Banks are major supporters of the community and charitable sector, yet they are uncomfortable with being treated as ‘pots of money.’ The days when charitable organizations or community initiatives would apply for financial assistance, and then banks would simply release the requested money, are gone.
Nowadays, banks want to get involved as active partners and like to work with charitable organizations hand in hand. Moreover, they have put several programs and approaches in place that encourage employees to volunteer time, skills and energy to remain well connected with the community.
"It’s important not only to work for myself, but also to give back to the community," says Gulam Hilali, an employee at a local bank in Toronto. “To uphold our organization’s reputation in the competitive marketplace, we should support various initiatives to build a better community,” he added. Likewise, as the global market continues to become more complex, corporate entities understand that there is a growing focus on addressing the needs of the community.
A win-win situation: Partnerships are a reality
In order to realize their aspirations, banks look for long-term strategic partnerships in their community-giving programs. Recent research I’ve completed of the community giving patterns of banks shows that they increasingly strengthen their ties with communities through partnerships.
You may ask whether these partnerships are simply a symbolic measure of the corporate world's intensified public relations and marketing strategies, or are they actually creating profound and long-lasting effects in the community? The answer, it seems, depends on the organization's strategic vision, the partners they've chosen, the realistic goals they've adopted, and the level of synchronicity that binds them together. However, for most banks, long-term partnerships are very much an integral part of their community-giving strategies.
Role of employees should not be underestimated
For banks, matching and volunteering programs are gaining further ground. National Bank employees, including its retirees, devote countless hours to organizing events to raise funds for local causes and charity organizations. Manulife employees have a long tradition of giving back and the company supports their efforts in numerous ways:
Community events: A popular choice
As a popular choice, banks are also raising funds for a particular cause or for partnerships through sponsoring and organizing community events. Such community events have become an important approach in charitable giving. National Bank employees devote countless hours to organizing golf tournaments, benefit dinners, and charity auctions.
Focused programs and structured processes
Banks receive many requests for donations from priority sectors—they must, therefore, concentrate on donations and sponsorship areas that best correspond to their business values and objectives. Therefore, nonprofits need to focus their energy in order to ensure they have the right fit, and not simply the right dollar amount.
Consistent generosity
Despite a volatile global market, banks continue to show consistent generosity. Increasing or decreasing income does not significantly influence community giving. Trends indicate that consistent community giving mostly derives from a strong commitment to support the community, charitable sector and strategic partnerships.
Many are still cynical!
Critics raise the question of whether banks genuinely address the causes or whether they only serve their allies and partners. Causes are definitely taken into consideration, but banks tend to remain confined within the community where they do business—and they seem happy with that. This may hinder banks from taking the larger context into consideration, prompting many to be skeptical about their contributions. Skeptics tend to believe that such contributions are nothing but an extension of banks’ marketing and promotion efforts. However, even if we accept such cynical views, there is no doubt that banks are one of the most generous actors contributing and giving to local communities.
Md. Emamul Haque is a social entrepreneur with a strong passion for the social profit sector. He is an accomplished fundraising, advocacy and not-for-profit management professional with 20 years of diverse experience in shaping social policies and scaling up development projects in a global environment. He can be reached at emamul.haque@gmail.com
