Many factors have contributed to our success
over the fifty-five years we have been in business. One key component
of our credit union has always been people. Whether those people are
our members, our employees, our board or the community, we see each one
of them as an integral part of who we are as a credit union.
For the past half-century there
have been various trends in the financial industry. Technology, as in
most every work place, has produced a lot of change. Despite the fact
that these changes have affected the credit unions strategic direction,
our overall objective is to have a positive impact on our members and
the community.
The planning we do today
helps us prepare for tomorrow. Since we have no way of knowing what the
future may hold, our best recourse is to direct our efforts into those
areas we feel will accomplish the goals of the credit union. With this
in mind we set about selecting where we wanted to focus our attention.
Currently
the four areas we are concentrating on include youth, relationship
management, strategic alliances and community. It’s not surprising that
each of these focus areas involve people. Our ability to build on each
one of them will serve to maintain our viability and success as a
community based financial organization.
One
of the constant realities we face is making sure that we are always
attracting youth into the credit union system. It’s no secret that the
best way to have a member tomorrow is by reaching them today. Our
efforts working with our youth members were recognized in 2004 when
Nelson & District Credit Union was the recipient of regional,
provincial and national innovation awards. Check out www.zippitydodog.com, our youth site.
In
1999 we launched our Relationship Management Program, which seeks to
tailor the right services with a member’s financial circumstances. We
recognize this program as a priority, a program that is crucial to
instilling loyalty in our members.
With
the financial marketplace becoming increasingly competitive, credit
unions realize it is to their advantage to "band" together and do some
things in "concert". We recognize the advantage of being part of
strategic alliances when these opportunities arise. Nelson &
District Credit Union is a strong supporter of such initiatives. It
helps us to compete against the big banks that have an advantage over
us because they are able to distribute their costs over a larger
customer base.
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| Doug Stoddart (left) and Tom Atkins of the credit union hand over a cheque to Julia Roberts of the Nelson Car Share Co-op |
A significant advantage
we have over the Big Banks is our focus on community. We recognize the
importance of being in touch with our communities. Since it is one of
our greatest strengths it is one we are capitalizing on. The community
investment program has grown each year since its inception in 1999.
In
2007 we invested $285,516 into our communities. This amount reflects
16% of Nelson & District Credit Unions – Earnings from Operations
(earnings before taxes, dividend pay-out to our members and our
community investment program). This percentage is a significant
benchmark considering the Big Banks aim for 1%.
Nelson & District Credit Union’s community investment program has
invested over $1.5 million dollars back into our communities since
1999. We stand by our Mission, which states;
Through careful and ethical stewardship
of our members’ resources,
financial success is shared by members
and the communities that we so strongly support.
Our
mission statement’s foundation is based on our stability as a credit
union. One of the ways we do that is by keeping the plan
simple-focusing on people. We enable our staff to deliver the products
and services that meet our members’ financial needs, who in turn
support us through their loyalty, and then we in turn reinvest in our
communities where our members live and work. Some may view an
investment in people as a bit of a risk but we are staking our future
on it.
What do you think?
