Deseret First Credit Union Supports Its Members and Their Missions — Literally

We’re continuing our series highlighting credit unions that are going above and beyond to serve their members. Today, we wanted to spotlight one that’s taken its mission seriously, and has translated that directly into supporting its members on their missions (in the literal sense — missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). 

We’re turning our attention to Deseret First Credit Union (DFCU), a Utah-based credit union that has nearly 70 years of service behind it. 

A little DFCU history

In 1955, the Church opened the LDS Church Office Credit Union. By the end of that year, the credit union had nearly 200 members. Fast forward to today and the financial institution — now called Deseret First Credit Union — operates 13 branches in locations including Salt Lake City, Logan, and Saint George, Utah. 

Now serving more than 77,000 members, DFCU operates with the tagline, “You Know Why, We Show How.” The credit union’s emphasis is on supporting its members in achieving what’s most important to them. 

Not only does the credit union offer impressive loyalty benefits to its members — including higher rates on products like money market accounts and mission savings funds — but the Deseret team also gives back in a measurable way. Deseret First Credit Union runs its own charitable organization. 

Supporting missionaries with the Deseret First Charitable Foundation

While DFCU has given back since it opened its doors in 1955, it now does that in a concerted way through the Deseret First Charitable Foundation (DFCF). 

The primary focus of the foundation is to help missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Specifically, DFCF focuses its giveback in a few areas:

• Elders and sisters (i.e., current missionaries)
• Recently returned missionaries 
• Senior couples

For recent missionaries, the foundation focuses on offering financial assistance for college tuition or purchasing a laptop to use during their studies. For sisters, elders, and senior couples, the DFCF provides financial support to help pay for clothing, shoes, luggage, and more. 

Trena Anderson, Senior Vice President of Deseret First Credit Union, spoke to their foundation;s contribution to new missionaries. “Many individuals with a desire to serve a mission are from lower-income households or households dealing with financial hardships such as healthcare costs, loss of a loved one, or other financially-trying circumstances,” she said. “This is where DFCF steps in by providing up to $500 for soon-to-be missionaries to help them purchase missionary supplies such as clothing, shoes, coats, luggage, bikes and books.”

In 2023, the Deseret First Charitable Foundation gave more than $141,000 to:

• 94 new missionaries
• 214 recently returned missionaries
• 178 elders
• 130 sisters
• 20 schools
• 75 missions

Last year’s giveback was so significant that it put the DFCF in the running for the Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Community Service Award, an honor bestowed by the Credit Union National Association. 

Providing financial education

DFCU members don’t have to be current or recent missionaries to benefit from the credit union’s support. Deseret First Credit Union offers financial education to help all of its members learn how to best manage their finances.

In a targeted effort to improve money skills among its member base, DFCU partnered with Banzai Education, a financial literacy provider that serves almost 900 partners and more than 120,000 teachers. This enables them to offer:

• Courses
• Articles
• Calculators
• Coaching

With all of these tools at their disposal, members and their families can level up their financial wellbeing. Their options include courses specifically tailored to teach kids and teens, articles on everything from cryptocurrency to life insurance, and calculators to estimate mortgage payments or retirement savings. 

Clearly, DFCU takes its tagline — “You Know Why, We Show How” — seriously. From its work with the Deseret First Charitable Foundation to its financial education efforts, the credit union continually strives to set its members up for success. 

We tip our caps to the DFCU team for their impressive efforts. 

If reading this has sparked some ideas about how your own credit union could do more to align with what’s important to its member base, we can help. By automating some of your marketing, our team here at BankingBridge can free up your time and energy to redirect toward member-serving efforts. If you want to learn more, book a demo with us today.