Emily Nail From Coastal Credit Union Foundation

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Carolina Podcast Network.I am Trevor Marini today excited to talk
to Emily Nail. Emily is theVP of Cooperative Strategies and executive director of
the Coastal Credit Union Foundation. Andjust a little backstory, the Coastal Credit
Union Foundation is the philanthropic arm ofthe Credit Union, providing financial support to
five oh one c three organizations inthe sixteen counties in North Carolina that Coastal

(00:24):
Credit Union serves. So, Emily, thanks so much for joining us.
Welcome, Thanks so much. I'mexcited to be here, We're excited to
have you. So I guess tostart wanting to just tell us a little
bit about the foundation and these grantsand how the foundation serves our community.
Oh sure, So, as yousaid, we serve the sixteen counties that
Coastal Credit Union serves. We area separate organization, so we're a separate

(00:47):
foundation from the Credit Union, butwe were founded by the Credit Union,
so that happened officially back in twentytwenty two. However, we were functioning
as a donor advised prior to that, since twenty eleven, so we've been
around some time and we fund organizationsin our community that support affordable housing,

(01:10):
financial well being, and access toresources. So that's a really broad range
of things that we are looking for. But we love to find those organizations
in different communities around our towns,our counties that are making really impactful work
happen and they just need a littlebit of a financial boost to make better

(01:34):
things come to light from the workthey're doing. Coastal Credit Union Foundation loves
to see the impact of all ofthis work come together. We love to
come on site and support and helpthat not just with the funding, but
with volunteer hours and with partnerships andevents. So we are really one of
those organizations that likes to get inand get involved. And I've seen you

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know, you guys are just doinga few things. Habitat for Humanity.
I see a lot of work withthem, Rise Against Hunger, a couple
of big ones there, Ban Together, United Way. Actually, this morning
I just came from four hours withOak City Cares, which is another nonprofit
in our community that we partner with. So we are, yeah, we

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are touching a lot of different organizations. Now, do these organizations find you
or do you find them? Oris it kind of a mix of both,
it's a mix of both. Sowe have an amazing community impact team
at Coastal Credit Union, and thatteam is involved in all kinds of different
nonprofits, making events happen, goingout with volunteer hours and supporting different nonprofit

(02:38):
organizations and then referring them to meover at the Foundation to look at different
opportunities for grant funding. So whilepeople can find us on our website Coastal
twenty four dot com backslash Foundation,they can also come to us by employee
referral, member referral, or volunteerreferral. So there's a lot of different

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ways to find us, and we'retrying to reach out to as many of
those organizations as we can to makethe biggest impact. And you talk about
grants, and this figure may beoutdated now, the one that I have,
but four million dollars in grants tononprofit organizations just in our community since
the foundation was formed, that's correct, So we're over that. We actually

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right now are striving for a millionper year in grant dollars to our nonprofit
partners. And I mean that's reachablebecause the I think the one from two
or three years ago, the numberthat I saw was like eight or nine
hundred thousand, so you're right there. Oh, we are so close.
So this year it looks like wewill hit a million in grant giving dollars
for twenty twenty four. Last yearwe were just under a million, so

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we are making some good progress.How would an organization qualify for a grant?
Awesome? Yes, so they definitelyhave to be a five to one
C three to start with. Whenthey're coming to us, they get referred
to our grant application, which isa link that we send them to apply.
So as long as they are inour sixteen county service territory, they

(04:06):
are focused on one of our initiatives, so affordable housing, financial wellbeing,
or access to resources, they cansubmit a grant application for funding and we
go through a grant process internally forreviewing and stack ranking them on a rubric
and having our committee nominating committee lookat that, and then our Foundation board,

(04:29):
which is separate from the Coastal CreditUnion board, reviews those and approves
those for funding. And something elsethat I saw that was really cool that
I wonder if like a lot ofmembers don't even know, but every time
a member swipes their coastal credit Uniondebit or credit card, a penny is
donated to the foundation, which youknow maybe you know like, oh penny
cool. It's a big number thatit adds up to. In twenty twenty

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one, I see, it wasthree hundred and forty six thousand dollars just
for members swiping their debit or creditcard. A little change goes a long
way. Yeah, So every timea member swipes a card, it's it's
not coming from the actual member though, so it's the interchange fee that the
credit union earns, and from thatinterchange fee one sent the credit union donates

(05:11):
to the foundation. So the membersare not out any money, which is
something that I get asked a lot. But a little change goes a long
way, and that is adding upevery year to even more and more dollars
that we are giving out to ourcommunity to make a difference. So,
as a member of Coast or creditUnion, every time you buy something,
every time you're contributing yep, withouta different without actually contributing yourself, right,

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yeah, you're giving away the creditunion money, which is kind of
funny to say, but it's actuallythe fact. Don't feel guilty about buying
whatever that is. Do it keepspending. What are you most proud of
in your time with the foundation,So that's a great question. One of
the things that I came to Coastalwith a couple of years ago was this
idea that nonprofits do amazing work andthey are not recognized for them, and

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they are also not educated in allthe other free opportunities that they can take
advantage of, like as a five, toh one C three. A lot
of times different software or marketing platformsor what have you either have discounts or
free services for nonprofit organizations and beingable to take advantage of those opportunities give

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you a greater opportunity to make impactand where you're really focused on as a
nonprofit. So two years ago Icollaborated with a couple other foundations in the
area and we kicked off our firstannual Philanthropy Summit. So that happened in
twenty twenty two, and we hostedour second annual Philanthropy Summit this year and

