Robust, aggressive advocacy strategy secured credit union tax status

Securing the credit union tax status in the face of the latest threat meant an unconventional but effective approach to advocacy, America's Credit Unions President/CEO Jim Nussle told CUToday. President Donald Trump signed the legislation Friday, and changing the credit union tax status was not considered in any part of the process thanks to consistent execution of credit unions' tax advocacy strategy.

"Advocacy battles aren't won overnight," Nussle said. "While people can have differing opinions on whether we did enough or engaged at the right time, this fight and our success has been years in the making. We were strategic in our approach. We laid the groundwork with lawmakers and with our advocates who we needed to mobilize. This was a robust, aggressive advocacy campaign. We were successful because of the tactics and effort the entire industry committed to."

The enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017 put a date on the next major tax fight, as many key tax cuts were set to sunset this year. America's Credit Unions and league partners began planning this year's tax fight last summer, laying the groundwork to elect a credit union-friendly majority in the 119th Congress.

The strategy also included shifting away from a traditional advocacy model and leaning heavily into stories of the credit union difference and data revealing how the stories represent an industry-wide trend of service. The central message was that a change to the credit union tax status represented a tax increase on more than 142 million Americans.

"We reached [lawmakers] in DC, in their states, and in their backyards. They were hearing about credit unions' value before a word of the bill was even written." - Jim Nussle, America's Credit Unions

"We reached [lawmakers] in DC, in their states, and in their backyards," Nussle said. "They were hearing about credit unions' value before a word of the bill was even written. That early engagement was critical."

Credit unions contacted every House and Senate office and conducted multiple in-person meetings with the majority offices from both tax-writing committees.

Campaign achievements, as a result of efforts by America's Credit Unions, league partners, industry allies and credit unions since January 1 include:

• More than 570 social media posts resulting in 304,729 impressions, 21,285 engagements, and a 7% engagement rate. External organizations created more than 600 posts, resulting in 164,119 impressions and 10,318 engagements;
• An influencer campaign that reached an audience of more than 28 million and 751,555 post views;
• Partnership with Politico highlighting the credit union difference and impact of the tax status, which saw 17,311 page views and 6,738,262 impressions, far exceeding the campaign goals;
• More than 861,000 messages sent directly to lawmakers; and
• Digital ads targeting key lawmakers that saw more than 139 million impressions and engaged more than 191,000 activists.

Read the full article on CUToday