How can I make a donation to Clean Energy Credit Union?
Donations can be made in one of the following two ways:
1. By entering your credit card or PayPal information on our donation page (enter “Clean Energy Credit Union” in the comments/memo section); or
2. By mailing a check with “Clean Energy Credit Union” in the memo line, payable to:
American Solar Energy Society
2525 Arapahoe Ave, Ste E4-253
Boulder, CO 80302
By donating to the Credit Union via the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), which is our 501(c)(3) “fiscal sponsor,” your donations can be tax-deductible. Upon receiving donations of $250 or more, ASES will provide a receipt for your records. To learn more about ASES, click here.
While Clean Energy Credit Union is a self-sustaining 501(c)(1) organization, with the help of donations, our credit union will expand its operations, positive impact, and clean energy lending faster than otherwise. Since credit unions can’t have stockholders, we therefore can’t raise money in that way. So, credit unions can only fund themselves with either donations or retained earnings (i.e. profit). Furthermore, due to federal regulations, credit unions must maintain a certain amount of capital reserves at all times. The end result of this regulation is that for every $1 in donations our credit unions receive, it allows us to accept $14 of federally insured member deposits and then lend out the combined $15 for clean energy loans. Your donation would therefore be leveraged by 14-to-1 to help us fulfill our mission, and your donation essentially becomes part of a revolving loan fund whereby we can reuse it to make clean energy loans again and again in perpetuity.