Abbreviation | the Foundation |
---|---|
Formation | 1980 |
Type | 501(c)(3) |
Purpose | "Making financial freedom achievable through credit unions." |
Headquarters | Madison, Wisconsin |
Executive Director | Gigi Hyland [1] |
Budget | $5,809,644 |
Website | ncuf.coop |
The National Credit Union Foundation(the Foundation) is the charitable arm of America's credit union movement and works as a catalyst to improve people's financial lives through credit unions. The Foundation is an affiliate of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and is located in CUNA's offices in Madison, Wisconsin, as well as in Washington, DC. In 2015, the Foundation unveiled a new logo, shorthand ("the Foundation" in place of "NCUF") and website. [2]
The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors composed of executives from the credit union movement as well as an at-large representative.
Through grants and programs, the Foundation is working to strengthen financial well-being via Biz Kid$ and other programs, instilling knowledge about the credit union difference through the DE Program and other mechanisms, and uniting resources to help credit union people during disaster via CUAid.
DE Training is an intensive program which provides lessons in cooperative principles, credit union philosophy and international development issues while incorporating current credit union challenges. During the week-long DE Training, participants are involved in group exercises, field trips, encouraged to ask questions of visiting speakers, and are required to complete team projects proposing solutions for credit unions to help alleviate or eliminate challenging situations in any given area. Since 1982, more than 1,600 credit union advocates from over 35 countries have graduated from the Foundation's DE Training to become Credit Union Development Educators (CUDEs). The Foundation now holds four trainings a year.
The Foundation works to help credit unions improve the financial well-being of their members through financial education, counseling, tools and other resources.
For example, the Foundation now offers:
Biz Kid$ is a PBS television series devoted to financial education for children. The overall objective of Biz Kid$ is to engage young people and help them develop life skills in the areas of financial literacy and entrepreneurship. The initiative includes an Emmy award-winning television series, free classroom curriculum, outreach activities, and a website targeting kids 9–16 years old. It is the first national public television series promoting financial education for elementary through high school students and was created by the same team that produced Bill Nye the Science Guy .
In times of disaster, the Foundation raises and distributes funds to aid credit unions, employees, volunteers and members in the affected region through its National Credit Union Foundation Disaster Relief Fund. For example, the Foundation raised over $3.5 million in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a record for the credit union system. For disaster relief fundraising for the credit union system, the Foundation developed CU Aid, the credit union movement's first online disaster relief fundraising system.
Financial support to the Foundation is provided by "corporate supporters" such as credit unions and credit union vendors, individual donors, and Community Investment Fund (CIF) investors. The Community Investment Fund is a partnership between the National Credit Union Foundation and state credit union leagues and foundations. Credit unions invest in a Community Investment Fund account with either the National Cooperative Bank, MEMBERS Trust Company, or a designated corporate credit union. The return on the investment is split between the credit union, the Foundation, and the investing state's credit union league or foundation. Proceeds from the fund are then used to fund a variety of the National Credit Union Foundation's national programs as well as state credit union league and foundation development initiatives.
According to the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, the National Credit Union Foundation "meets the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability." [3]
A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit cooperative financial institution.
Mercy Corps is a global non-governmental, humanitarian aid organization operating in transitional contexts that have undergone, or have been undergoing, various forms of economic, environmental, social and political instabilities. The organization claims to have assisted more than 220 million people survive humanitarian conflicts, seek improvements in livelihoods, and deliver durable development to their communities.
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The Credit Union National Association, commonly known as CUNA, is a national trade association for both state- and federally chartered credit unions located in the United States. CUNA provides member credit unions with trade association services, such as lobbying, regulatory advocacy, professional development, and professional services management. The organization operates out of its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and an operations center in Madison, Wisconsin. CUNA's president and chief executive officer Jim Nussle has led the organization since September 2014.
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Citizen Corps is a program under the Department of Homeland Security that provides training for the population of the United States to assist in the recovery after a disaster or terrorist attack. Each local Citizen Corps Council partners with organizations, volunteers and businesses to organize responders, volunteers and professional first responders for an efficient response so efforts are not wasted by being duplicated. By training in Incident Command, volunteers know whom to report to and how the incident is organized. This prevents sites from being inundated by untrained and unprepared personnel preventing operation. Citizen Corps also works in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service in promoting national service opportunities for promoting homeland security needs.
Americares is a global non-profit organization focused on health and development that responds to individuals affected by poverty, disaster, or crisis. The organization addresses poverty, disasters, or crises with medicine, medical supplies and health programs.
Food for the Hungry is a Christian international relief, development, and advocacy organization. Food for the Hungry was founded in 1971 by Larry Ward. Food for the Hungry's stated mission for long-term development is to graduate communities of extreme poverty within 10–15 years. The organization also works in disaster relief and humanitarian response, including working with the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
The Filene Research Institute is an American credit union and consumer finance think tank headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.
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China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) is a nongovernmental charitable organization in Beijing, China, registered under the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs in 1989 and professionally supervised by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.
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MAP International is a Christian nonprofit organization based out of Brunswick, Georgia. Their mission is to provide medicines and health supplies to those in need around the world.
Michael E. Fryzel is an American attorney with offices in Chicago, Illinois. Following the 2016 general election, Fryzel served on President Donald J. Trump's Transition Team and developed the Agency Action Plan for the National Credit Union Administration.
The Partnership for Refugees is a refugee public-private partnership established in June 2016 as the Partnership for Refugees by the Obama administration to facilitate President Barack Obama's commitment to creative solutions for the refugee crisis by engaging the private sector. The Partnership, an initiative established through collaboration between the State Department and USA for UNHCR with significant support from Accenture Federal Services, was established to facilitate private sector commitments in response to President Obama's June 30, 2016 Call to Action for Private Sector Engagement on the Global Refugee Crisis. On September 20, 2016, at the Leaders Summit on Refugees at the United Nations, President Obama announced that 51 companies from across the American economy have pledged to make new, measurable and significant commitments that will have a durable impact on refugees residing in countries on the frontlines of the global refugee crisis and in countries of resettlement, like the United States.