Colleen McCoy-Cejka:
Did you know in Arizona taxpayers have choices about where to direct their state taxes? If you have a desire to help families afford the education they choose for their children, sit back, listen and be inspired. You are listening to Creating Future Leaders with Catholic Education Arizona.
Nancy Padberg:
Catholic Education Arizona is a school tuition organization that turns tax credit contributions from individuals and corporations into scholarships for students. At CEA, we create future leaders.
Hi, I’m Nancy Padberg, President and CEO of Catholic Education Arizona, and I always like to say it’s a great day at CEA. Today’s guest is a graduate of our Catholic schools in the Diocese of Phoenix, and the President of Notre Dame Credit Union. David Gryp joins us today to talk about the ways Notre Dame Federal Credit Union partners with schools and families to make Catholic Education accessible and affordable.
Thanks for being with us today. David, can you share a bit more about yourself with our listeners? Welcome, David.
David Gryp:
Thank you, Nancy. It’s a pleasure to be here. And yes, Catholic Education has played a tremendous role in who I am today as a person as well as my wife, Megan. And it’s really led us to the point where now as parents, we want our children to be placed in a community and receive the education that we hold true to who we are as parents and individuals.
I’m a proud graduate of St. Teresa’s and Brophy and a small liberal arts college in South Bend, Indiana called Holy Cross College. Those three institutions and the Catholic faith have really transformed me in the way I want to be a better husband, a better father, and a better business owner and community leader. So it’s really been instrumental in who I am.
Nancy Padberg:
Well, we would love to talk about education here. It’s why we jump out of bed every day, and give others a chance to also experience what you did in your Catholic formation. But let’s talk a little bit about Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. First, what differentiates a credit union from a standard bank?
David Gryp:
Yeah, so banks are owned by stockholders and credit unions are owned by their member owners, right? So as you become a member and you open up an account with a credit union, you in essence are now an owner. The essence of a credit union is to connect and empower the community. The banks are going to operate in the way that they operate. But as a credit union, our focus and objective is to give back, it’s to be ingrained in the community, and really tie in. And so I think when you look throughout the country and throughout the Arizona marketplace, credit unions play a vital role in what’s going on and we can continue to do a better job integrating into our communities across the valley.
Nancy Padberg:
Well, we belong to a credit union. It seems like the rates are better. It seems like it’s more accessible and you can get a hold of a person. It just seems like the service is so much better, too.
David Gryp:
You know, going back many, many years, we kind of ripped up the playbook where banks would say you can only spend X amount of time with your members when they come in. And that’s not who we are, right? If our job is to connect and get to know people, we want our employees to spend as much time as they need to with a member when they come in. And so it’s through that interaction where we become one, where we figure out where we can add value in our communities. And that’s the path that we’re going to keep going down.
Nancy Padberg:
That’s awesome. Yeah, we all love great customer service.
David Gryp:
That’s right.
Nancy Padberg:
So part of the mission of Notre Dame Federal Credit Union is financial empowerment for families. Can you explain what that means and how you help people achieve it?
David Gryp:
Yes, so we believe in three really important parts. The first is frank advice. The second is financial workshops. And the third is educational scholarships. So with frank advice, we put people before profit. That’s a novel concept, but we also live by changing a life a day-how can we help our members get in a better position? Oftentimes, maybe they have questions that they might be embarrassed to ask and we say, “Bring it to the table. We’re here to help you”. And so again, spending as much time as we need to, we will walk through and answer questions, and hopefully put them in a better position going forward.
The second one is we want to educate. Financial education is so important as we get older, and we want to do a better job in helping within the school system with financial education as people get older. That’s important. And the third is through scholarships. And the scholarships can look, you know, really different in South Bend. I believe we have spotted 30 different scholarships for kids that are going into college. And so it’s a really important part of who we are through a credit union in giving back. We look through multiple different avenues and scholarships as just one way that we want to give back.
Nancy Padberg:
And what are those three pillars-our mission, our values? What do you call those?
David Gryp:
Yeah, I definitely think that our values are honesty, transparency, education, and being good stewards in our community, redistributing those funds.
