The “Super Saver” theme draws upon the powers of superheroes that also apply to saving at a credit union, such as plotting a savings plan and acting it out, protecting and monitoring money and drawing upon resources at the credit union in order to be strong savers and smart spenders.

The theme ranked first in a nationwide poll of credit union staff, and youth backed it by placing it among their favorite themes, as well.  The superhero theme was suggested by both Jennifer Moser, member service representative at Union Pacific of Arkansas FCU (North Little Rock, Ark.), and Kelsey Balcaitis, community education specialist at A+ FCU (Austin, Texas).

“I thought of the superhero theme a few months before the suggestions were requested when one of our youth account members told me he was a superhero!  I have never met a kid who didn’t like superheroes, and this is something that will never go out of style.  In addition, it’s fun!” tells Moser of her theme submission.

“Youth Week is all about encouraging youth to save their money—so what better way than telling them they are superheroes for doing so?  The theme can work in so many different ways.  It not only encourages them to be Super Savers, but it can be a great opportunity for credit unions to demonstrate how they are superheroes in their own communities,” notes Balcaitis.

In keeping with the Super Saver theme, the 2012 Youth Week poster employs comic book-inspired design and bright primary colors.  The poster and related artwork will be available online at cuna.org/youthweek in January 2012. For updates on Youth Week, credit union staff may sign up for a free e-newsletter.

I can’t begin to tell you how great it makes me feel to work for CUNA.

Why?  One reason is because my department—CUNA’s Center for Personal Finance (CPF)—produces personal finance materials that credit unions trust to educate their members about important money matters.

And financial education is important to the credit union movement. Financial literacy efforts are part of the fabric which separates credit unions from other financial institutions. In fact, even American Bankers Association Senior Economist Keith Leggett gave a nod to credit union financial education efforts a few years ago.

So it does my heart some good to be a cog in the mighty credit union wheel.

Now, producing personal finance materials that credit unions can trust doesn’t happen overnight. Each year CPF holds several planning sessions to anticipate the needs of credit unions and the consumer-members they serve.

It’s been said, you can’t truly know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been. So, at the end of the year CPF produces a year in review identifying our contributions to the credit union movement. It’s a wonderful tool that helps the department recognize what worked well and spark ideas to plan and research for the coming year.

Let me peel back the CUNAverse curtain and share the 2010 Center for Personal Finance Year in Review with you… see below. Perhaps your credit union or credit union organization can use this as an example for crafting something similar.

What does your organization do to help with planning for the upcoming year?

CUNA’s Center for Personal Finance Year in Review – 2010

Collaboration

• CPF contributed to CUNA’s ongoing PR and outreach efforts

Each week CUNA’s voice of authority in financial literacy reaches a wide national audience through Home &Family Finance Radio, a joint project under the direction of Washington D.C. staff …. The project entered a new phase with the development of a Home & Family Finance Radio player for credit union websites.

• CPF staff expertise received outside recognition

Staff currently represent CUNA and the credit union movement on the boards Personal Finance Employee Education Foundation of the and the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education. In 2010, the following online and print publications tapped CPF for interviews and quotes: bankrate.com, creditcards.com, Parents Magazine, Daily Herald (an online suburban Chicago news outlet), Crain’s Detroit Business, and Parenting Magazine.  Also in 2010, NCUF-funded, CUNA-sponsored, and CPF-guided preschool financial literacy
research conducted in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison
was cited at an international child finance conference in Amsterdam.

• CPF products, programs put the spotlight on credit unions

This year’s annual National Youth Saving Challenge resulted in 176,750 youth at 352 participating credit unionsputting $25,627,753 in existing and 10,631 new youth accounts. Participation in the Desjardins Youth Financial Education Award recognition program brought a record number of entries (56) from a record number of states (29). The Louisiana, California, and Illinois leagues hosted events showcasing CPF’s live group budgeting simulation Mad City Money, which also saw widespread use during Wisconsin’s MoneySmart Week, including all four of Madison’s high schools.

• CPF partnership initiatives reached new markets

CUNA’s relationship with Coopera Consulting was strengthened by a number of
CPF joint projects, including editorial oversight of the Spanish language website El Poder Es Tuyo and the production of a basic money management seminar and four instructional videos in Spanish. CPF also brought Cabot Creamery Cooperative into a partnership with the New York Credit Union League that led to the licensing of content for a youth activity booklet about maintaining health and wealth. A new partnership with the Direct Selling Association and the Direct Selling Education Foundation resulted in a deal to license an online money management course.

