The entry form drops in here once the drawing opens. Nothing to do yet.
Pass It On
Our referral program, on one page.
You're not selling anything. Members already send their friends here. This gives you something to hand them, and gives us a way to say thank you.
01
Ask
In a good moment, when you've just taken care of someone.
02
Hand over a card
With your name written on it. "Have them ask for me."
03
Log it
Whoever opens the account logs it, that day. Thirty seconds.
Open the referral log
Open the referral log
At the window? This is your whole part.
You're not expected to run the full ask, and window cross-sell isn't what this program is built on. One sentence, hand over a card, and if they seem interested walk them to an FSO.
Your one sentence, and say it however sounds like you:
"If you know anybody who's not getting treated right where they bank, take one of these. I can introduce you to someone here who'd take good care of them."
There's a longer version further down the page if you want more to work with.
And if somebody comes in and names the member who sent them, write both names on a slip and hand it to whoever opens the account. You don't own the log.
If you're at the window, you can stop here. Everything below is for FSOs, lending, coaching and the call center.
- What to say
- When to say it
- What they get
- When they get it
- What their friend gets
- Logging it
- Questions
- Self-check + drawing
SECTION 01
What to say
You just opened someone's account, or fixed something for them. They're happy. That's the doorway:
You're all set. Can I mention one thing before you go? Most people end up here because somebody they trust sent them. So if you know anyone who's not getting treated right where they bank, or who got turned down somewhere, send them to me. Have them ask for me by name and I'll take care of them the same way.
Say it in your own words. Then hand over a referral card and write your name on it.
Window staff: the short version at the top of the page is plenty. Everyone else: the script above is the shape, not a recitation. Say it like you.
- Start with the person, then say the number. Open with who they might be thinking of, not with the offer. But when the money comes up, be straight about it. $50 and $100 is real money to a lot of our members and there's nothing to be shy about.
- Never pressure. One warm ask, then let it go. If it isn't a natural moment, skip it.
- Always give a name. A name beats a website, because "ask for Margie" is what members actually say to their friends. If you're out that day, have them ask for your team or the branch, we'll still connect them. The card still carries your name so we thank the right member.
Do say
- "$50 to you, $100 to them, once their account is open and active." The numbers are the clearest part, don't bury them.
- "You can keep it, or put it toward our scholarship fund. Your call."
- "It takes a couple of months. I'd rather tell you that than surprise you."
Don't say
- "You'll get $50 for sending them in for a loan." Not true unless they open an account.
- "You should have it in a week or two." You don't know that.
- Anything after a no. One ask, then let it go.
SECTION 02
When to say it
Moment 1
You just opened or fixed something
You're the person who took care of them, so you're the name to give.
Moment 2
A loan just closed
Relieved, and their payment went down. The best moment there is.
Moment 3
After coaching
Send people to Gage. No account, no cost. Lead with the help, not the money.
Moment 4
On the phone
No card to hand over, so the name does the work. Offer to text them your name and the branch number, (515) 288-7225, or hand the call to an FSO who can send them the switch-kit link.
Moment 5
They bring it up first
"I tell everyone about you." Give these members a few cards, not one.
Moment 6
Someone who got a fresh start
Framed as pointing the way for someone else, never as charity.
At the window
Tellers: hand off, don't work the ask
One sentence and a card, or walk them over to an FSO.
SECTION 03
What they get
How many times
No limit. A member who keeps sending people is the best member we have, so there's no annual cap.
How it's paid
Deposited straight into their Affinity account. No cards to mail, nothing to claim.
Keep it or give it
We ask when we send the thank-you. They can keep the $50 or send it to our scholarship fund for a local student. Same amount either way, and it's something we haven't seen anywhere else around here.
Loans or coaching alone
No thank-you unless the friend actually joins. Still make the introduction, but say "if they join, we thank you both."
The fine print you'll get asked about
Kept out in the open on purpose, because these are the four things easiest to get wrong in front of a member.
Who counts as new
Not currently a member, and no Affinity account in the last 12 months. The short look-back is only so nobody closes and reopens for the bonus.
Spouses and family
Fine, as long as they're new by the rule above. One thank-you per new membership, not one per person on a joint account.
Can staff refer?
Yes. You're a member too, same terms as anyone else. Employee referrals get logged and checked by someone other than you, which is normal and not about trust.
If it doesn't qualify
No thank-you goes out. We tell the member once so they're not left wondering, and then we leave it alone. We don't chase them about it and we don't let them find out by silence.
The line to say, once: "It didn't meet the checking and activity requirement within 60 days, so we can't send the thank-you. I wanted you to hear that from us directly."
The line to say, once: "It didn't meet the checking and activity requirement within 60 days, so we can't send the thank-you. I wanted you to hear that from us directly."
Anything in it for staff?
