VACAVILLE, Calif. — The "Pay It Forward" mantra can now officially be called a trend in the cooperative movement as Travis Credit Union here has adopted the program and put its own spin on the campaign.
In Travis's campaign, members are urged to create their own web videos on YouTube or submit an e-mailed proposal answering the question: "If you could donate $500 to a worthwhile cause, what organization would you choose and why?"
Product manager John Ferver said the $1.6-billion institution picked up on the idea after reading Credit Union Journal's coverage of Seattle Metro CU and Summit CU's campaigns, noting that it perfectly tied in with its overall marketing and communications program which includes social media and other web 2.0 capabilities.
"One of the things we wanted to do was to connect with everything in the community we already do and allow our members to participate," said VP Marketing and Product Development Cathy Rios. "We are very involved in the community; it's one of our commitments to social responsibility in general. In 2008 we sponsored or participated in 153 events where we have branches."
The original "Pay It Forward" campaign saw Seattle Metro CU hand out $10 to everyone who came to its downtown branch last October and asked them what they could do with that money to help others. In that campaign the credit union filmed the proposals in person and put them on the Internet; but Travis is leaving that responsibility to the members and allowing them to be as creative as they want.
This is not the first time Travis CU has interacted with its members through second-generation web technology.
"We've done this kind of contest one other time where we asked members to tell us how we helped accomplish one financial goal," noted Rios. "We got some great feedback."
Travis CU's campaign is emphasizing social media - a good way to get young members involved in the credit union's mission, Rios explained, saying it would "get them connected to the fact that this is important to us and we know it is important to them."
The credit union is expecting "well over 100 submissions," Ferver said - and it is off to a quick start as there was already one member submission on the same day the campaign kicked off. Ferver expects that number to accelerate especially quickly when the Oct. 31 deadline nears.
The credit union plans to assemble a committee to judge the entries. The committee will choose the winner based on the video's originality, creativity, non-profit status and location of the charitable organization and the way the member describes the charity and why he or she supports it.