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it grew. It actually doubled insize. And what this is is a
free opportunity for nonprofit leaders to comein get technical assistance and get tools and
tips and tricks that all of thesedifferent organizations have four nonprofits but maybe aren't
taking advantage of So this was afull day event. It actually started with

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a dinner the night before and apanel of speakers, and then the next
day we hosted breakfast and quick hittopics, a luncheon, and then a
panel to end it out, andthen you know, being Coastal Credit Union,
we threw in some really fun doorprizes like tickets to the music park
and different VIP experiences. So reallythe culmination of the education that we gave

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at that event, as well asthe collaboration between other Credit Union foundations was
really incredible. And making that allcome together in a seamless event. I'm
just like blown away that it cameto fruition. So you doubled it year
two, So now the pressure's onto it again next year. I don't
think we can. We had almostone hundred different people in that room for

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the Philanthropy Summit this year, andso now I'm now, you know,
I've I'd be so excited if somebodyhad some ideas, but I want to
make it into you know, astatewide opportunity for nonprofits that you know,
we can connect and collaborate across industrylines, and we can solve problems that
all of us come into contact with. And you know, we don't have

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to solve it on our own.We don't have to recreate the wheel.
We can collaborate and share ideas andwe can all come out ahead. So
next year, yes, I'm I'mthinking now other other ways that members of
the Credit Union can assist or helpwith the Foundation. Yeah, So just
recently we've rolled out this opportunity foranyone, not just Credit Union members,

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but anyone to become a Champion forChange with the Foundation. What this means
is you could just go on ourwebsite and put in your name and email
address and become a champion for theFoundation. Now, what is in it
for you? This is great?So obviously everybody is excited for the newsletter,
right, everybody wants a newsletter.But the newsletter is impact stories and

(09:09):
who we're granting money to and whatevents we've got going and volunteer opportunities.
But the biggest thing about this Championfor Change is every year, each champion
will get a vote to cast forthe nonprofit they want to get a giving
grant, so they actually get tolead one of our grant sessions to where

(09:31):
they want to see the money go. So that's really exciting, that's really
cool. Yeah, and anybody canjoin again, that's on our Coastal twenty
four dot com page and they canjust join as a champion for change.
But making that difference, Emily,anything else that you want us to know
about Coastal Credit Union or the Foundation, there is so much. We could
probably sit here all afternoon. Iwill oh perfect to it. Here we

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go now. The one thing thatI love about Coastal Credit un and the
Coastal Credit Union Foundation that stands outa little different than a lot of other
organizations is we look at the foundationas really a way to partner with nonprofits.
So when we give a grant,we don't just go in and give
a big check and high five andcelebrate and take pictures and then head on

(10:18):
our way. We actually pull theminto a partnership with the foundation and with
the credit Union. So when they'recoming in, they're learning who our teammates
are, they're learning what services wehave for them in the Credit Union,
but also we are asking them whatthey need, so if they have already
existing volunteer opportunities, we're posting thatinternally for our almost six hundred and fifty

(10:43):
employees at the Credit Union to getinvolved in. We are so passionate about
volunteer hours because I don't know ifyou volunteer, I volunteer, and when
you give of yourself, you getmore back. So really promoting our employees
to share their passions with their time, talent and treasure and giving back to

(11:03):
the community to make a difference iscritical. But it doesn't stop there.
I know, Wait, there's more. We also have this amazing community Impact
team at the Credit Union that thenoffers financial resources for the nonprofit and their
community of clients or members or areathat they serve where we come in and

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have custom education programs to make surethat their folks know exactly how to budget
or how to get a mortgage orhow to buy a car. One of
my favorite things is our Coastal CreditUnion Reality series where we do this with
schools and kids groups all over thearea. They get a profile of an

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adult and go through and have tomake life work. So they have,
you know, a big profile.It says on the top a big number
like forty five thousand, and they'relike, oh my gosh, I'm rich.
This is great, and then theycome to find out, you know,
the have to secure housing, theyhave to find transportation, they have
to go to the grocery store.They might have a child or two that
they have to support, so thatmoney goes fast. So making sure that

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our partners know how to budget andbe financially free from burdens like debt or
you know, paycheck to paycheck andhaving one emergency take them out. You
know, it's incredibly important for usto have that opportunity. Something that you
said going back to the volunteer hours, like, I think it speaks so

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highly of Coastal Credit Union. Youknow, what a good place it is
to work. To get people tooutside of work normal working hours to come
back and do more with people thatthey work with. I just I think
that is really cool and speak reallyhighly to to the place that Coastal Credit
Union is to work. It's prettyamazing. And what's also really amazing,

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So this morning, like I said, I was off site at a volunteer
opportunity and it was a majority ofour vice presidents volunteering, and you really
get to know people on a wholedifferent level when you're offsite doing some kind
of service project or volunteer work.This morning we got to sort some books
by John Ree for some of theclients, the friends of Oak City Cares,

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and we got to go through someclothing to create their clothing closet.
But you really learn about people ina more personal way, and it gives
you that loyalty for work that youcan't really find in other ways. So
one more time, where can peoplego for more info on the credit Union?
On the foundation both Coastal twenty fourdot com. You can find everything

(13:39):
that you will need, even somefree financial education, how to open account
with the credit union and how tobecome a champion for change for the Foundation.
Emily Nail, thank you so muchfor joining us today. We appreciate
it. Thanks so much for havingme. I enjoyed it.