It’s Not Your Father’s YMCA
By Alix Patterson.
What the YMCA can teach credit unions about evolving to meet the social and economic challenges of today while staying true to their core values.
On a recent vacation to Florida, I was lamenting my inability to get in a daily swim since the hotel pool was the shape of a kidney bean and not much larger. My father, ever one to encourage my (sporadically) healthy behavior, promptly pulled out his YMCA membership card from back home in Bethesda, Maryland and offered to take me over to the local YMCA. I was skeptical. The local Y?
Little did I realize what the Y represents today. The Venice YMCA has some of the most advanced facilities I’ve ever had the pleasure of using. While I was enjoying a solitary lane in an Olympic-size pool, others—men and women, young and old—were pumping steel in the gym, enjoying yoga classes, even sipping coffee or fruit smoothies in the upstairs café. While waiting for my sons to finish their post-swim showers (a surprise hit for 2- and 4-year olds), I perused the announcements board, reading about classes to promote healthy eating, after-school care, support groups for everything from walking twice a week to running full marathons and more.
On the way home that day, we started talking about this “new” YMCA and its evolution from the Young Men’s Christian Association. After all, the YMCA of the USA’s website says it best: “Despite its name, the YMCA is not just for the young, not just for men and not just for Christians. It is, however, as our history illustrates, an association of members who come together with a common understanding of the YMCA mission and a common commitment to the YMCA’s vision of building strong kids, strong families and strong communities.”
So what is this history, and more importantly, what can credit unions learn from 150 years of successful adaptation to social and economic changes?
After all, as Chip Filson (the aforementioned father in this story) recently noted, “the economic and financial system in which credit unions operate [today] is dramatically changed from 1909 and 1934, the starting points for the dual charter choice… The leadership challenge is continual innovation at both the tactical and the institutional level to continue creating value for members.” 1Where can your credit union draw inspiration in the story of the YMCA’s evolution?
There are some interesting parallels. First, the fact that our family membership in Bethesda, Maryland gave us free 3-day visitor access in Venice, Florida brings to mind the value of shared branching. The YMCA has a long history of partnering. Today they state “YMCAs believe the best way to help … is to bring together all sectors of communities – government, businesses, not-for-profits, schools and media.” In many ways, credit unions are doing the same, developing their own ecosystem of partnerships beyond just shared branching. Other examples include a number of CUSOs launched over the past few years in partnership with for-profit technology companies to adapt and adopt solutions that fit better the credit union systems needs.
Like credit unions, YMCAs have expanded into areas well outside their original mission while still staying true to their core values as the communities changed around them. Beyond the obvious example of no longer being just for young Christian men, today’s YMCA movement is now the largest provider of child care in the country, a far cry from the original vision to improve “the spiritual, intellectual and social welfare of young men” and “to lead him to a Christian Life.” Interestingly, “doing good” doesn’t prevent for-profits from crying foul in the health arena either. A 1999 New York Times article, Health Clubs Cry Foul as Y’s Go Upscale, quotes the executive director of a trade organization for health clubs as saying the National Capitol YMCA in DC is an example of a YMCA “parading as a public charity but doesn’t deserve that label.” Sound familiar?
Finally, while retaining its non-profit status, YMCAs are turning to people with “corporate” backgrounds to develop new ways to assure financial strength and sustainability. Credit unions also operate in this area between the non-profit and for-profit. As Chip also notes in that Callahan Report article, credit unions “have a social purpose to meet needs the for-profit sector cannot or will not serve in a fair manner; but they also create wealth, compete in a market economy, and use many of the practices and resources available for market driven firms.” Increasingly, the term social entrepreneur is used to describe the class of organizations.
Take another look. Drop by local YMCA sometime soon to see all that it has to offer. Look at the people they are helping, investigate the programs they offer and find a new source of inspiration. What parallels are there for your credit union to expand its impact on the community while strengthening the bottom line?
