MADISON, Wis. (1/5/15)--Think big, think bold, think forward. Those are the qualities of the ideas that the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council is looking for with its new contest, "The Pitch."

The credit union that submits the idea with the greatest potential will receive $10,000 and guidance from Mills Marketing to implement its big idea.

"Many of the credit unions with the best ideas for meeting their members' needs are also the credit unions with the fewest resources to implement such ideas," said Hilary Reed, senior vice president/chief relationship officer, Inspire FCU, Bristol, Pa., with $87 million in assets.

"The CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council wants to change that," she said, adding, "The executive committee will be reviewing applicants' pitches for the best ideas and funding the idea we think will have the biggest impact on its credit union membership and the movement as a whole."

Interested credit unions should submit a two- to three-minute video and an application describing why they should be awarded the $10,000. Entries are due at training.cuna.org/the-pitch by 5 p.m. (CT) Feb. 6.

The winner will be decided in two stages:

• tage 1: All credit union submissions will be reviewed by a judging committee from the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council. The committee will narrow the submissions down to the top ideas that show the most promise; and
• tage 2: The top contenders' submissions will be presented during "The Pitch" general session of the 2015 CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council Conference March 25-28 in Las Vegas. The finalists will have the opportunity to play their videos onstage and pitch their ideas in-person to the conference audience. The final winner will then be decided based on audience text votes.

The winner will receive $10,000 to launch the idea and an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2016 council conference to present its results.

(Editor's note: This article first appeared in the Jan. 2 issue of News Now.)

CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council