Community involvement is the best PR

Two examples and an opportunity.

by: Bill Prichard

CO-OP Financial Services recently made available the white paper, “Best Practices: Public Relations for Credit Unions.” The paper reviewed the work of six public relations professionals at credit unions from Virginia to Alaska. A number of topics emerged in our discussion with these “practitioners,” but perhaps the one best practice they have unanimously adopted is community involvement. It’s the best public relations of all.

The opportunities for credit unions to be involved in their communities are as broad and diverse as the nation.

One example is $2.4 billion Redwood Credit Union of Santa Rosa, Calif., which has had a strong relationship with the Redwood Empire Food Bank, also of Santa Rosa.

“Our partnership provides us mutually beneficial media opportunities, too,” says Robin McKenzie, SVP/marketing and communications. “For example, we recently got called to be the featured company at the food bank when they were contacted by KGO-TV, a San Francisco ABC affiliate, who wanted to do a live broadcast there during Thanksgiving.

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