Going Green: Low-Cost, Low-Stress, Easy on the Earth

Ron Daly, DigitalMailer
April 16, 2008 | COMMENTS

April is bonus month for the environment, with Arbor Day and Earth Day in the same week. But at many credit unions, every month is looking green: These credit unions are helping to protect our natural resources by making e-statements the default for online-banking users, and using e-mail or mobile alerts to provide key information to members. More credit unions are “going green” through e-marketing programs that also save money and time, and increase their marketing reach.

One example is Prince George 's Community Federal Credit Union in Upper Marlboro, Maryland . Through ongoing marketing efforts, 27 percent of the credit union's home-banking members now opt for e-statements instead of paper. But the credit union plans to increase that number by another 200 users through its April “Save a Tree, Grow a Tree” campaign. Everyone switching to e-statements during the month receives a free tree.

“It takes about 24 trees to make a ton of uncoated paper,” says Polly Quinn, Prince George 's Community Federal Credit Union vice president of marketing and business development. “That's important to consider because paper makes up the bulk of all trash. And as it decomposes, harmful chemicals are released.”

Prince George 's Community wanted to raise members' awareness of the difference they could make by choosing e-statements, so Quinn contacted the Arbor Day Foundation and selected the Colorado blue spruce from among several choices. “Members who swap paper for e-statements will get tiny trees they can nurture and watch grow,” she explains. “Each tree comes with a label that has instructions for care, along with our logo.”

While the credit union is using the April promotion to encourage home-banking members to opt in for e-statements, plans are in the works to make paperless statements the default beginning July 1. “We hope to have 100 percent of our home-banking members using e-statements by the end of the summer,” Quinn says. “A lot of our newer members already take it for granted that they will receive e-statements. When we sign up new accounts, only a few ever opt out.”

Initially, the rising cost of stamps was a major impetus for Prince George 's Community to transition to e-statements, but today the credit union also has an eye to the environment. “Trees filter water, rid the air of pollution, and provide wildlife a place to live,” Quinn says. “We see e-statements as a small way we can help members lessen their use of paper, which reduces waste and improves the air we breathe.”

The credit union is seeing the same cost- and ecology-saving benefits with e-mail alerts. “We use e-mail alerts to make promotional offers, tell members about seminars, and alert them to scams,” Quinn adds. “As we go along, we're finding more uses, such as to provide compliance notices. E-mail doesn't require paper or stamps—or the large amount of staff time it used to take to get a promotion or other news out the door.”

Prince George 's Community Federal Credit Union also is looking into using e-mail alerts as internal “ticklers.” Already, the credit union sends morning alerts to all staff. “We start off each day sending a staff e-lert to remind them of upcoming events or promotions, or just to provide quick news. For both members and our own employees, it's far more cost-effective to provide information this way,” Quinn says.

DigitalMailer recently helped 22 credit unions launch a “go green” e-statement campaign. When the program concluded, a combined total of 10,000 members had switched to e-statements. That resulted in combined savings for the credit unions of $120,000 in postage and mailing costs—just in 2008.

Increased awareness of environmental issues is causing the public to take notice and, hopefully, take action. Credit union marketers are doing their part by encouraging the use of e-statements and e-mail alerts. And with tight marketing budgets and postage rates set to rise once again in May, e-marketing will only gain in popularity. It's easy to implement, inexpensive to operate, and earth-friendly.

Ron Daly is president and CEO of DigitalMailer, an e-marketing firm. For more information, visit www.digitalmailer.com or contact Daly at rdaly@digitalmailer.com.