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Program Background
Membership is open to any "mainstream" credit union with a strong demonstrated commitment to serving low-and moderate-income people and communities. Over the last few years, more and more credit unions have expanded their field of memberships to include underserved communities. Many of the Federation’s Community Development Partners have opened new branches in low-income areas, offer services to immigrants, are helping people repair their credit or get a first loan, offer alternatives to “payday” and predatory lenders, finance affordable housing, and/or are assisting a local CDCU. Other credit unions have recently received field of membership expansion into an underserved area and have affiliated with the Federation to expand their knowledge on developing new products, programs, and services to better service members in these communities. Community Development Partners do not vote for Federation Board members but can access our Education & Training, and Technical Assistance.
Most Community Development Partners, while not low-income designated (serving a majority of low-income members), do share a strong commitment for serving underserved communities and individuals.
For a complete listing of our Community Development Partners, click here.
Our Strategy
Our goal is to help credit unions reach more low- and moderate-income people with more financial services and products in a safe, sound, sustainable way.
We achieve this by:
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Building working partnerships among credit unions;
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Sharing specialized information about the low-income market;
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Developing new markets, products, and strategies; and
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Documenting credit union achievements
Benefits of Membership
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Free first-year tuition to the CDCU Institute™ - the only program in the credit union industry providing education and training in community development;
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Financial literacy Train-the-trainer seminars at no charge;
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Free Consulting services to help your credit union reach the low-income market;
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Access to special Federation funding programs, such as our Bridge Grant program;
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Technical support in establishing innovative, high-impact programs like Individual Development Accounts (IDA) for low-income members;
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Expanded Resources - Information about government and private resources to assist your work;
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Assistance in developing collaborations and partnerships with credit unions and organizations serving low-income communities;
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Preferred rates for all Federation conferences, educational events, and publications;
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Affinty Networks - Participation in the Federation’s special-interest groups, including our Faith-based, Latino, Youth, and Disability Networks;
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Acknowledgment of your credit union in the Federation’s publications and website;
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National Recognition of your credit union in the Federation’s public-policy work with Congress, NCUA, federal and state agencies;
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Representation on the Federation’s new Community Development Partnership Board, which will collaborate with the Federation’s board to develop innovative strategies to serve the low-income market.
Join Now!
To join as a Community Development partner, please click here.
