Week 2017 is now open here. During ASW, any engagement – from contributions to Twitter chats or use of the digital toolkit, to the creation and launch of ASW-specific savings products – is considered participation. Institutions who sign up receive:
- The America Saves Week 2016 participation badge,
- Recognition online at americasavesweek.org/ParticipatingOrganizations, and
- Helpful emails from America Saves Week staff to help you plan successful activities.