Desert Financial Credit Union Added 37,022 Members in 2021

Arizona’s largest credit union correlates strong growth with an increase in community giving

Desert Financial Credit Union grew a record 10.6% in membership in 2021, outpacing other Arizona credit unions, which experienced a median of just 1.9% year-over-year membership growth in 2021, according to the National Credit Union Administration.

Arizona’s largest credit union added 37,022 members while giving back more than $3.8 million to the community in 2021. Desert Financial CEO Jeff Meshey, who recently celebrated his fifth anniversary as CEO, credits the company’s recent growth to a renewed focus on giving back.

“While our membership numbers grew in 2021, we also expanded our community giving,” says Meshey. “We’ve learned that the more we focus on giving back to our members, our associates and the community, the more growth we experience as a company.”

Since Meshey took on the role of CEO in 2017, Desert Financial has doubled its community giving, from $2 million in 2017 to nearly $4 million in 2021. Prior to 2017, membership growth stagnated at about 1% per year. Membership growth has since accelerated to more than 10% per year.

In the past five years, Desert Financial Credit Union:

• Doubled its assets from $4 billion to more than $8 billion
• Gave back more than $14 million to the community
• Provided more than $54 million in Member Give Back bonuses to members
• Expanded services into Northern Arizona, including a recently opened branch in Prescott Valley and additional branch openings in Flagstaff and Prescott scheduled in 2022
• Increased compensation and benefits for team members
• Initiated an online, tuition-free college education program for employees through Arizona State University

“Strong communities create more opportunities for everyone,” says Meshey. “This ethos is ingrained within Desert Financial and our employees, who are passionate about the communities where they work and live. That passion is unmistakable in the more than 12,000 hours they spent volunteering in 2021.”

In addition to breaking the company record for hours volunteered, Desert Financial employees participated in more than 8,300 random acts of kindness sponsored by the credit union.

While the Desert Financial leadership team cites many reasons for the credit union’s accomplishments over the past several years, the adoption of an annual all-employee event has been a major factor.

The organization-wide conference is held on the second Monday of October each year, when credit union branches are closed for the federal holiday, which provides the opportunity for all Desert Financial employees to gather for a day of celebrating the organization’s successes from the past year, sharing the company’s vision for the future and seeking employee input about the best way to move forward as an organization.

During the first all-employee meeting in 2018, the Desert Financial leadership team announced its renewed focus on growth and giving. Employees throughout the organization embraced the vision, donating 37,000 hours of their time and participating in 23,000 random acts of kindness in the past five years.

Likewise, employee satisfaction increased by 9% since the inaugural all-employee event.

About Desert Financial Credit Union

Celebrating more than 80 years in Arizona, Desert Financial is the state's most trusted local credit union with over $8 billion in assets, 380,000+ members and 47 branches. Membership eligibility is open across most of Arizona with contactless solutions via eBranch, making it easy to click, call or come in. As a not-for-profit cooperative, Desert Financial takes pride in sharing success. In 2021, members received $15 million in dividends via the Member Giveback Bonus, and Desert Financial gave more than $3.8 million in donations, scholarships and Random Acts of Kindness to our members, community and team. Learn more at www.desertfinancial.com.

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