Launching Give With Us
Posted by Trey Reeme on January 31st, 2007
Since we started Open Source CU, we’ve been extra careful not to use it as a platform to promote Trabian products or services. So before we tell you about this, we’re disclosing that it’s a product we’ll be launching very shortly.
We have a passion for credit unions, Rails development, and social media. Give With Us brings together all three.
It’s based on a 2006 Filene i3 project called My Community Connection. There’s a working prototype at selco.cugive.com.
Much of the direction we’re taking with Give With Us has been driven by the community on Open Source CU through the conversations we’ve had about social media here. So we owe a big “Thank You” both to Filene for providing a truly open source idea and to our readers and commenters for showing us a need for credit unions to move into social media on a larger scale.
We hope you’ll be willing to let us know what you think about the product, and if you’re interested in getting in on the launch, just send me an email.
I’m proud of you guys. This is a great idea. Looking forward to see the full fledge product.
Wow! You guys completely hit the nail on the head with this one. I forwarded the information on to the “big guys” so hopefully I’ll convince them and you’ll hear from us soon. :)
I LOVE IT!
Awesome development guys. This is the type of app, and pricing, that helps keep the playing field level for financial institutions of all sizes. What’s next?
Great job…it is great to see the innovative ideas coming out of i3 being implemented in the marketplace..>
The concept certainly fits within the community scope of credit unions. I explored the Selco site – it offers a great service. I’ll keep it in my radar.
If you are truly open to constructive criticism, here are a couple of things. One, I wonder seriously about any liability issues that could arise out of a “sponsoring credit union” somehow being dragged into something they didn’t create and have no control of, for example something unfortunate goes on between two volunteers who met on the site or between a volunteer and organization and suddenly the credit union is unwillingly exposed (you are the one with the deepest pockets). As an institution, you really become at the whim of the public out there with very little ability to control many of the outcomes. Second, I wonder if it’s really on point. Credit Union resources are so very limited, there is such a strong “CU story” that needs to be told, to divert precious limited marketing resources to this type of venture comes at the expense of what, core customers and new accounts? Third, I agree with the other post that questions the real “need” for this service and notes that the prototype is really not generating a lot of traction for it, which makes sense because the credit union is not the place I would think of to go for this without promotion (back to point 2) and anyway, you can get stuff like this on places like Craigslist for FREE.
wndsurfrr – enjoyed your response – the conversation is a good one.
There are always risks with such endeavors and your point about liability is a valid one. I do think it is possible for a credit union to properly frame the purpose of Give With Us and limit the exposure. This can be done via disclosures. Also, keep in mind the credit union can decide to control what gets posted on this site.
On your second point, the lack of resources is valid and relevant. I would suggest that lack of resources is a reason to consider Give With Us. Because of limited resources both human and dollars—a credit union can use Give With Us to spread a message and vision that they are here to serve the community. Done right this would be a fantastic way to garner name recognition in the market and it is noisy out there so this is a way to differentiate.
You are correct there are a number of sources for such information. However, most are fragmented. This is an opportunity for those credit unions serving a specific geographic area to unite people on a local level. You may not think about going to the credit union for such information now, but perhaps something like this can change that belief and provide a postive conduit for such activity.
Doug- you talk about uniting people and generating awareness but if this is to be considered a marketing investment at some point it, ike all marketing investments, has to be called upon to produce a specific, definable return. Bottom line, you need to convince me (and other credit union marketing execs) that moneyspent in this way will provide a better return – ie: more core accounts or new members- than money spent on the next best alternative. Will the money spent on your set up and recurring yeary fees, money spent on a warm body to manage and monitor the site, plus any money spent marketing this produce more customers than taking that same money and doing, say, a direct mail campaign? At the end of the day, I am guessing no. Hate to seem so bottom line oriented, but as I said, that’s the ultimate test of good marketing.
wndsurfrr, Thanks for the follow-up.
We built the prototype for a Filene i3 project. According to the members of the team (credit union executives themselves) who spent many months thinking the project through, there’s a market need and our pricepoint is right. You can download their report detailing what went into the project from the 2006 i3 report on the Filene website.
Thanks again!