news.cuna.org/articles/121273-movement-celebrates-ilovemycreditunion
2022_07_ILMCU_1200

Movement celebrates #ILoveMyCreditUnion

Social media blitz floods timelines with positive credit union stories.

Brock Fritz
July 29, 2022

People throughout the credit union movement are coming together Friday to share why they love credit unions. 

That’s the goal of the #ILoveMyCreditUnion campaign, an annual, one-day event organized by the Illinois Credit Union League (ICUL) that saturates social media with positive credit union stories.

"This idea came out the league’s engagement with CUNA’s Open Your Eyes initiative four years ago," says Illinois Credit Union System President/CEO Tom Kane. "I was doing a lot of calls to credit unions, trying to raise funds for the awareness campaign, when I realized much of the money I was asking for would be spent for ads on social media platforms that millions of people were using every day for free. This sparked the idea of doing a social media blitz."

Instead of trying to create one clever video, ICUL staff enlisted thousands of people across the movement to share their own authentic posts. 

Everyone can participate. The inaugural #ILoveMyCreditUnion day in 2021 reached 23 million people, earned 33,000 active interactions, and more than 5,000 people from more than 700 organizations, 48 states, and nine countries.

"To make it easy for people to participate, we didn’t want to have any rules other than everyone post on a common date using the same hashtag. My favorite part of the inaugural social media blitz last year was the creativity," says Kane, adding that the five credit unions he belongs to helped him buy a house, put four kids through college, and save for medical expenses and retirement. "There were thousands of photos, videos, stories, and even songs about the impact of credit unions on people’s lives in a wonderful outpouring of positive expression and thanks." 

See how credit union professionals, leaders, and members across the U.S. are participating in celebrating the second annual #ILoveMyCreditUnion campaign.