Case Study: Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions

Sector: Nonprofit
Project: Social Media Management, Social Media Strategy and Audit, Flex Digital Marketing Support

Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions sought a partner with expertise in credit union digital marketing. Our first six months of collaboration has resulted in a 658% increase in traffic/link clicks, a 24% increase in audience growth, a 23% increase in impressions, optimization of its LinkedIn channel, and flexible support during times of crisis that resulted in raising $1.5 million for relief efforts in Ukraine.

The Challenge

Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) is the credit union engagement and philanthropic arm of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), which represents credit union members from 89 countries. WFCU strives, through its programming and philanthropy, to address gaps in gender equity, safety, inclusion, and leadership that are experienced by credit unions and their members worldwide.

WFCU provides disaster relief and facilitates the growth of equitable financial movements in communities that lack access to financial services. They convene leaders and connect US-based credit unions with their peers across the globe and deliver compelling employee engagement programs. Through World Council Young Credit Union Professionals (WYCUP) and Global Women's Leadership Network (GWLN), they give young professionals and women leaders opportunities to connect, learn, and grow.
WFCU first approached SBS to conduct a social media audit and strategy, then re-engaged our team to provide social media management and Facebook group community management; develop campaigns; and provide marketing support.

Primary goals for our work together have included:

  • Developing a consistent brand presence across social media platforms;
  • Increasing engagement, sparking action, and encouraging community participation;
  • Positioning WFCU as a leader in credit union philanthropy;
  • ​Extending team bandwidth and providing flexible support in response to global events and changing operational needs.

The Idea

We began with a social media audit to relieve doubts the WFCU team might have about their current digital marketing efforts, clarify their vision going forward, and identify the action steps needed to advance their strategy.

​SBS began by meeting with the WFCU team to kickoff the audit. Then, we developed an in-depth understanding of WFCU’s social media efforts and performance by:
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  • ​Conducting interviews with staff members to discuss challenges and opportunities;
  • Reviewing existing social media content and metrics;
  • Researching competitors and peer organizations’ social media. ​​​
After compiling and analyzing this comprehensive data, we developed and shared a highly detailed presentation with the team. Our recommendations highlighted what was working and provided detailed strategies to strengthen their social media further.

​We put this strategy into action by providing ongoing, social media management services for WFCU’s Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts, as well as Facebook Groups for GWLN.
After a kickoff period, our social media management provided:
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  • Creative Content: Monthly content planning calls, copywriting, and simple graphics creation;
  • Community Management: Weekly community management checks for incoming messages and questions sent via social media and weekly summaries; and
  • Paid Content Distribution: We use paid distribution strategies to distribute the content to target Facebook and LinkedIn audiences.

When the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022, we pivoted our services to support WFCU's fundraising and awareness campaign. ​
Six weeks after the war began, WFCU had already raised more than $1 million from donors worldwide to provide humanitarian aid for Ukrainian credit unions and their members, and that number continues to grow. 
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​As WFCU seeks to expand its team internally, we have been asked to continue providing social media management to ensure a seamless continuation of its digital marketing efforts.

The Results

In the first six months of our collaboration, we:
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  • Saw a 658% increase in traffic/link clicks across WFCU’s three social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn);
  • Saw audience growth increase by 24 percent, and impressions (a measure of awareness) increase by 23 percent;
  • Optimized the potential of LinkedIn to get in front of potential credit union donors and partners;
  • Extended the team’s bandwidth and reduced the team’s stress levels by streamlining social media planning and implementation, pivoting services in times of crisis;
  • Created a comprehensive fundraising campaign and brand awareness campaign that are ready to run as soon as a new hire is in place.

"Working with SBS has been both educational and transformative for WFCU. Not only have they helped us bridge a capacity gap in our social media communications, their process has integrated into our work, making us more efficient in deploying success and impact stories to our donor community."

​— Mike Reuter, Executive Director - Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions