ST. PAUL, MN (September 30, 2013) -- The Minnesota Credit Union Network (MnCUN) held a “Don’t Tax My Credit Union Phone Blitz” on Thursday, Sept. 26. The event was designed to build additional momentum for the Don’t Tax My Credit Union campaign.
To prepare for the blitz, MnCUN contacted all Minnesota credit unions and urged them to have a designated phone for employees and members to call out from, or to have employees make calls from their personal desk extensions to members of Congress throughout the day. Minnesota credit unions used the CUNA dedicated phone number (877-642-4223) to connect with their members of Congress.
Minnesota’s 10 Congressional offices (including both U.S. senators and eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives) received nearly 800 calls during the blitz – almost three times as many phone calls as were generated in the three months prior to Sept. 26. The call total adds to the more than 16,000 emails, postcards and letters already generated through the campaign by Minnesota credit unions.
“It was a fresh, new way for us to keep credit union employees and members engaged and connected with their members of Congress on this critical issue,” said Mara Humphrey, MnCUN Vice President of Public Affairs. “The phone effort was an incredibly effective, personal appeal that reinforced all of the other advocacy efforts we’re leading to protect the credit union tax status.”
MnCUN has been driving the Don’t Tax My Credit Union campaign with a number of initiatives, including:
- Postcards – nearly 3,500 postcards have been filled out by credit union members at branches and sent to their U.S. Senators and member of the House of Representatives.
- Social media – MnCUN is engaging with members and elected officials through multiple platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Vine videos have been an effective and fun way to share the Don’t Tax My Credit Union message. Nationally, with the help of social media, close to 1 million Don’t Tax My Credit Union messages have been sent to Congress.
- Emails – credit unions across the state are helping to generate direct Don’t Tax My Credit Union communications to members of Congress by sending email blasts to their members.
- GREAT membership – MnCUN’s GrassRoots Education & Action Team (or GREAT) has grown by close to 1,000 credit union advocates since the Don’t Tax My Credit Union campaign began in May. MnCUN has also designated October as GREAT Month – coinciding with International Credit Union Day on Oct. 17 – with a goal of reaching 100 percent credit union employee participation in GREAT, as well as at least 2 percent of each credit union’s membership.
“With almost 1.6 million credit union members and 3,800 credit union employees in Minnesota, it’s a powerful message when they contact Congress personally and urge their elected officials to stand up for credit unions,” said Ryan Smith, MnCUN Political Advocacy Director.
The Minnesota Credit Union Network is an organization representing the state’s 133 not-for-profit cooperative credit unions serving more than 1.5 million member-owners in Minnesota. For more information, visit www.mncun.org.