The Ohio Credit Union Foundation achieved record grant making totals in 2007, awarding more than $210,000 in grants to assist credit unions and individuals across Ohio, the nation, and around the world.

Our Mission
The Ohio Credit Union Foundation supports educational and outreach initiatives that promote financial independence through credit unions.

Who We Are
The Ohio Credit Union Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charitable foundation, is the philanthropic arm of the Ohio Credit Union System. The OCUF was incorporated in December 1997, began fundraising in 1998, and made its first grants in 1999. 2008 will mark the 10-year anniversary of OCUF.

What We Do
The Ohio Credit Union Foundation is active in and dedicated to:

• Promoting financial education to benefit credit union members, Ohio students, and the public at large;

• Helping credit unions implement programs within their communities that fulfill their social responsibility to make financial services affordable and accessible to all members, including those of modest means, or to areas in financial distress;

• Providing professional development grants to assist credit union employees and volunteer leaders with the training to achieve professional excellence;

• Offering financial relief to credit unions, their employees, members, and their communities in the wake of disasters such as floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, or fires;

• Empowering people to improve their financial well-being, based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, and equity.
 

Disaster Relief
Natural disasters, including late summer flooding in parts of northwest and north central Ohio, resulted in unprecedented requests for disaster relief assistance in 2007. More than 37% of the Ohio Credit Union Foundation’s grant making budget went to disaster relief, including:

$70,000 Six grants to five credit unions to: assist teachers who lost uninsured personal classroom supplies in both floods and fires; help members replace necessities such as food, clothes, and furniture lost during August floods; help schools replace art classroom supplies and cover other uninsured losses;

$10,000 National Credit Union Foundation to assist California wildfire victims;

$5,000 World Council of Credit Unions for earthquake relief in Peru.
 

Professional Development
To help Ohio credit union employees and volunteer leaders receive the training they need to achieve professional excellence, the OCUF awarded:

$57,000 43 grants for individuals to attend the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference, CUNA Management School, America’s Credit Union Conference & Expo, the National Credit Union Foundation’s Development Educator training (pictured below), CUES CEO Institute, and financial management, regulatory compliance, and financial counseling schools and conferences.

$12,500 Five higher education scholarships to high school students chosen as winners in a statewide scholarship competition.
 

Outreach & Financial Education
To help credit unions implement programs within their communities that fulfill their social responsibility to make financial services affordable and accessible for all members, including those of modest means, or to areas in financial distress, the OCUF awarded:

$57,000 19 grants to credit unions for programs such as S.A.V.E.S., Get Checking, and Give With Us Web site.

Outreach and financial education grants for 2007 were issued for such notable projects as the following:

• Eleven credit unions and the OCUF pooled funds to provide more than $65,000 to the HomeOwnership Center of Greater Dayton to allow the agency to hire a certified foreclosure counselor to exclusively serve the local area. The goal is to help homeowners keep their homes amid rising foreclosures in southwest Ohio.

• The Summit Chapter received an OCUF grant to help fund the cost of a 1-800 telephone line for a free tax filing service for low-to-moderate income residents. The Chapter works with the EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) Coalition of Akron to process tax returns for Summit County residents through their VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) sites.

• First Miami University Student & Alumni FCU received an OCUF grant to create a new Web site which will focus heavily on member financial education. The credit union will use a portion of the grant to print brochures on financial management skills that will be distributed to students, and to develop presentations to promote improved financial independence and literacy.

• A new credit union branch in a local high school that will be run by seniors in the Business Technology Class received an OCUF grant for partial start-up costs, including educational and marketing materials. DayAir CU believes that the experience students will gain by working in the credit union will be invaluable.
 

Plans for 2008
The Ohio Credit Union Foundation Board of Trustees established a $280,000 fundraising goal for 2008, and a grantmaking goal of $250,000.

The Ohio Credit Union Foundation in 2008 will encourage credit unions to undertake programs and projects that support the signature financial education initiative called MoneyAndStuff. The OCUF recognizes MoneyAndStuff – along with other financial education initiatives – as the signature grant-making opportunity in 2008. The goal of MoneyAndStuff is to:

• Position Ohio credit unions as state and national leaders in financial education;

• Meet a serious public need through credit union leadership; and