Financial Education

The opportunity to provide financial literacy for our communities continues to be a priority. Below are highlights of our 2024 efforts.

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Financial Education Workshops - MSGCU significantly increased its presence in public high schools within the branch footprint in 2024. We provided one or more of the following initiatives to advance financial literacy in 57 of the 79 public high schools within a five-mile radius of MSGCU branches:

• Virtual or in-person workshops for students, staff, and parents

• Reality fairs

• Professional development for educators

• Personal finance resources

• Welcome back sessions for teachers at the beginning of the school year

• Teacher appreciation activities

• Scheduled visits with administrators

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MSGCU continued its relationships with Macomb Community College and Oakland Community College by offering workshops about financial wellness on campus to students. Additionally, for the first time we provided workshops to all the cadets in the police and fire academies at:

• Macomb County Community College

• Oakland Community College

• Schoolcraft College

• Washtenaw Community College (only has a police academy)

 

MSGCU also increased its presence with the following colleges and universities: 

• Lawrence Tech - workshops

• Baker College - welcome back

• Walsh College - career fair

• Wayne County Community College - coordinated the 2025 launch of student workshops

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Knowing that financial stress affects many adults and can be a detractor from work, we provide adult workshops in our branches and work with community partners to provide financial education in the workplace. This past year, MSGCU provided 117 adult workshops covering a wide range of topics on financial wellness including scam awareness and protection, raising a financially literate family, home buying, etc.​

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Interactive Financial Education - Additional efforts to advance financial wellness include MSGCU’s Interactive Financial Education. This self-directed learning tool offers relevant five-minute learning modules that are easy to maneuver through and understand while allowing the user to answer questions and interact with the content on their phone, tablet, or computer.

 

Digital content (social media, msgcu.org, blog) – The MSGCU blog delivers financial education through our website. All of the content is practical and helpful. Many of the blogs this year addressed scams and fraud so that members can stay updated and protected. This member touchpoint demonstrates our commitment to keep our members informed with timely financial information that enhances their knowledge.

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Metrics

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Listed below are the number of attendees who benefited from MSGCU’s financial education. Our overall member engagement in our education programs remains strong.  We saw a dip in reality fairs being requested by teachers who prefer our Money Lab program. Money Lab provides a similar simulation with the same outcomes as a Reality Fair, with an MSGCU educator leading the session in the classroom and the activities being delivered through an MSGCU branded app.

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During the pandemic, we saw a preference for virtual sessions for both workshops on the MSGCU calendar and in the classroom. Preferences are shifting back to in-person sessions and this is reflected in the metrics. This trend also affected the participation in My Virtual Academy, which is seeing lower student enrollment.