Build unexpected partnerships to achieve the impossible

Through my relocation to my home state of Michigan in June, change remains constant. As days turn into months, and months turn into seasons, I notice that the cushions that transform tumult into the calm of routine are connection and partnership. For my daughter, MacKenzie, these partnerships manifest through new friendships, new coaches, new teachers, and time with her lifetime partners, her parents, and her grandparents.

Credit unions thrive as relationship builders and community connectors. Collaboration and service to our communities are central to our industry’s philosophies and identity. If you listen to credit union leaders respond to what makes us special, collaboration is nearly always one of the answers shared. I often find that with many partnerships, opportunities to go deeper exist.

At Community Financial Credit Union, we categorize potential partners into four buckets, and aim to have strong relationships within each category, including:

• Local connection,
• Community giving,
• Financial education and
• Industry collaborations.

Establishing a diverse base of partners enhances the connections for the credit union, and it creates and expands reach exponentially.

Knowing where we are heading, we look for shared values. We fight the temptation of beginning conversations with partners thinking about outcomes. Those outcomes matter and most partnerships will fall flat if values aren’t in sync.

Time waters the seed of relationships and helps them grow and thrive. At the start, you often can’t predict what tangible projects will come to fruition. But as you spend time together and build meaningful connections, common goals, passions, and complementary strengths come to life.

Here are a few ways we’ve turned the idea of partnership into reality:

Local Connection

Every community faces its own set of challenges. What are the most significant issues impacting your market? Examine what issues pose barriers and identify human beings engaged in tirelessly addressing these issues. Brainstorm the ways you can play a role in supporting them.

We recently partnered with Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas of NINE Design + Homes, who host the HGTV program Bargain Block. The partners restore Detroit homes into affordable, stylish homes for first-time and often-overlooked buyers. Housing affordability is a major issue affecting Michiganders and is a cause that both our teams care about deeply.

This partnership was born from curiosity, questions, and dreams of the impossible. During my early days at CFCU, I asked Jill Johnson, our chief revenue and lending officer, to imagine an aspirational partner for the credit union. She immediately named Keith and Evan, and then humbly chuckled, saying it wasn’t realistic. From this bold dream, we laid the groundwork for an unexpected partnership that today has blossomed into us serving as the official financing partner for Keith and Evan.

Through our many conversations with Keith and Evan, we talked about the ways we could participate in tackling the issue of affordable housing. Then, as we saw their creativity and designs, we uncovered a powerful additional angle for Keith & Evan to design debit cards. The best part is that we know this partnership has further growth opportunities.

Community Giving

Charitable organizations serving community needs are among the most common forms of partnerships in our industry. Nonprofits are essential partners in helping credit unions live out our promise to give back to our communities. And these partnerships can springboard into more than financial donations.

We recently sponsored a second phase of a local project called the Plymouth ArtWalk with nationally renowned Detroit artist Tony Roko. The project activates and beautifies unused spaces into a curated outdoor gallery, as a catalyst for community engagement and placemaking.

This partnership began during our early conversations with the city of Plymouth during my onboarding. They told us about their desire to invest in additional phases of the ArtWalk, and we were excited to learn more. After meeting Tony and learning about his nonprofit, Art Foundation, it quickly became evident that our values aligned. This fueled our partnership to grow in unimaginable ways.

Through the ArtWalk project, we now proudly display two of the community art installations at our home office, with eight more being installed across our CFCU hometown of Plymouth, Michigan. Additionally, Tony served as the inaugural guest on our recently launched podcast, Despite Impossible, and is designing the artwork for debit cards that will also offer charitable giving possibilities. We have numerous collaboration opportunities stemming from our shared passion for using creativity to fuel positive change.

Financial Education

Many of us are heavily involved in fostering a solid foundation of financial literacy for our communities’ youth. At CFCU, we have long operated student-run credit unions in our markets, among other financial education programs.

As we look to expand our impact, we know that listening and co-creating with students will ensure vastly stronger results. That empathy includes even rethinking the way we show up in the schools. Instead of reimagining that on our own, we’ve redesigned our team member apparel to a style with which students can better relate. We worked with an advanced marketing class to conduct a focus group on shoe design and provided students with the real-world application of this business exercise. Then we invited students to submit their designs into a contest, selecting one winner, whose design was manufactured into the new, official CFCU shoe. Next, we plan to reimagine even more of our apparel for onsite work in the schools.

This project has deepened our impact within a local high school that is a long-standing partner with us. What’s more, it has taught students to dream and create. It also helped us enhance our brand. We’re eager to build more projects that will engage students in creative ways.

Industry Collaborations

At CFCU, we are heavily focused on supporting mental health initiatives. As the new 988 national mental health hotline was launched last summer, we knew we needed to jump in and be involved in the greater effort. Inspired by epic fundraising efforts from both California and Oregon credit unions, we approached the Michigan Credit Union League (MCUL) with the idea of building a fundraising opportunity. MCUL President & CEO Patty Corkery had the idea to expand the collaboration beyond Michigan to include the entire Great Lakes region.

We’re bringing to life In the Cellar, a fundraising event with fellow credit union and system organization sponsors. The resulting proceeds will benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, focusing on mental health. Samantha Boyd, a social worker with Helen Devos Children’s Hospital, shared that, “millions of people are dealing with increased stress, anxiety, depression, and grief and it’s most apparent in young people. In fact, we have six preferred behavioral health beds at Helen Devos Children’s Hospital right now, and they are always full. We always have patients waiting. The funds that In the Cellar will raise will make an important impact to hospitals like ours across the Midwest to improve the mental health care we can provide to kids.”

As I remind MacKenzie during the more brutal days of our transition and move, with every conversation and human being you meet, there is potential to build something magical together. The world is smaller than we often think, and every human connection can create meaning. In a time when so much of what we hear is about how divided we are, credit unions can shine a light on how much commonality exists and how collaboration multiplies impact.

What may seem impossible becomes probable when we unite to manifest even more positive change. Together, we can help one another thrive. More importantly, we can strengthen our communities, grow awareness for credit unions’ impact, and ensure our members’ vibrant dreams come to life.