Restricted Funds Report: Together We Make a Greater Impact

MnCUN works proactively to create an environment for credit unions to grow market share. To help achieve this goal, MnCUN has established restricted funds to strengthen our advocacy efforts on behalf of Minnesota’s credit unions – the Awareness Fund and the Advocacy Fund.

Expenditures from the Advocacy Fund are used to enhance MnCUN’s dues supported advocacy activities and increase credit unions’ impact through:

• Sponsorship of Minnesota’s Hospitality Suite at the GAC and the GAC Luncheon for more than 100 Minnesota attendees.
• Election sponsorships in the 2020 election cycle. This included debates, web ads and election coverage to ensure that Minnesota Credit Unions’ messages were in front of candidates during a tumultuous election. 
• Minnesota support for Credit Union House in Washington D.C.  Credit Union House is owned by state leagues and AACUL to provide an event center and meeting space on Capitol Hill. 
• The National Advocacy Fund, which is coordinated by CUNA, and finances grassroots advocacy, electoral polling, research, and partisan communications. National Advocacy Fund dollars have been deployed in Minnesota for election engagement, taxation polling and radio ads.
• Sponsorship of the Wrong About Everything podcast. Wrong About Everything is a fun, irreverent and bipartisan look at Minnesota and national politics. Two Liberals and Two Conservatives debate the issues of the day with humor and vigor. The podcast is listened to by legislators and public opinion leaders in Minnesota. 
• Grassroots materials and collateral.
• NASCUS Membership to enhance efforts to strengthen the state charter. 

Expenditures from the Credit Union Awareness Fund support MnCUN’s public affairs strategies, including public relations and media relations activities, research, and consumer awareness initiatives.

In 2019, Minnesota was the first state to launch the national Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union Consumer Awareness Initiative. The campaign met or exceeded its goals, and state specific research showed Minnesota consumers likely or very likely to join a credit union increased by 11.7 points.

Nearly 60% of Minnesota Credit Unions contributed financially to the 2020 Awareness Fund. Digital ads placed by CUNA for the Open Your Eyes campaign ran in 1st quarter from January through March 20 on social media. Transit ads continued in the Twin Cities market, and new messaging on transit was launched in Greater Minnesota markets.
In light of the Covid-19 crisis, the Minnesota Credit Union Awareness Initiative shifted strategy to focus on how credit unions are supporting their members and communities through the pandemic. This included paid Public Service Announcements on web, social media channels, and radio running throughout Minnesota.
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On the national level, CUNA paused the digital Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union® ads as of March 20 due to Covid-19. They have since retooled and calibrated the marketing assets and are now releasing updated ads into market in several states. Minnesota will begin using the updated marketing assets in July.
 
Along with the consumer awareness initiative, the Awareness Fund supports additional Public Affairs activities on behalf of Minnesota’s Credit Unions:

• Managed the Credit Union News Channel to share credit union news more efficiently. 96 stories have been published January – June 2020 and MnCUN influenced 65 earned media mentions.
• Partnered with Fluence Media to sponsor editions of “Morning Take,” “Business Take,” “Ag Take,” and “Law Take,” daily online news previews, which reach 10,000 influencers in Minnesota.   

​The Minnesota Credit Union Network would like to thank credit unions for their support of the Awareness and Advocacy Funds. Full report details and financial statements have been mailed to member credit unions.