This Giving Tuesday, empower lasting change across the Deep South with a Transformational Deposit at Hope Credit Union. Since 1994, HOPE has empowered more than 4 million people in some of the country’s most underserved areas, with responsibly structured financing and critical banking infrastructure they wouldn’t otherwise have access to.
Here’s how you can help HOPE break down the institutional barriers that have led to persistent poverty in the Deep South this Giving Tuesday—and why you should.
What Is Giving Tuesday and Why It Matters in the Deep South
Held this year on December 2, Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement that has taken place on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving since 2012 to encourage people to transform the world by doing good in their local communities: donating money or goods, volunteering, or performing simple acts of kindness.
A local day of generosity across the Deep South
The Deep South knows the power of community—and this Giving Tuesday, that power has never been more vital. As local nonprofits work tirelessly to bridge gaps in education, healthcare, financial, and food access in their under-resourced communities, Giving Tuesday channels the region’s strong traditions of community generosity and neighbor-helping-neighbor in a systematic, impactful way.
Giving Tuesday can help address historic inequities by funding structural and racial equity initiatives that bolster community resources, providing much-needed donations to local food banks, shelters, and youth development organizations.
HOPE does this and more: providing resources that directly empower people and businesses across the Deep South, with locations in communities that many traditional financial institutions underserve, underfund, and overlook.
Moving from Donation to Transformation
But HOPE can’t do it alone. With three out of four members earningless than $50,000 annually and two out of three with less than $1,000 in their savings, HOPE needs your help to bring financial resources into these communities.
Giving Tuesday is the perfect time to provide it. Rather than a one-time donation, a Transformational Deposit is a socially responsible investment that helps empower lasting change.
Supporting housing, jobs, and education through deposits
Your Transformational Deposit can make a real difference across the Deep South, helping to build opportunities for individuals and families and strengthen businesses and communities. In 2024 alone, these deposits helped HOPE:
- Bridge homeownership gaps: 90% of HOPE’s mortgages were to people of color; 94% were first-time homebuyers, and 65% were women.
- Build the local economy: HOPE financed 125 business and community economic projects, creating 1,112 jobs. 69% of this financing was in economically distressed areas, and 53% went to Black-owned businesses.
- Advance affordable housing: 3,276 people in affordable-housing units.
- Expand access to high-quality education: 3,080 students are taught annually in HOPE-financed schools.
- Improve health outcomes: 123,090 patients treated in HOPE-financed healthcare facilities.
Read more about the impact a HOPE transformational deposit makes in their latest report.
What Are Transformational Deposits?
Transformational Deposits import capital into low-wealth communities where local deposits cannot provide the resources needed to fuel housing, jobs, education, healthcare, and other essential needs.
There are two account options at HOPE: share certificates and a money market account. Both require only $1,000, pay you interest, are federally insured up to $250,000, and offer convenient access to your money.
How Transformational Deposits Differ from Donations
Like charitable donations, Transformational Deposits work to make the world a better place. The difference? With a Transformational Deposit, you’re investing in the Deep South—and in yourself—earning a guaranteed rate of return on the money you deposit.
Plus, with Transformational Deposits, you can be confident your money is making a real and lasting impact on the local community. Prefer a more traditional donation? You can support HOPE’s mission that way, too, by donating General Operating Support.
Make a Transformational Deposit and Make a Lasting Impact This Giving Tuesday
Making a Transformational Deposit is simple—on Giving Tuesday and all year long. To open your account and support HOPE’s mission, get in touch with our team at [email protected]. Contact us to start your Transformational Deposit account and make a lasting impact on your Deep South neighbors, now when they need it most.