Credit Union Data Drives Advocacy Across the Finish Line – Every Time

Posted by Lynn Heider on July 31, 2024

Your credit union’s economic and community impact story will be powerful tools in 2025. 

The political landscape, from the presidential race to the hyper-local contests in your statehouses, is red hot this summer. While we can’t predict the outcome, one thing is sure: there will be turnover in Congress and in state legislatures. That means there’ll be a huge opportunity for credit unions to share their stories with an incoming class of new policymakers, while they continue to build relationships with those still in office. 

One of the most effective ways to elevate these credit union stories is by backing them up with solid data. It’s one thing to go to Congress or the state legislature and ask for support of credit union priorities. It’s much more effective to go in armed with so much data that they’re excited to say, “yes.”  

That strategy has helped us move the advocacy and regulatory needle in the past, and it will again. Heading into the 119th Congress and the 2025 legislative sessions, GoWest advocates will be armed with reports documenting credit unions’ economic and community impact. The economic analysis will detail direct, indirect, and induced impacts made by credit unions in each state, every congressional district, and local county. What’s more, the economists will prepare an exclusive one-page summary report for all credit unions that participate in this project. This will be an invaluable tool for your credit union to share with members and the communities you serve. 

“The combination of this data and analysis allows credit unions to vividly demonstrate to policymakers, and others, how they uniquely serve consumers and positively impact economies,” said Christine Ruzzi, GoWest’s Vice President of Member Impact. “Those policymakers understand and respect thoughtful analysis of economic and community impacts.” 

We Need Your Help

Next month, we will again ask credit unions to share their economic and community impact data.   

Your credit union will receive instructions and links to help you provide this information. The more credit unions that participate, the more robust our data will be. It will demonstrate beyond a doubt that credit unions are essential to the economy. It will show that our tax status is justified, and how membership in a not-for-profit cooperative credit union provides real benefits to those consumers and local communities.   

Capturing the Heart of Credit Unions

In addition to the expert economic analysis, it’s important that credit unions share it alongside their community story. In recent years, through GoWest’s community impact survey, credit unions have documented their unique services to members and communities, including financial education, special lending, services to unbanked and underserved people, and more. This year we will again collect community impact data from member credit unions, with a new, streamlined survey. The survey will allow you to share stories that support your data.  

The economic impact report will detail direct, indirect, and induced impacts made by credit unions in each of our states 

Your Data Previously Helped Move the Needle

“We use the community and economic impact report data in testimony before the legislature every two years during hearings on our bills to update the Oregon Credit Union Act, as well as other relevant hearings on small business lending, financial education, and more,” said Pamela Leavitt, who has been credit unions’ on the ground advocate in the Oregon legislature for more than 20 years. “This data is critical to legislators understanding the positive impacts of credit unions across the state.”  

Your Participation is Crucial

Look for outreach from GoWest in the coming weeks. A customized message arriving the week of August 12 will give you the resources you need and links to the data collection portals. The deadline to complete the data collection is mid-September, giving the economists and data team what they need to prepare the analysis in time for legislative sessions in 2025. 

“Together, the economic and community impact reports will be powerful tools that will be used to help influence lawmakers and regulators to support credit union priorities, to pass legislation enhancing services to members, and to stave off regulatory overreach and other threats,” said Jennifer Wagner, GoWest’s Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer. 

Posted in Advocacy, Community Impact, GoWest Association, Top Headlines.