Thank you for participating in the Grow Your Green Savings Challenge

Hi!

It’s Cash Cat here, and I want to thank you for participating in the Grow Your Green Savings Challenge of 2009. Your hard work in the savings challenge and your activity in the online community throughout the year have really made a difference and has served as an inspiration for other savers. I’m honored that Tech CU was able to be a part in helping you work toward your savings goal.

As you may already know, the Grow Your Green Savings Challenge ended at the end of December with the selection of our Super Saver of 2009. Ron Vogel was the lucky winner of our $1,000 grand prize. Not only did Ron save consistently all year to reach his financial goals, but he also shared his many wonderful money-saving tips with other Grow Your Green members. (You can read them here.)

But Ron wasn’t the only one who was rewarded for saving. From March to November, eight monthly winners received $100 to be added toward their Grow Your Green savings goal. We’re also proud that the campaign was effective in helping our members save more in 2009. Here’s what we were able to accomplish: 34 Grow Your Green Savings Challenge accounts for a total of $17,966 saved!

While this campaign was designed to last for one year, at Tech CU we know that saving money and smart money management should be lifetime efforts. That’s why we’re committed to helping you stay financially fit all year long. If you enjoyed all the useful tips and entertaining articles we had here at the Grow Your Green site, I’m confident you’ll love Tech CU’s main blog, Money Savvy.  With articles such as Haitian Relief: Be Generous but Be Careful and Banks Lure Customers with Cash: Deal or No Deal?, you’ll continue to find relevant, insightful and helpful articles at our blog to help you succeed in your financial goals.

Thanks again for participating in Grow Your Green. And remember, we still want to stay connected to you so join the Facebook Tech CU Fan Page or follow us at Twitter/TechCU. That way you’ll continue being the first to learn about Tech CU’s rate changes, promotions and specials.

Until we meet again!
-CashCat

Tech CU awards $1,000 to Super Saver of 2009

San Jose, CA (Dec. 31, 2009) —Technology Credit Union (Tech CU) is proud to announce that Ron Vogel of San Jose, Calif. has been selected as the Grow Your Green Super Saver of 2009 and, as a result, Vogel has been awarded the $1,000 grand prize in Tech CU’s Grow Your Green Savings Challenge.

In March, Tech CU launched the Grow Your Green campaign and online community in an effort to support and encourage members to set and achieve savings goals in 2009. Then on Dec. 15, Tech CU picked the Super Saver of 2009—someone who had been actively saving and participating in the community—and that person would win $1,000 toward their savings goal.

Not only did Vogel save consistently all year to reach his financial goals, but he also shared many of his valuable money-saving tips with other Grow Your Green members. From advice on investing to tips on finding free music and video on the Internet, Vogel regularly contributed to the Grow Your Green community, posting several blog entries each week. (Read them here.)

“We worked hard to win this,” Vogel said, as his wife, Shih-Shan Tan, stood next to him. “This was a team effort. Shih-Shan would look for story ideas and then I would research them and develop them into blog posts. We wrote them with our own experiences of spending and saving in mind.”

One of those experiences, Vogel said, came when he was six years old.

“I loaned my grandfather $20 and a week later, he gave me $30—to cover the full amount, plus interest,” said Vogel. “That’s when I learned that if I was smart with money, I could make more of it.”

Vogel says since then he has tried to share his money management skills with the world. This time it has paid off—literally.

“We knew that more people were being affected by the economy this year so we wanted to help them focus on saving,” said Kathleen Litman, vice president of marketing at Tech CU.  “From the start, we designed the Grow Your Green site to encourage comments from, and interaction between, the participants who were saving toward a particular goal. Ron was a major contributor and really cared about helping others. We’re thrilled he’s our Super Saver of 2009.”

And Vogel’s thrilled too.

“I opened the Grow Your Green savings account because I wanted to win the $100 monthly prize,” Vogel said. “That was appealing, but to win $1,000 is an even more wonderful surprise. It’s definitely a great way to end the year. Thank you, Tech CU!”

We’ve picked a Super Saver for 2009!

Congratulations to Ron Vogel for being Grow Your Green’s Super Saver of 2009!

Not only did Ron save consistently all year to reach his financial goals, but he also shared all his wonderful money-saving tips with Grow Your Green members. (You can read them here.)

Stay tuned—we’ll have an interview from Ron in the coming days when we present him with the $1,000 check. How’s that for a holiday gift?

Meet all our $100 monthly winners.