No, and that's deliberate. No bonus, no contest, and we aren't counting your asks. Volume isn't going on a scoreboard. The ask is part of good service, not a quota. If the switch-kit time starts crowding your day, say so to your lead. That's a real conversation, not a complaint.
What makes it count
"Active" has a specific meaning. Both parts have to be true:
REQUIRED
Their friend opens a checking account.
AND, WITHIN 60 DAYS
EITHER
Sets up direct deposit
OR
OR
Makes 5 or more debit card purchases
SECTION 04
When they actually get it
This is the question members ask most, and the easiest one to get wrong. Don't say "soon."
DAY 0
Our member sends their friend in.
THEN
The friend opens a checking account.
WITHIN 60 DAYS
Direct deposit, or 5+ debit purchases. Now it counts.
+ UP TO 60 DAYS
Both thank-yous land in their accounts.
So realistically two to four months from the day they refer someone. Say that plainly, it lands far better than a promise you can't keep.
SECTION 05
What their friend gets
The money gets their attention. This is what closes the gap:
Means to leave their bank
Starts moving direct deposit and the auto-pays
Gives up partway and stays where they are
Referrals die here, not at the ask. Nobody stalls because they love their bank. They stall because moving everything feels like a weekend they don't have. So we move it for them, with a real person, in the branch or on the phone. That's the promise you get to make out loud, and it's the whole reason the switch kit exists.
SECTION 06
Logging it is the one thing that can't slide
Whoever opens the account logs it, the same day. Two names is enough, and it takes about thirty seconds. If you're at the window, you hand a slip to the person opening the account instead.
Open the referral log — bookmark it. You don't need an account number, and you don't need to know whether someone else already logged it. A duplicate costs us nothing. A miss costs a member their thank-you.
If it never gets logged, we can't thank the member who sent them. And a member who refers someone and never hears a word back doesn't refer anybody again. That single miss is what kills programs like this.
What happens after you log it
One person reconciles the log every week against new accounts, so you don't have to track anything or follow up. If we can't match the member who referred, we come ask you rather than dropping it.
At day 61, if the new account never activated, [OWNER NAME] flags it and handles that conversation with the member. You are not expected to improvise an apology, and you shouldn't.
SECTION 07
Questions
Tap any question. These are the ones actually coming up.
This feels salesy. I don't want to be that person.The most common one, and a fair objection
It would be salesy if we led with the money. We don't. You're telling someone who just got taken care of that you'll do the same for their friend. You've been doing that for years, this only adds a card to it.
If a conversation ever starts to feel like "refer a friend and get fifty bucks," stop and reset. That version isn't us and it doesn't work here anyway.
What if the friend never says who sent them?
Then we can't thank the member who sent them, which is exactly why the card and the "ask for me by name" line matter so much. Encourage members to actually hand the card over rather than just mentioning us.
What if I forget to ask?
You will sometimes, and that's fine. The card is at your station and the moments come around again. Nobody is tracking your individual ask count.
What about members who've been sending us people for years?
Those are the best people to tell first. "You've been doing this for us for years and we never had a way to say thank you. Now we do."
Where do I get more cards?
Ask your team lead. There's a stack at each station and more in the back.
If your station stack is empty, grab more from the back before your next member. Don't wait until somebody asks and you've got nothing in the drawer.
SECTION 08
Check yourself, and get your name in the hat
Five questions. Nothing is recorded and there's no limit on tries, so if you miss one, read why and go again. Get all five right and you can enter the drawing for a half day off. Entries close two weeks after we start, and Kris draws the winner.
Pass It On self-check
0 of 5 answered
Close. Have another go.
Read the explanations above, then reset and try again. Nobody sees this but you.
Five for five.
That's the whole program, and you're ready to have the conversation.
BACKGROUND
Why we're doing this at all
All five members we sat down and interviewed came to Affinity because a person they trusted sent them.
How many found us through advertising: none of them.
The longer versionWorth two minutes once, then never again
The referrals already happen, and they always have. That's how this credit union has grown for 77 years. What we've never had is anything to hand the friend, any way to say thank you, or any way to know it happened at all.
And the way it happens in real life is never a campaign. It's one person telling another person to go see someone here by name. That's the whole thing. Our job was to make it easy to say, easy to act on, and impossible to lose track of.
Which is also why this isn't built as a cash bounty. Our members aren't short on motivation, they're short on a way to help. A program that led with money would solve a problem we don't have, and it would make us sound like every bank chasing the easy customer, which is the opposite of what this place is.
Nothing about your job changes. You get a card, a sentence, and a way to make sure the member who sent someone actually hears back from us.
They want you when you're doing well. We want you when you're not.
The word is always "work with," never "sell." If something here doesn't match what you're seeing with members, say so. We'd rather fix the script than have you read something that doesn't sound like you.
Pass It On · v1.2 · last updated 9 September 2026 · owner: [OWNER NAME] · questions to your team lead.
Terms can change, and we may pause or end the program. Anything already earned still gets paid.