A Model For Credit Unions 

Concise, Comprehensive and Compliant 

Organization for the Volunteers and 

Delegated Authority to the CEO 

Congratulations, your board has been progressive at delegating operational authority to management. You are experiencing shorter more productive board meetings, more engaged board members, and you’re gaining more for your money by expecting more from competent managers, … 

Yet, are you confident you established adequate accountability to go along with the authority? Are you covering every facet of the operation from the Board’s perspective? How sure are you that your documentation for those authorities is inadequate and “regulator-safe?” 

An organized board makes policies guiding its own work too. For example, 

• elections
• director position descriptions
• performance expectations
• code of ethics
• code of conduct
• continuing education, and more

If you are starting from ’scratch,’ where should you begin? How do you organize all the individual policies you have adopted over time and often in response to “the regulator’s concern du jure.”  There are hundreds of hours of work ahead, and perhaps months before you see it completed. 

You can save hundreds of hours of director and staff work in the time it takes to draft policies using my model manual. The opportunity cost of writing your own manual from scratch would range from $11,000 to $26,000, or more. With the model, you not only save time and money, you also … 

• Avoid the complex task of combing through the patchwork of your policy documents created over the years, and pulling them together in a cohesive whole.
• Have confidence that you will cover all the areas you need to cover.
• Benefit from the author’s experiences and research to include policies to deal with experiences you have not yet endured.
• Assure compliance with applicable statutes and regulations.

The 14th Edition is the ultimate governance model  

for credit unions in the 21st Century.  

The structure is in two parts: 

• Part I is the Board’s process policies, rules and procedures for directors and the Board including position descriptions, performance standards and rules of order. Click here to see the  table of contents.
• Part II consists of delegated authority from the Board to CEO, ends policies and CEO limitations … all the guidance the CEO needs from the Board to lead the journey. View the table of contents. In this part, the board defines “Operating Policies” including Personnel (or Human Resources), products and services, pricing, loss prevention and recovery, and more, and establishes the CEO’s authority over them, with continuing board oversight, reporting to the board, and accountability to the board.

Concise … 

The 14th edition totals 71 pages; but you’re not buying pages–you are buying wisdom and experience, well crafted and understandable text. Adopt it and you have peace of mind.  What happens to the ‘tomes’ you’ve already written? You will find that many of them are operational in nature. This model manual delegates those existing policies to management as Operating Policies; it’s where they belong. Examples include personnel or HR policies, and product definitions — in this model manual  the board provides guidelines and limitations to what the CEO can do — your board does not abdicate, the board clarifies what authority is delegated, remains engaged, and oversees management. 

Comprehensive … 

The 14th edition continues the tradition of covering it all. Congress and the regulators have been ‘reregulating’ in recent years; we’ve got you covered. When they com up with something new, chances are, you’re covered; call me and I’ll show you how.

How can we cover so much in so few pages?
This manual does not repeat phrases that can create legal issues if you’re not careful. 

Compliant … 

The 14th Edition violates no known laws or regulations. How do we know this? We are in contact with regulators, credit union leaders, and purchasers who adopted the manual. No one has yet taken us up on the guarantee noted below. 

The way policies ought to be written … 

Well constructed statements provide guidance with with room for interpretation, under a reporting and accountability structure, the way policies ought to be written. 

This manual is the centerpiece of good governance, just what credit unions need. Dan Clark has updated this manual since the original in1982. That original version was adopted by his first policy client, a state chartered CU, and the Federal credit union where he served on the board. He based the structure and policies on his professional credit union experience that began in 1971, and that includes positions of regulator, director, CEO and consultant. It was effective, the  Ohio Credit Union League provided it to hundreds of attendees in several seminars held in the state in the early 1980s. It has been in demand ever since. 

Here’s what has helped shape this manual: 

• The essentials of John Carver’s governance approach made credit union friendly.
• Best practices among credit unions.
• Research findings from the Filene Research Institute.
• Insights gained by working with many credit unions developing their board governance policies.
• How boards desire to focus individual directors on governing rather than managing.
• Exuctives anxious to clearly define their authorities to avoid all confusion.

The model manual … 

• Provides structure and philosophy that do more to raise your level of governance than any other model currently in the credit union market place.
• Contains new policies for an Advisory Board and a Director Emeritus program.
• Is relevant, advanced and complete; examine the table of contents.

If you already have another model of credit union governance policies from another source, trade it in to me, and I’ll pay you $35 for it!

Order my model manual today and begin customizing it to fit your credit union. I’ll send you the Data CD in the mail with the editable Microsoft Word file and a PDF version for reference and bonus material relevant to good governance. 

GUARANTEE: My model is compliant with existing laws and regulations. If an auditor or examiner cites any part of these Governance Policies in a report as being contrary to laws or regulations, I will write what you need to comply and pay you $100 for your trouble. 

I stand behind this work, and so do thousands of users.  

Buy the manual . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . pay only    $297.00 USD   What’s your time worth?
Mega Governance Bundle: this unique Manual plus 3 great & related audios: Who’s Driving Credit  Unions? Governance Best Practices & Better Board Meetings – valued at $119.91;  You save $83.97 when you buy it all for   $333.00 USD
There are several ways to hire the author of the manual to guide and support your efforts to document your governance in policies. Click here to review those optional services.