| | ...on the Institute contact Tom Decker at cude@ncuf.coop or (608) 358-9183. |
Social Impact Management Institute |
|  The Social Impact Management Institute (SIMI) evolved from a need identified when the National Credit Union Foundation interviewed credit union leaders from around the country regarding their perceptions of the Credit Union Development Education (DE) Program. While there was a call to increase participation in the DE Program, another need emerged:
Credit union leaders agreed there was a need for leadership training that:
-
Empowers current and future credit union leadership (both staff and boards) with access to thought leadership, information, and tools to capitalize on the unique role that credit unions and other cooperative institutions play in society;
- Demonstrates how that role provides a real social value and a competitive advantage that can be leveraged and embraced by current members, new members, and new markets;
- Connects credit unions to learn not only from each others' success, but also the success of other industries and institutions who have created benefits for themselves and their communities by taking a proactive stance on social responsibility.
The SIMI is designed to address this need.
• • • • • |
 Watch Credit Union National Association President & CEO Dan Mica describe credit unions' opportunities to reach Untapped markets. This speech highlight comes from the World Credit Union Conference in Dublin, Ireland:
Every attendee of the Social Impact Management Institute gets a free copy of the award-winning book referenced in this speech: Untapped: Creating Value in Underserved Markets. For more about the book, scroll down to see the rest of the story.
• • • •
|
|
|
|  The book used as the basis for the National Credit Union Foundation’s new Social Impact Management Institute has earned recognition as the best business book among 2,690 entries in the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards.
Untapped: Creating Value in Underserved Markets won the Gold Award in the Independent Publisher Book Awards’ Business Books category. Untapped is authored by NCUF consultant John Weiser, who facilitates Social Impact Management Institutes co-hosted by state credit union associations and corporate credit unions.
“The Untapped book demonstrates how other organizations have grown by reaching out to their communities and embracing social responsibility in ways that are relevant to the challenges facing today’s credit unions,” observed NCUF Executive Director Steve Delfin, who hired Weiser as NCUF’s strategic planning consultant in 2005. “We believe John’s extensive marketplace research and experience adds tremendous practical knowledge to credit union educational programs.” |
|
|
|  The total purchasing power of minorities in the U.S. will top $1.5 trillion in 2009, creating a huge opportunity for credit unions.
"Credit unions need to start thinking of strategies to attract this population," says NCUF consultant John Weiser, author of Untapped: Creating Value in Underserved Markets. "A lot of people out there are taking advantage of them. Credit unions can do better."
At NCUF's Social Impact Management Institute and Serving Low-Wealth Households Conference, Weiser advises credit unions to take five steps to attract the underserved:
1) Mine and translate local market information;
2) Adapt their business model to community realities;
3) Change internal incentives and challenge cultural assumptions;
4) Create partnerships and strategic alliances;
5) Improve the enabling environment by educating and diversifying staff or branch locations.
Weiser also has specific outreach advice for community credit unions. |
|
|
| | | NCUF Executive Director Steve Delfin (center) accepts a Community Impact Award from the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions. | |  |
|
|
|
|
|
