Marketing Association of Credit Unions (MAC) Honors TopLine in Three Major Categories

TopLine Financial Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based member-owned financial services cooperative, was honored with three marketing awards from the Marketing Association of Credit Unions. The Marketing Association of Credit Unions (MAC) Awards honored TopLine in three categories: Community Engagement, Financial Education and Brand/Rebrand Evolution.

In the Community Engagement category, TopLine won bronze for their Winter Spirit Week Penny Wars competition. The goal of Penny Wars was to introduce a fun new competition for employees that included a charitable component to benefit one of TopLine’s selected non-profit partners. Teams tried to earn as many points as possible with pennies worth one point, $1 bill worth 100 points, $5 bill worth 500 points, etc. Teams could sabotage other teams by dropping silver coins in opponents' jars to deduct points. TopLine raised a total of $1,940 in just one week. The winning team got to select their TopLine non-profit charity of choice, and all donations were given to Avenues of Youth, who provides emergency shelter, short-term housing and supportive services for homeless youth in a safe and nurturing environment.

TopLine took home silver in the Financial Education category for their financial education session with the Energy Careers Academy – the first ever graduating class of the program. The goal of the session was to equip adults with a better understanding of personal finance basics and develop healthy financial habits, such as establishing a financial services relationship, developing a budget, establish routine savings for emergencies and for retirement, using credit wisely, paying down debt, achieving other goals such as buying their first car, their first home, and the importance of planning for their future.

In the Rebrand/Brand Evolution category, TopLine took home the bronze award for their new Bloomington Branch. The new branch was designed as a flagship branch, to pay tribute to TopLine’s heritage of telephone workers who founded the credit union in 1935 when seven employees of the Bell System pooled $35 to create Minneapolis Telco Credit Union. The roof line and drive up replicates the “T”, depicting a telephone pole and line. With the opening of the new branch, TopLine also developed a new tagline for their next era, “Connected, We All Do Better,” that pays homage to the credit union’s legacy, and supports the credit union mission of connecting with members, employees and communities to build life-long relationships.

"We are incredibly honored and humbled to be recognized with three prestigious marketing awards by the Marketing Association of Credit Unions for our community engagement, financial education and branding efforts,” said Vicki Roscoe Erickson, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, TopLine Financial Credit Union. “This achievement reflects the hard work, creativity, and dedication of our entire team and inspires us to continue pushing boundaries that make a meaningful impact in members' lives. We remain committed to assist our members and communities with free financial education sessions and resources, and to educate consumers about the many benefits of using credit unions for their financial needs.”