BlueShore Financial case study – how to best run a credit union board

Credit unions that seek to be more efficient are constantly looking for new ways to get the most from their team’s talent and time capacity. For some, board meetings and managing board communication is one pit of wasted time, paper consumption and sunk costs on couriers.

A board portal like Aprio offers valuable wins to credit unions:

• Instant updates to board members on meeting dates and information updates
• A one-stop location for boards to access information
• Security of documents and discussion
• Time savings on meeting set up and director communication.

One customer, BlueShore Financial, was thrilled to learn there’s a whole different way of doing things with Aprio Boardroom™.

“The efficiency of providing Board information to our Directors has improved immensely using Aprio. Staff time in preparing meeting packages has been greatly reduced. The speed at which the Directors can obtain reference information has also vastly improved because they now know it exists and don’t have to contact the Credit Union to obtain it.  Aprio has made our governance practices so much easier and more effective.”

 ~ Elaine Hasemore, Assistant to the Board of Directors, BlueShore Financial

The problem – board management inefficiency

Prior to implementing Aprio, administration staff at BlueShore Financial spent hours preparing paper copies of information for Directors prior to board meetings and board committee meetings. They would often photocopy more than 150 pages of material and sort the copies into 18 hard copy binders.

Nine binders would be couriered to Directors and nine would be distributed to management and staff internally.  If information changed or had to be added prior to the meeting, the staff would have to repeat part of this cumbersome and time-consuming process to provide revised or additional documents. The whole process would be repeated the next meeting.

In between meetings – one-off requests for updates from individual directors put BlueShore Financial at risk of inequitably getting information to some but not all directors at once.

The solution – Aprio board portal software

BlueShore Financial sought a technology solution to provide accurate information and an improved service to directors and executives. Their aim was to improve efficiency and ensure governance and information.

Aprio’s board portal was chosen to allow timely and secure online sharing of corporate documents and information to all directors at once rather than by random requests.  During meetings, directors login to Aprio for instant access to information without having to leaf through lots of paper. Between meetings board members can find information easily and quickly on multiple electronic devices.

The impact at BlueShore Financial

With Aprio, BlueShore Financial is running a better board and board committees.

• Timely updates, easy access and collaboration –Aprio alerts directors automatically with meeting dates and updates, giving them instant access to meeting materials wherever they are. Directors and executives can review and annotate documents, and collaborate privately or publicly on decisions in real time.
• Mobile convenience – BlueShore Financial is able to provide information to the directors faster and far more efficiently and they can switch seamlessly between desktop, laptop, tablet or phone to see the most current documents.
• Easier administration – Staff time in preparing meeting packages and keeping directors engaged and up to date between meetings has been greatly reduced.
• More security – information that was previously just kept on the BlueShore Financial network is now fully secured requiring login authentication for access.

Credit unions rank Aprio #1

Aprio is the most trusted choice of credit unions – chosen for its affordability, simplicity, unmatched training & support and security. We value BlueShore Financial as a customer along with VanCity, Coast Capital Savings, Meridian Credit Union, Assiniboine Credit Union and dozens of other financial customers.

Curious about the impact we could have for you? Let us show you. Or, download our free Board Portal Buying Guide.

See other case studies:

• Case study – Meridian re-evaluates modern board technology
• Case study – Interview with Point West Credit Union CEO, Amy Nelson
• Case study – YNCU board chair explains the advantage of a rapid response board
• BlueShore Financial case study: How this board switched from paper to portal to increase efficiency