The President’s Perspective

​Stack the PAC event to kick off Annual Summit; America’s Credit Unions Board update; reaching Gen Z; and CEO challenge issued for Foundation’s Vacation Sweepstakes! 

Greetings – It’s hard to believe that we have already “sprung ahead,” celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, and now March Madness is upon us. You know what they say, “time flies when you’re having fun!”  This also means the Dakota Credit Union Associations’ Annual Summit is just around the corner.

Once again, we have a terrific lineup of keynote speakers, presenters, and educational sessions planned, including pre-conference educational sessions with specific topics that are trending today and impacting many of you. We are looking forward to connecting with you in person May 14-16, at the Grand Falls Casino and Resort just outside of Sioux Falls. To learn more about our annual meeting, or to get in on the early bird registration, click here.

“Stack the PAC” event will help kick off DakCU’s Annual Summit.
Beside several pre-conference activities, the DakCU advocacy team, along with our two Government Affairs Committees, will kick off our 18th annual meeting with a CULAC-CUPAC social and recognition event on Tuesday, May 14, from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. Any credit union employee or member that has contributed at the CU Advocate level ($1 per pay period or $2 per month) through payroll deduction or other program at their respective credit union will be invited to the event. Anyone that is not a current contributor can enter by contributing to our CULAC/CUPAC program at the door. We’re only asking for a $24 donation! There will be refreshments and light hors d’ oeuvres available.

The highlight of our “Stack the PAC” event will be a 2024 federal election outlook from Trey Hawkins, Deputy Chief Advocacy Officer for Political Action for America’s Credit Unions. This is a great opportunity to meet your DakCU advocacy team members and network with other credit union advocates. I hope to see many of you there!

​CULAC is our federal Credit Union Legislative Action Council, and CUPAC is the state Political Action Committee (PAC). Both North Dakota and South Dakota sponsor a CUPAC program, and these funds are used to support credit union friendly candidates and lawmakers.

America’s Credit Unions Board update.
As a member of the Transition Board (Board) of America’s Credit Unions, I wanted to share information from our most recent meeting, held on March 2nd in conjunction with the 2024 Governmental Affairs Conference. Given this was the first in-person “official meeting” for the Board, we spent significant time focused on fiduciary business and discussing and approving the charters of several key committees, including the audit, finance, and governance and nomination committees. 

The Board also received an update from America’s Credit Unions CEO/President Jim Nussle and Executive Vice President Jill Tomalin on the status of the organization’s transformation progress, and reviewed, discussed, and approved the organization’s five strategic priorities: 

1. Relentless Advocacy: Be fearless champions, providing forward-thinking, initiative-taking, and responsive advocacy to advance, empower and protect member credit unions. 
2. Premier Association Services: Be the premier compliance, education and solutions provider serving the credit union industry, enabling the success of our member credit unions. 
3. Powerful Unified Voice: Be the united, influential voice for credit unions to establish them as the undisputed leader in financial services. 
4. Responsive Member Engagement: Be ambassadors, connectors, and activators, to drive the engagement of our members. 
5. Effective Resource Stewardship: Be enterprise guardians to optimize our resources and enable an outcomes-driven culture through efficient operations, risk mitigation, talent development and diversity. 

How can we reach Gen Z?
It’s a question I hear often from our credit unions – and at the national level. How do we bring in the next generation of credit union members? By 2034, GenZ will reach a population of about 78 million and will be the largest generation of US consumer spenders ever. If we want to stay relevant and continue to succeed, we should all be taking this challenge very seriously.

This is why DakCU is partnering with the Michigan Credit Union League (MCUL) on a new endeavor through their tryacreditunion.com platform. This campaign is focused on the older Gen Z and younger millennial population. The partnership is engineered to enhance our own state-wide awareness program (SWAP), in addition to supplementing any marketing campaign you are already doing for your own credit union. I encourage you to check out this article by Patty Corkery, president/CEO of MCUL on how they specifically shaped their platform to appeal to Gen Z consumers. If you would like to learn more about DakCU’s state-wide awareness program (SWAP) and how Try a Credit Union is integrated, please contact Lindsey Hefta, Director of Marketing.

Foundation’s Vacation Sweepstakes is now live! CEO prize challenge issued.
The Dakota Credit Union Foundation officially launched their Vacation Sweepstakes event last week. One lucky winner will receive a vacation voucher for a destination of their choice worth $5,000! Each $25 donation receives one (1) entry; each $100 donation receives five (5) entries!

Enter the sweepstakes here. The prize drawing will be held live at the Summit Awards Banquet on May 16.
Last year, this fundraiser netted over $8,000 that provided grants and scholarships to individuals and programs that support “financial well-being for all.” We would appreciate all Dakota credit unions’ assistance in helping to promote our sweepstakes, which is open to all residents of North and South Dakota. There is a marketing kit available; please contact Shawn Brummer for assistance.

To maximize our fundraising efforts, Foundation Chair, April Tompkins, and I have issued a Dakota Credit Union CEO challenge of a $100 donation to help pay for our grand prize. I have met that challenge and doubled my personal commitment to $200. Please consider making a personal contribution and one from your credit union to our sweepstakes prize purse. Your kind contribution will ensure that most (or all) of our sweepstake’s revenue will help fund our Foundation’s annual initiatives. Make a direct prize fund donation here.

We sincerely appreciate the generous response we have already received – and we hope to meet (and exceed) the results we saw last year.

Q2 CEO Virtual Town Hall scheduled for April 9th.
Dakota Credit Union Leaders should have received an email calendar invite for our Q2 CEO Town Hall scheduled for Tuesday, April 9th at 3:00 p.m. (CT) 2:00 p.m. (MT). The DakCU team will provide important updates on legislative and regulatory activity impacting our credit unions and members, as well as information on our awareness initiative and updates on education and networking opportunities. Please reach out to me if you need the meeting link.

Check out the fabulous Summit venue!
Finally, I encourage you to watch this short video so you too can see how beautiful the Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort truly is! We are now just 56 days away from our signature event, which is rapidly approaching on May 14 – 16. This year, we revised the format a bit, based on the feedback we received from previous attendees. We have more built-in time for networking, a less “tight” schedule with more flexibility, and more training/educational opportunities for credit union board members. We are confident you will find this year’s Summit to be an outstanding event at a beautiful venue, and I hope to see many of you there. Be sure to register by April 12 to save $70 per person with the early bird discount. 
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Have a wonderful week! 

DakCU President/CEO