Typically, donor contributions to the credit unions are targeted and used in the same statutory requirements and restrictions as the Mutual Financial Aid fund as a whole. Principles of cooperative democracy and interaction were adequate to the purposes for which people joined credit unions. When organizing the credit union it is important that people know each other and know the extent to which each of them is trustworthy. As of the January 1, 2012 the national associations and confederations unite more than 196 million members participating in the 51,013 credit unions in 100 countries. A credit union on its own initiative order is created by citizens (individuals) to solve their financial problems that they could not solve in other financial institutions.