Service to credit unions and members

• New CPF products addressed new challenges and opportunities

The launch of the Money Mission, a joint collaboration between CUNA
and the Wisconsin Credit Union league gave CPF entry into the world of online educational gaming. With the launch of El Poder Es Tuyo, CPF expanded its support of CUNA’s Hispanic Initiative while garnering an award from the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators for quality of text and design, effectiveness of message, accuracy and usefulness of information,
creativity, value to the community, needed changes and program results.

• CPF improvements kept existing products fresh and relevant

A redesign of CPF’s online editorial service Copy & Art Express improved the 12-year-old product’s ability to deliver articles, ads, and images, allowing subscribers to beef up their newsletters and web sites and, in one case, produce a 16-page informational booklet. All told, the department’s suite of onlineEDGE products combined generated an estimated 45 million page views from 850,000 visitors to the websites of 1,223 subscribing credit unions during 2010.

• CPF responded to consumer news and changes in federal regulation

A spate of news stories about investment and other schemes targeting seniors prompted the production of a series of articles and brochures alerting credit union members to the threat and how to protect against it. Guides to Independence added two new credit card courses that reflect consumer changes wrought by the Credit CARD Act of 2009.

Viva Las Vegas! I’m excited to be blogging live from the 1 Credit Union Conference in Las Vegas with Courtney and Meghann over the next couple days. We’ll be posting some highlights and takeaways from key sessions right here on CUNAverse (Note, they’ll be a little looser than our usual posts). Also, for more live conference coverage, you can check out News Now’s updates, CU Grow, and of course a twitter search of the conference hashtag #the1cuconf for real-time information from conference-goers.

This morning I had the pleasure of introducing Brent Dixon, Young Adult Advisor at Filene Research Institute (USA), and Ross Lambrick, Regional Manager at Credit Union Australia (Australia), for a very relevant and important session – “Youthful Products for a Younger Membership.”

Ross kicked off the packed session with information on the demographic and the current Australian environment. For example, Gen Z, Y and X together make up 61% of the Australian population but only 20% are credit union members.

What I found most interesting were his examples of what both banks and credit unions are doing right in Australia. Highlights:

• Bendigo Bank partnered with a college to mentor students which exposes them to issues and practices in the finance industry as career development.
• Commonwealth Bank has a vision to have every child be financially literate – they offer and extensive school banking and financial literacy program.
• Community First Credit Union has an online greeter, Lisa,  you can interact with on their website.

What do Gen X & Y want from their financial institution?

• Convenience
• Control
• Problem resolution
• Friendly, courteous and knowledgeable staff
• Interested in the values of the brand they buy

Ross ended with his creed – “Change the life of a member for the better.”

Brent opened it up with the landscape – “credit unions need Gen Y.” Highlights: 

• 47 is the average age of membership
• From 1985-2005, Gen Y members declined

So what do you do? Cosmetics aren’t the answer and it’s not just about being “edgy.” You need an oustanding product to begin with – master the basics first.

Some successful product ideas he mentioned:

• Give your product a customizable face
• Debit card rewards
• Prize-based savings
• First credit cards (relationships last on average 15 years) are key. Hint: market to parents.

Think Twitter and social media is just about what people had for lunch? Wrong. Twitter can also be used for real change and political action in places like Iran.

It’s also changing our idea of “now” and we’re always “on.” He mentioned a statistic that 48% of people check online activity when waking up in the middle of the night. What can your credit union do? You need to listen and interact with members in real-time because it is becoming the expectation.

For your content to go viral (or to even be watched), you need to be original, creative, emotional, and awe-inspiring. Luckily, credit union stories are all of those things.

Hard working credit union staff and enthusiastic people behind-the-scenes here at CUNA are what drive successful efforts such as the National Youth Savings Challenge.

This year, the National Youth Savings Challenge set records for both the number of youth savers and the number of new youth savings accounts.  Across the U.S. 168,438 young members (up 21.6% from 2009) deposited $24,811,741 with 10,385 new youth savings accounts opened (up 4.4% from 2009).

What motivates CUNA staff to go the extra mile for youth financial literacy? Watch this video…

You can see how personal experiences and a passion for youth financial literacy motivate those who lead CUNA’s youth financial literacy efforts. It’s more than a “job” to Lin, Rena, and Philip… their role at CUNA is something much deeper than that. To these folks, their job is about making a difference and helping credit unions help their members.

What personal experiences and enthusiasm drive you in your career? What youth financial literacy efforts from your credit union are you proud of?