COLUMBUS, Ohio—CUNA President Jim Nussle urged Ohio credit union leaders to tell their CU’s story to as many people within their communities as possible, saying that advocacy for the movement begins with them.
“There are three things I’d like you to take away from today,” Nussle told attendees at the Ohio CU League’s InVest48 Annual Meeting here. “One is wining is about growing. Second, advocacy promotes growing and winning. And third, advocacy is about telling your story. It’s as simple as that.”
Referring to CUNA’s Member Activation Program (MAP), a grassroots advocacy program launched at this year’s Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, Nussle reminded that the movement has 6,400 CEOs, 80,000 board members, and 250,000 employees.
“There are a lot of people to tell the credit union story,” said Nussle, adding that he hopes someday the movement can have the same kind of impact on Capitol Hill that associations like AARP have. “When AARP speaks the dome of the Capitol building shakes.”
Nussle emphasized, too, that at CUNA advocacy is job no. 1.
“Advocacy is my life,” said the former congressman. “I am used to arguing and finding the points that connect with people and wining my case. My mother said I was born arguing with her.”
Nussle asked attendees to never limit the scope of whom they choose to advocate to, citing an experience he had early in his congressional career that supports his point.
Nussle said that when he first ran for Congress his local banker backed him while credit unions threw their support behind his opponent, who was expected to win.
But Nussle won, and soon enough he had credit union friends. “The moral to that story is that it’s never too soon to engage in advocacy.”