Legislative Update with Jay Kruse

Results from our ClickBid online auction fundraiser are in, and we could not be more pleased with the results!  Plus, a recap of Summit legislative announcements. 

Good Morning!  I hope everyone is having a fantastic week.  It was great seeing many of you at the 2021 DakCU Summit last week, but I wanted to provide a bit of a recap for those that weren’t able to join us. 

We made a few changes to the Summit this year, most notably, to our annual GAC/Hike the Hill Scholarship Fundraiser.  This year, we utilized a web-based platform called ClickBid to take our auction and raffle online.  This being the first time using an online platform, we didn’t know exactly what to expect.  However, after tabulating the results, I am very excited to report our auction and raffle fundraiser generated the most funds it ever has since its creation in 2009!

This year, with the help of our generous prize donations and 140 bidders, we were able to raise $5,876 to support our newly rebranded “Roger Heacock GAC-HTH Scholarship.”  We are excited to honor Roger with a scholarship in his name for all his continued support of our DakCU advocacy efforts over his long and very successful credit union career.  (Check out the related Memo story today to read more about the Roger Heacock GAC-HTH Scholarship.)

In addition to hosting a very successful advocacy fundraiser, our State Legislative Director, Kayla Pulvermacher, and I also provided attendees with a brief federal and state advocacy update on the main stage as well.  We began by presenting our CUPAC/CULAC Champion Awards to those credit unions that best demonstrate, through financial contributions, a commitment to the political wellbeing of the credit union movement.  The first recognition went to the credit union that surpassed their annual fundraising goal by the largest percentage: Railway CU in Mandan, ND.  The next Champion Award was presented to: Black Hills FCU in Rapid City, SD as the credit union donating the most dollars to the Credit Union Political and Legislative Action Committees.

During 2020, Dakotas’ credit union donors contributed a combined total of $65,481 to CUPAC/CULAC.  This includes $22,481 to ND CULAC which ranked 1st in the nation in percentage over goal, and $20,664 to SD CULAC which ranked 3rd.  Even during a nationwide pandemic, our members continued to make political fundraising a priority, and we can’t thank you enough!

We concluded our Summit presentation by announcing the dates for our annual 2021 Fall Hike the Hill that will be taking place September 14 – 15 in Washington DC and providing legislative session recaps for both states.  Please reach out to Amy Kleinschmit or me if you are interested in attending the Fall Hike the Hill this year.  There are Roger Heacock GAC-HTH Scholarships available to interested applicants!  Remember to check out our weekly Memo updates and archives provided by Kayla and me for a recap of our state legislative sessions.
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As always, don't hesitate to contact me at jkruse@dakcu.org with any questions or comments. 

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