RALEIGH, N.C. -
“Now just one year later, we have added more than 60 volunteers to our advisory councils,” said Maurice Smith, president of LGFCU. “That’s a 25% increase, which spurred the creation of two more advisory council regions, bringing the total now to 19. [Sandy] is a first-round draft pick. She has a background in working with volunteers, and managing large volunteer pools.”
Smith also said that it is just as important to keep the volunteers as engaged as it is for the numbers themselves to grow, which is why the new position required the staff member to be a “volunteer coacher.”
“She has to make sure volunteers understand the important role of volunteers,” Smith said. “We want the volunteers to feel empowered in their role.”
One way the 160,000-member CU was able to do that was by changing the way the advisory council meetings were conducted, he said.
“In the past, meetings were structured in a conference format where volunteers listened to someone talk about financials and new products and services,” Green said. “The format was not conducive to back-and-forth communication, so a new format was employed.”
The format of the recent advisory council meets was entirely new, Green said. Following a focus group format, volunteers spent less time listening to a presentation and more time interacting with each other. Meetings began with a question that gave the participants something they could discuss with those sitting at their table.
“This really sparked a lot of ideas,” Green said. “And it was a much more casual way of communicating, so people felt more at ease offering their thoughts and ideas.”
Smith said the new meeting format also allows for more organization.
“We did way too much talking before. She treats our meetings like focus groups. They like her meetings better than my meetings,” he said with a laugh.
Between these meetings, the credit union has had success e-mailing periodic surveys to keep volunteers involved.
In these surveys, the volunteers are asked for ideas about how to improve future meetings.
“Sandy has been spending the first year having meetings and conversations, and e-mailing the members often,” Smith said. “She equips them to have regular contact. And she keeps them up with what’s going on with the credit union.”
Green is also starting a volunteer group for teens, conversing with them over the Internet, Smith said.
“She’s going to current volunteers asking about their teenage children,” he said. “We are also having tellers keep an eye out for teens in the branches.”
