You can call me Chris.
It's not my name, but over the years, I've been called it so many times (instead of Cliff) that I'm used to it. It doesn't bother me, and it doesn't usually cost me anything.
But when two of the leading credit union publications (including this one) mangled our organization's name in the same week, it was a different matter. We worked hard to raise nearly $750,000 in our Community Development Relief and Rebuilding Fund for credit unions damaged by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. On January 27, we traveled to New Orleans to present checks to some of the credit unions for which we had approved awards.
Imagine our distress when we read articles describing these actions as being the work of the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF), rather than us-the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (NFCDCU).
We know we have a long, ungainly name, with long, awkward initials (NFCDCU doesn't roll off the tongue very readily). But that's who we've always been, for nearly 32 years. We love the National Credit Union Foundation. We appreciate their support (including for our fund). But we're not them, and they're not us.
If you can't pronounce our full name or initials (it takes most new employees at our organization six months to a year to get it right), just call us: The Federation. While there is an almost infinite number of acronyms in the credit union movement, many of which look similar, we know of no other national credit union organizations with "Federation" in their name. By calling us the Federation, we're confident that you'll be able to lay our sins and virtues alike on the right doorstep.
Cliff Rosenthal, Executive Director
The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions
New York
