CUNA announces early contributions to the Awareness Initiative

Digital-first, consumer-focused, research-based program to roll out in early 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        

CONTACT: Lauren Williams – CUNA Communications; (202) 626-7642; lwilliams@cuna.coop

Washington, D.C. (January 10, 2019) – Credit Union National Association (CUNA) today announced significant early financial support to the Awareness Initiative, a groundbreaking effort being led by CUNA to grow consumer awareness and consideration of credit unions as the best financial partners. Credit unions have made more than a $25 million commitment to fund the campaign. Working hand-in-hand with leagues, CUNA continues to enlist financial support from credit unions throughout the country.  

Several organizations have made substantial commitments to support the national category branding initiative including: 1st Gateway Credit Union, Black Hills Federal Credit Union, Border Federal Credit Union, Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union, Cal Poly Federal Credit Union, Carolina Federal Credit Union, Carolina Foothills Federal Credit Union, CEFCU, Champion Credit Union, Charlotte Metro Credit Union, Coastal Credit Union, Credit Union Association of the Dakotas, CU Direct, CUNA Mutual, Desert Financial Credit Union, Desert Valleys Federal Credit Union, Element Federal Credit Union, Ent Credit Union, Fairfax County Federal Credit Union, Financial Horizons Credit Union, Founders Federal Credit Union, GEM Federal Credit Union, Greenville Federal Credit Union, Hawaii Federal Credit Union, Heritage Community Credit Union, Heritage Trust Federal Credit Union, Illinois Credit Union System, LBS Financial Credit Union, Lendkey, Local Government Federal Credit Union, Med5 Federal Credit Union, Members Preferred Credit Union, Minnesota Credit Union Network, Money Federal Credit Union, Norstar Federal Credit Union, Northwest Community Credit Union, NuMark Credit Union, OAHE Federal Credit Union, Palmetto First Federal Credit Union, Pheple Credit Union, Redwood Credit Union, Sentinel Federal Credit Union, Sharonview Federal Credit Union, Sioux Empire Federal Credit Union, Sisseton-Wahpeton Federal Credit Union, SPC Credit Union, Spokane Media Federal Credit Union, Town and Country Credit Union, Truliant Federal Credit Union, Unitus Community Credit Union, Unity Catholic Federal Credit Union, University Federal Credit Union, Voyage Federal Credit Union, Westconsin Credit Union, and Xceed Financial Credit Union.

“This active demonstration of commitment shows how our movement can join forces to break the barriers to credit union growth. Funding the Creating Awareness Initiative supports driving membership and fostering an environment to position credit unions as American’s best financial partner,” said Jim Nussle, CUNA President/CEO. “We are thankful for the local investments and support by credit unions and Leagues directly into the ‘Open Your Eyes’ program.”

CUNA Board of Directors recognizes this as a unique opportunity for the credit union movement and have pledged to pave the path forward.

“All of our board credit unions are proud to demonstrate support of this groundbreaking, researched-based initiative that will keep credit unions top-of-mind as consumers’ best choice in financial services,” said CUNA Board Chairman Maurice Smith. “We continue to encourage state Leagues, credit unions and business partners to actively participate through sustainable, long-term financial support.”

CUNA has spent several years preparing to launch the highly-targeted media program. CUNA is poised to launch this effort with research-based messaging and creative content in select regional areas early in 2019. Development of creative content and fundraising for the program has been an ongoing effort since June.

The Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union program is designed to get Americans to consider again to credit unions and overcome their misguided assumptions about credit unions. Through rigorous ad testing and continual evaluation of audience engagement in-market, CUNA will refine content across channels to ensure it drives action. The integrated approach to media, content and data analytics uses metrics at every point to ensure continuous testing, learning and refining of the content, media strategy and resource to optimize our return on investment.

Contributions support the management, consumer research, creative development and campaign deployment for the Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union program. Find out more at cuna.org/awareness.

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About CUNA    
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by 115 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org.