This Thanksgiving, I'm Grateful for Credit Unions. But I Want More for Their Members.
Because the greatest gift we can give our members may be a stronger financial future.
This Thanksgiving, I've been thinking about the credit union movement.
And how grateful I am to be part of it.
I'm grateful for the people who show up every day believing financial services can be about something more than transactions and profits.
For the branch employees who know their members by name.
For the lenders who find a way to say yes when the answer could easily have been no.
For the financial educators who help someone take their first steps toward financial confidence.
For the leaders and boards who believe that people helping people is more than a slogan.
There is so much to be proud of in this industry.
And yet, this Thanksgiving, I find myself wanting something more.
Not more products.
Not more technology.
Not even more data.
I want more financial strength for the people we serve.
We're Doing Good Work. But Are We Changing Financial Lives?
Credit unions do extraordinary things for their members and communities.
We provide affordable financial services.
We support local organizations.
We deliver financial education.
We help people buy homes, purchase cars, build businesses, and navigate difficult circumstances.
And we measure a lot of that work.
Loans originated.
Members served.
Education sessions delivered.
Volunteer hours.
Community dollars invested.
Those are meaningful accomplishments, and we should celebrate them.
But I've been asking a different question this year.
What happened to the member because of what we did?
Did the financial education help someone build savings?
Did the loan reduce their financial burden?
Did our support help a family become more financially stable?
Did someone move from struggling to coping, or from coping to financially stable?
Because doing good work and demonstrating that we improved someone's financial life are not quite the same thing.
A Reason to Be Hopeful
This year, THRIVE partnered with Valley First Credit Union to develop the first CU POWER Report baseline.
We began looking beyond traditional credit union performance measures to understand members' financial condition through the CU POWER Core 7.
And what excites me most isn't simply what we discovered.
It's what becomes possible when we can begin measuring whether members are moving from Vulnerable → Coping → Stable.
Imagine being able to say:
We didn't just help members open savings accounts.
We helped them build the financial cushion they didn't have before.
We didn't just refinance loans.
We helped members reduce their financial burden.
We didn't just provide financial education.
We helped members become more financially confident.
And we have the evidence to demonstrate that improvement.
That's the opportunity I see for our movement.
Not replacing the work we're already doing.
But connecting it to the outcomes that matter most.
THE CU POWER SIGNAL
VULNERABLE → COPING → STABLE
What it means: The impact of a credit union isn't simply the services it provides. It's the measurable improvement in its members' financial condition.
The question for your credit union: What if the greatest thing we could give our members is a stronger financial future?
Source: CU POWER member financial condition framework, applied in the first CU POWER Report baseline with Valley First Credit Union.
Something Worth Giving Thanks For
As we head into Thanksgiving, I want to say thank you.
To the credit unions willing to ask difficult questions.
To the employees who genuinely care about the people behind the accounts.
To the leaders who are willing to challenge how we've always measured success.
And to Valley First Credit Union for being willing to explore what measuring member financial impact could look like.
You've given me something particularly meaningful to be grateful for this year.
The opportunity to move from believing we change lives to building the evidence that we do.
Because I believe the future of the credit union movement isn't just about being different from banks.
It's about making a measurable difference in people's lives.
And that's something worth being thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Click 👆🏻 on the image to learn more & request the CU POWER Report.
Click 👆🏻 on the image to learn more.
Click 👆🏻 on the image to learn more.
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