MADISON, Wis.-International Credit Union Day will be celebrated this week, but this year the annual event is also serving as an appetizer for the United Nations' International Year of Cooperatives (IYC), which kicks off on October 31 at the U.N. General Assembly.
The World Council of Credit Unions and CUNA have joined together to represent credit unions in this initiative, along with the National Cooperative Business Association. WOCCU CEO Brian Branch and CUNA CEO Bill Cheney will attend the opening ceremonies at the U.N., as well as participate in multiple meetings and workshops at the U.N. headquarters. Both are also participating in the IYC steering committee, organized by the NCBA.
The U.N. has set goals for the International Year of Cooperatives of increasing the public's awareness of cooperatives, promoting their growth and encouraging governments to establish policies conducive to the formation and growth of co-ops.
Mike Muckian, director of marketing and communications for WOCCU, called the event "a wonderful opportunity to brag about the great things cooperatives do for their members in general, and credit unions in particular."
As a way to facilitate that dialogue, Muckian said that WOCCU is setting up an interactive blog on its website for members to post activities, questions, and "hopefully get involved in a dialogue about cooperatives and the roles they play."
Mark Wolff, SVP of communications at CUNA, said that "we do see this as a prime awareness-raising opportunity and a really unique opportunity. How often is this type of declaration made about cooperatives from a level like the United Nations? It gives us an opportunity to try to increase consumers' and policy makers' understanding of cooperatives, and certainly that includes credit unions."
Many at NCBA and CUNA are pointing to the U.N.'s International Year of Microcredit in 2005 as a successful example of what can be accomplished through this kind of large scale campaigns. "The microfinance example is one that we'd like to strive to emulate in that when that year was over there was an increased understanding of it; more so, I think, than in the prior year when it was the International Year of Rice," said Wolff.
'My Co-Op Rocks'
A number of IYC activities are still in development, including a social media/viral video campaign and White House involvement, as well as the possibility of both a celebrity spokesperson and a nationwide bike tour. Among the activities already planned is a video competition called "My Co-op Rocks" from the National Cooperative Grocers' Association, which is being open to all cooperatives for 2012. The NCBA is also developing a co-op finder website, similar to www.findacreditunion.com, which it hopes to launch by the end of 2011.
According to Andrea Cumpston, the NCBA's director of communications and marketing, a 2008 University of Wisconsin study revealed that more than 29,000 cooperatives do business in the U.S., though she said that number may have risen in recent years "because we had an economic decline, and hard times usually breed more cooperatives." Cumpston added that data from the International Cooperative Alliance suggests that one-in-four Americans is a member of a cooperative, with more than one-billion people around the world holding co-op memberships.
"Recognizing the role that cooperatives play could be very valuable for credit unions," reiterated WOCCU's Muckian. "I think people are not aware of just how many different types of cooperatives exist and just how far reaching their influence has been, not only in the United States but in countries around the world. ... Not just people in various countries, but also the lawmakers: some of the groups like the [Basel Committee on Bank Supervision] and other groups with which we interact have begun to see credit unions in a different light. I hope the International Year of Cooperatives continues to build this awareness ... on behalf of cooperatives around the world."
