Making foundational change $1 at a time
Funded by members, the SECU Foundation works closely with its vast branch network to balance giving and impact from the mountains to the sea.
With nearly 2.5 million members in a state with 10.4 million people, State Employees’ Credit Union ($40.1B, Raleigh, NC) has a considerable impact on North Carolinians as a provider of affordable, responsible financial services. But the nation’s second-largest credit union (and largest state charter) adds to that impact via grant funding through its SECU Foundation.
The bulk of the funding for the SECU Foundation comes from a monthly $1 donation taken from members’ checking accounts. That donation began as a monthly maintenance fee on all checking accounts, but under then president and CEO Jim Blaine, senior management seized the opportunity to create a foundation in 2004 to address the requests for support and sponsorships that come in across the credit union’s sprawling branch network.
Today, members may opt-out of the donation, but the vast majority of SECU’s 1.4 million checking account holders choose to contribute.
“We have more than 99% participation,” says Jama Campbell, the former SECU branching executive who became the foundation’s executive director and its first full-time employee four years ago.
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