Having trouble getting members to turn out at your annual meeting? One credit union here has found the answer in Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Sandslash.
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Dallas County Employees CU (DCECU), like many credit unions, was finding it hard to lure members to its annual meeting, until the $25.5- million credit union decided to reach out to its members' children.
Last year, DCECU gave out free Beanie Babies to the first 50 members who attended the annual meeting. "What we were finding is that the prizes (geared towards adults) weren't enough of a lure," said Jennifer Naughton, CEO. "As soon as word got out about the Beanie Babies, we started getting calls from members wanting to know which Beanie Babies we were going to be giving out."
The result: more than 300 people attended the annual meeting, of whom approximately 150 were actual members. Compare that to a more typical turn- out prior to the Beanie Baby giveaway: 100, tops.
"We had to go so far as to put the Beanie Babies in brown paper bags and staple them shut so that we wouldn't have any fights over which Beanie Baby we were handing out," Naughton related. "We went out and bought only the less-expensive ones, but we didn't buy all the same kind, and we were warned that people might argue over which one they got."
And how much did the credit union spend on the scheme: about $5.99 per Beanie Baby or about $300 for 50 of the popular pals.
This year, the bait is less soft and fuzzy: Pokemon cards. "Beanie Babies were really hot last year, but now they're sort of passe, so we went with Pokemon cards," Naughton offered. "My kids aren't old enough yet to be into Pokemon, but at Christmas time this year all we heard about was the Pokemon Yellow game and how nobody could find it, and it had to be the yellow one."
So, in addition to the trading cards, this year's door prizes will include two Nintendo Gameboys and two Pokemon Yellow games for Gameboy-on top of the more traditional prizes for adults, such as the 25-inch television and $1,000.
"We'll probably spend a total of $2,500 at the most on the annual meeting. That includes refreshments and all the prizes as well as the Pokemon cards, which cost about $5 per package," Naughton offered. "This year, we're making sure everyone gets the same one."
While that may cut down on the numbers of children sprawled on the ground to battle with their Pokemon cards, it hasn't cut down on the excitement generated by the giveaway.
"The calls have already started coming in," Naughton said. "People are calling to find out which cards we'll be giving out, which packages, how many in each package, that sort of thing."
What prompted the "If you give it, they will come" strategy? DCECU has a lot of parents-many of them single mothers-in its field of membership, so they only want to go to things that are child-friendly so they can bring their children with them, according to Naughton. It also encourages members who work downtown to return downtown for the meeting.
Once at the meeting, members will hear news of a DP conversion and the debut of home banking and bill payment Aug. 1, along with enhanced audio- response. There is also the Members-Helping-Members Fund.
The fund, raised by staff through candy sales and member donations, is designed to be a gift to a member in need.
"We've had members come in looking for a loan because they're about to be evicted from their apartment or for some emergency medical treatment, and we wanted to be able to give them the money instead of making a loan," Naughton explained. "The staff as done this, there's no credit union money in this fund, and so far they've raised close to $1,000. We would like to have $1,500 by the annual meeting."
Once enough money has been raised, members in need can apply for the grant, with applications being evaluated to validate that there's a real need.
"A lot of our folks are single mothers living paycheck to paycheck," she noted. "They're coming in because they don't have the money to purchase the uniforms that are required by our schools out here. There's a lot of need out there."
Yet despite all those announcements, Nauthton acknowledged that a pocket monster called Pikachu will remain the main attraction.
