Our credit union is a cooperative financial institution. Unlike a bank – where the owners may be a completely different group of people than those who actually use the bank’s services – a credit union is owned by the people who use it on a day-to-day basis. Opening a savings account at a credit union is the same as investing in the credit union. This is why people who deposit money at a credit union are called ‘members’ instead of ‘depositors’ – an initial deposit counts as a share in the cooperative.

Each depositor is a member of the cooperative and can actually exercise ownership of the institution. Credit unions hold annual meetings during which members elect a Board of Directors and influence the direction in which the credit union grows.

In many poor communities there is an extreme shortage of formal sector financial institutions. This makes it difficult for families to maintain financial savings, build assets, and obtain fair credit. As a result, many local families do not save. When they are in need of emergency funds, they are forced to turn to costly, sometimes dangerous, alternatives like pay-day lenders and pawnshops, as well as illegal moneylenders.

Where formal sector financial institutions are scarce, "fringe" banks may provide valuable payment and credit services to people in need. The problem is that "fringe" banks' services hinder rather than enhance a poor family's ability to maintain financial savings. They are a costly alternative to formal sector financial services, a disturbing example of the way in which the poor are often compelled to pay more.

TULIP Cooperative CU strives to improve upon this undesirable situation – in a sense, to correct local market failures. But aside from correcting market failures, TULIP Cooperative CU also deepens democracy in the community. The concept of being a stakeholder in a neighborhood institution - of having a voice in its growth and development -- is not widely experienced in Thurston County. Rather, a sense of disenfranchisement and lack of political control are common currency. The credit union is an institution that is open to all members of the community and directly accountable to them. Members are not simply clients and they are not just beneficiaries of a small loan fund. They are shareholders with a political voice in the institution that holds their savings. TULIP Cooperative CU is a U.S. Treasury Department certified CDFI, or a community development financial institution. To become a CDFI, we have demonstrated our primary mission is to promote community development and we have a designated target market that is either low-income. Learn more about CDFIs and the certification process at www.cdfifund.gov.

TULIP Cooperative CU is a member of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions. Learn more about the Federation and the work of other community development credit unions at www.cdcu.coop.

The National Credit union Administration serves as the insurer of deposits and chief regulator of TULIP Cooperative CU. The credit union files a quarterly financial report with the National Credit Union Administration called the 5300. It details the credit union's balance sheet and income statement, as well as disclosing information about the composition and performance of its loan portfolio. Download any previous 5300 filed by any credit union at www.ncua.gov