Nancy Padberg:
Let’s talk about how we’re aligned a little bit. So both Catholic Education Arizona and Notre Dame Federal Credit Union strive to make education accessible and affordable, and have a mission to help the underserved. How do you see our missions intersecting? And how can the work of our organizations complement one another?
David Gryp:
I think it’s really exciting when you are able to bring different organizations together that are rooted in the same belief, right? We are are proud Catholics, we are proud to be community leaders and servants. And we want to bring people together that have the same mission, and that are aligned with what we believe. And so our organizations were tethered together with our faith, and helping our community and helping students at the Notre Dame Credit Union. What we have tried to do-and this might sound silly, but let’s not think like bankers. Let’s try and think like we actually care. We want to give back in our community, and as a credit union. It’s our mission to redeploy capital.
So how can we do that? We have rolled out a program that I don’t think anybody else is doing.
Nancy Padberg:
Oh, I want to hear about this.
David Gryp:
Yeah, not just in Arizona, but around the country. We call it elevate. Elevate is lifting up-we want to lift up our community, thinking of our members and having them in the forefront of our mind. We’re blessed to do a lot of work with parishes, and churches, and nonprofits. And a lot of those institutions and organizations have decided to become members of our credit union. They have their operating accounts and their interest intertwined with who we are. So we said, “How can we help them drive additional revenue to help their businesses”?.
Elevate was originally created with three prongs. And the first goes back to that financial education and that frank candor. So again, if you were to come to Notre Dame Credit Union and ask for a financial deep dive, and you are a member of St. Theresa, Catholic school, a Parish, this process would be 30 minutes, maybe 60 minutes. We would then rebate $150, to the parish, just by trying to help that member understand what their finances are like.
The second-we all have cars, and we all generally get car loans. And so if you are a parishioner, at a parish or a school, or if you’re a member of a nonprofit, or have an affinity for a nonprofit that has your operating accounts, we will rebate 1% of that loan back to that school and nonprofit or the pair. That’s fantastic. That’s real money. So debt can make an impact.
The third is really interesting and growing. You know, it’s a product of Catholic education. We all are familiar with the script program. We tried to take the script program to the next level, and we believe it can almost be overlapped with the financial deep dive in education and wellness programs, where it is a cashback debit card. So every day we’re swiping our card-some of us are using our credit cards and some of us are using our debit cards-well, we have script debit and credit cards. And the idea behind that is, every time we swipe that cash back, we can allocate those savings to a parish, to a nonprofit or to a school.
Let’s just say, Nancy, you you spend $2,000. If it was on your credit card or your debit card, that’s about $20 of savings a month. Annualize that out-that’s some real money we’re talking about.
Nancy Padberg:
I think of all the different members from a school or parish that could really add up. And it’s a passive way for the schools to make money once they get people signed up.
David Gryp:
That’s right. And so this is what’s interesting when we talk about that one school, right? That impacts one school, but when you get many schools and many parishes and many nonprofits buying into this mission, it’s what we call the velocity of money. It’s where you have more money now entering the system, and more people can be helped. And the circle goes around and around.
Just some quick numbers. If you were to have 100 families at a parish, that’s roughly $2,000 a month. And so: $20 per person x 100 is $2,000, x 12 months, annualized, that’s going to be $24,000. How many children, and how many scholarships, can we help with $24,000? Now, if you were to replicate those same numbers across the different schools and high schools, that’s almost $875,000. That’s real money that’s added to the system.
My approach is a benefit to CEA because that allows you to go out and help even more families or children. Just living our lives, we can help children experience the kind of education I grew up with. That’s easy, right? And then, because we’re members and we’re partners and we’re all working together, it allows us as a credit union to redistribute more funds directly to parishes or to nonprofits as they need help. We’re at that point where we’re really partners.
Now the fourth prong that you will not see that I’m really excited to roll out today is on the commercial side of the business: commercial loans. CEA has business owners and businesses that are donating their tax dollars. A lot of businesses have fixed loans that they need to run their businesses. Well, we’re going to take it a step further to give back. We’re going to say, 1%, of any funded loan, we will donate up to $5,000. We will rebate $5,000 back to that nonprofit school or Parish, where the loan is originating from. That’s fantastic-again, money to send back to the system. And so we continue to try and think about how we can help better the learning experience. In education, we can help lower that expense for families that are going to have less of a burden, and children are going to grow up in an environment where they’re going to thrive and succeed. And we just think we’re being good stewards in our community.
