2020 has seen its fair share of hardships. Small business and individuals were especially challenged during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many taking reduced hours, pay, or closing down altogether. Michigan State Federal Credit Union saw these negative impacts and decided to be the helpful spark its community needed.
MSUFCU launched its #MSUFCUEatsLocal giveaway to counter the financial instability experienced by local restaurants.
To enter, members of the community had to order takeout from a local restaurant and snap a photo of their meal. They were entered to win if they shared this photo online to MSUFCU’s Twitter and Facebook pages with the #MSUFCUEatsLocal hashtag. One winner was randomly selected each day between April 22 and May 13 and received two $25 gift cards to local restaurants — one gift card for the winner and one gift card for the winner to pay it forward to someone else.
This giveaway was so successful that MSUFCU decided to do it again. With an increased focus on locally owned and operated Black and LGBTQIA+ restaurants to demonstrate their commitment to fight against social injustice, this second round of the giveaway ran from July 10 through July 31 of 2020.
Additionally, MSUFCU also encouraged employees to get involved by posting their restaurant order photos to the Credit Union’s intranet or their personal social media accounts using #MSUFCUEatsLocal. Further, members and employees were invited to share how they planned to use their gift card and who would receive the second.
Over the two rounds of this campaign, MSUFCU purchased a total of $4,200 in gift cards to local restaurants. These were awarded to 84 winners with an additional 84 individuals receiving the second gift card. This helped support 15 local business owners increase their revenue and support their business. A minimum of 183 individuals were directly impacted by this giveaway, but many more were likely motivated to support local restaurants when they saw the posts of their friends, family, and credit union.
In recognition of its outstanding efforts, MSUFCU is the winner of Social Assurance’s annual Community Spark Award. This award celebrates banks and credit unions making an outstanding difference in their local communities through unique support, volunteerism, philanthropy and development initiatives. MSUFCU also receives a $250 donation to give to a nonprofit of its choice.
The Weekend Survivial Kits Organization has been selected by MSUFCU as the recipient of this $250 prize donation. This nonprofit mobilizes communities to provide food to children in grades K-5 who may otherwise go hungry. Its programs are intended to meet the nutritional needs of children during non-school hours, specifically on weekends.
To learn more about how Social Assurance helps banks and credit unions make a difference in their community, learn how its Community Spark product can help. This platform gives banks and credit unions the tools it needs to manage community involvement, donations, loans, and investments. It not only will make it easy to track these initiatives, but also fun, helping to foster employee engagement.
