Community support

At CU SoCal, we are committed to serving the local communities both as a financial institution and as a community partner. While we would like to respond favorably to every request, it would be beyond the means of our budget. Requests are assessed on a monthly basis by the Community Relations Committee. We take each request into consideration and aim to directly impact as many people as possible. Although we prefer that the reason for donation be consistent with one of the three categories below, we realize there are other areas that may be in our best interest to support. All donations should tie and align with our mission, vision or value statement.

Categories to be considered:

• Youth and Education
• Charitable and Civic organizations, agencies and activities
• Health and Wellness organizations or programs

Types of donations to be considered:

• Monetary
• Prize Item (raffle, auction, etc.)
• Promotional
• Volunteer needs

CU SoCal generally does not make charitable donations to organizations that:

• Are not tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code.
• Wish to use the funds to promote any religious belief.
• Discriminates against any race, religion, age, sex, creed, sexual orientation, or national origin.
• Are outside of our Field of Membership.
• Will use the funds to contribute to operating expenses or administrative costs.
• Do not specify a clearly defined need for donation.
• Do not directly use funds in association with our name. Funds should not fall into an umbrella fund to be redistributed under the organizations name.
• Are school sports team sponsorship requests.
• Are considered political or divisive in nature.
• Are for sports teams, leagues, individual athletes, or bands.
• Are for travel-related events, including student trips or tours.

Per AB 1518, any charitable gift or donation in excess of $25,000 must be approved by the Board of Directors. This is a revision of 14408 which states:

No credit union shall make any gift of donation having a value in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) unless the gift or donation is in the best interest of the credit union, is approved by a resolution of the board of directors and is in conformance with any regulation or order that the commissioner may issue. The resolution of the board of directors approving the gift or donation shall identify the recipient of the gift or donation, state the value of the gift or donation, and specify the basis for the board’s determination that the gift or donation is in the best interests of the credit union. The board may establish a budget for gifts or donations and authorize appropriate officials of the credit union to select recipients and disburse budgeted funds among those recipients.