Nancy Padberg:
So really, it’s about innovation. It’s about innovation for helping others. I can hear you and see your passion around this. It’s helping making our Catholic schools also affordable and accessible for all, and just educating them on the different options. So I hear four really terrific options here that our schools could take advantage of. I think it’s a wonderful, wonderful announcement you made today.
David Gryp:
Yeah, you know, we’re here to help. And we want to serve. And when we meet with schools and parishes and other nonprofits, we say, if these won’t work for you, tell us what will. Let us tweak it, let us make it better so it’s going to actually work and serve your mission and serve your community. Again, we’re pillars here, we want to help, so tell us how we can help and add value.
Nancy Padberg:
Well, you know, there’s so much to be said about servant leadership-I’ve seen it in your career, I’ve seen it in my career. But when we go on our path and our journey helping others, it’s just absolutely amazing. Your message is amazing and the innovative ways you’re helping our schools, and really all nonprofits out there.
David Gryp:
Thank you.
Nancy Padberg:
So if you were talking to school principals about Notre Dame Federal Credit Union, what would you want them to know about how a partnership could be beneficial?
David Gryp:
Yeah, again, it comes back to helping the parents helping the students, helping the community where their schools are located-and again, it can look many different ways. But at least through Elevate, we can help through our normal daily lives to redirect funds and rebate funds back to the schools that can really make a difference.
Nancy Padberg:
So this is really pretty easy for communication channels that already exists at the schools, in their social media, and newsletters. I mean, it really is a way to get parents aware of the programs and what’s available to them that will help them and, by the way, help the schools. Tell us a little bit more. Where can parents and schools learn more about these products?
David Gryp:
They can learn more at our website https://notredamefcu.com/elevate-fundraising, or they can visit , https://notredamefcu.com/arizona, it’s a very easy to navigate website. And then we also really encourage people to (although not very common nowadays), pick up the phone! Give us a call. We’d love to talk and brainstorm and figure out what we can do to improve upon for our communities. They can call 1-800-522-6611.
Nancy Padberg:
Thank you, David. You’ve been around Catholic Education Arizona, we’ve been around 24 years-and I think you’ve been around a couple more years than that. But what are your thoughts on Catholic Education Arizona, and what would you tell a company? Why should they get involved with us?
David Gryp:
Well, I think it’s remarkable what CEA has been able to do over the years-and in particular, the last couple of years, the success that the organization has had and the word getting out there. It’s connecting, and it’s spreading. And, again, it’s additive to our communities, as organizations have tax liabilities that they would generally have to pay regardless, and that individuals up to a certain threshold would have to pay regardless, right? We can direct those funds to help out our community and help the children. And so really helping that underserved community, the community that is often forgotten, where we now are able to go and impact and CEA is able to really make a difference. It’s remarkable. And it’s wonderful to know so many people here, and to see the success that the organization is having, and it’s kudos to you and the team here.
Nancy Padberg:
Thank you. It’s really the dream team. Truly, we have an incredible group of people here. Do you have any other closing remarks before we wrap up?
David Gryp:
So we are proud to be supporting the Catholic Diocese and the Night of Hope that’s coming up, which is wonderful. Again, helping children, helping education. We’re really excited to be partners for the Crozier Gala that’s also coming up. So again, that’s exciting as we are in our third year here in Arizona. We are starting that process of working towards expansion and adding to our team. We’re really lucky that we continue to grow and have success, and we want to be able to pass that around. You’re in Arizona, so I just thank you guys for the opportunity and everything that you’re doing for our community. It is remarkable. It is making a difference and it is impactful. And so as a product of Catholic Education, I’m glad that so many other children are now able to experience it because of what you guys are doing.
Nancy Padberg:
Thank you, and thank you for being here with us today. To learn more about how you can create future leaders, visit our website at ceaz.org or call us at (602) 218-6542. I want to thank David for being with me today and our listeners for tuning in. And I always say-it’s a great day at CEA. See you next time.
Colleen McCoy-Cejka:
You have been listening to Creating Future Leaders with Catholic education Arizona. For more information visit us at ceaz.org.
