All Diamond Award winners in this category are listed below.
Category’s Best winners—marked with a 💎—earned the highest score within their asset grouping.
Assets $250 million – $1 billion | Topeka, KS
Belong to Something Bigger proved that the most powerful public relations campaigns don’t start with products—they start with people. By using International Credit Union Week as a storytelling platform rather than a promotional moment, we shifted perception from “where you bank” to “where you belong.” The campaign reinforced the credit union difference through visible community impact, earned media, and staff-led experiences that invited participation instead of passive awareness.
We learned that public relations is most effective when it blends authentic experiences with consistent messaging across earned, owned, and internal channels—allowing stories to travel further without heavy paid investment. This approach exceeded our objectives by generating meaningful engagement, organic amplification, and measurable awareness while strengthening staff pride and community trust. Ultimately, the campaign showed that when you give people something genuine to connect with, they don’t just notice your brand—they advocate for it.
Assets $250 million – $1 billion | Deptford, NJ
As we marked our 85th Anniversary, we leaned into authentic, locally driven storytelling to bring our people-helping-people mission to life. In 2025, we launched 85 Acts of Kindness, a community-first initiative designed to deepen connections, elevate brand awareness, and spotlight the meaningful work of our members, employees, and community. Through purposeful, visually compelling public relations and social media strategies, we shared stories of impact that reflected our commitment to reinvestment and service across South Jersey.
Our team delivered more than 85 Acts of Kindness, supporting over 65 organizations through education initiatives, food access programs, environmental projects, and uplifted local families and frontline workers. Along the way, employees volunteered over 350 hours and helped distribute $85,000 in charitable contributions. By staying authentic, locally focused, and people-centered, our combined public relations, social media, and email efforts generated more than 1.35 million impressions—extending our reach while strengthening the communities we serve.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Springfield, OR
SELCO Steps Up reimagined what community impact can look like when an entire credit union commits to listening, learning, and acting together. This PR campaign successfully introduced a statewide, employee-powered model that elevates educator voices, supports nonprofits, expands opportunities for Oregon students, and inspires real community participation.
Through authentic storytelling and consistent media engagement, the campaign generated exceptional awareness—far exceeding benchmarks for earned media value, impressions, and reach—while driving measurable real-world impact. It proved that when giving is integrated across an organization, and when stories are shared with purpose, a credit union can both strengthen trust and spark action. SELCO Steps Up not only met its goals—it reshaped SELCO’s identity as one of Oregon’s most committed and collaborative community partners.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Austin, TX
By tackling lunch debt, a financial challenge affecting many Pearland and Alvin ISD families, UFCU’s “School Lunch Payoff” campaign positioned the credit union as a champion of dignity, equity, and student opportunity. Unpaid lunch balances often lead to stigma and anxiety for children and strain already stretched household budgets. UFCU’s decision to eliminate this burden ensured every student has access to meals without shame, reinforcing their ability to succeed at school.
The campaign’s impact was amplified through strategic earned media, leveraging local, broadcast, and Spanish-language outlets to reach diverse audiences and build rapid trust. Authentic partnerships and prominent executive storytelling fueled positive sentiment and third-party validation. Ultimately, this initiative exceeded expectations, proving that community investment, when communicated with care, creates far greater reputational value and trust than paid campaigns alone, especially in diverse, family-oriented communities where meaningful support is both seen and felt.
Assets $250 million – $1 billion | Los Angeles, CA
The Southern California Wildfire Relief Fund proved that the collective effort of credit unions, grounded in the "people helping people" philosophy, can create meaningful impact even without significant media spend. By uniting credit unions nationwide around a single mission, we transformed individual goodwill into a powerful cooperative response at a time when Los Angeles was overwhelmed by crisis.
With minimal paid promotion, the campaign grew through trust, transparency, and partner-driven amplification, ultimately exceeding our expectations as credit unions and CUSOs contributed the majority of donations. We learned that in moments of shared loss, authenticity and collaboration matter - and we can help those in need even more than we could do alone.
