General Guidelines for Giving

The following are guidelines for organizations seeking support:

Organization shall have offices in at least one of the communities we serve.
Funds given shall directly reach the program's beneficiaries; funds are not intended for administrative purposes.
Organization demonstrates sound administrative and financial practices.
Organization submits to regular self-evaluation and public reporting.
Organization has established clear objectives.
Organization retains an active citizen board of directors and appropriate levels of insurance.
Consideration is given to the educational value of the request, the overall reputation of the organization, the number of people directly benefitting from the contribution, and the value a project will add to local community life.

The Bank strives to maintain a monetary balance across geographical and categorical lines. In general, a program or organization shall be eligible to receive one monetary gift per calendar year from the Bank (excluding Capital Campaigns).

Organizations seeking support should be prepared to provide the following information upon request:

A purpose statement and brief history of the organization or event.
A description of the program, event and past successes.
A copy of the organization's insurance binder (if applicable).
A list of the organization's board of directors/trustees.
Proof of nonprofit status from the IRS (if applicable).
Relationship with the Bank and/or First National Wealth Management (if applicable).

Restrictions

This program generally does not provide support for individuals or individuals raising money for a cause (e.g. walk-a-thons); political organizations or candidates for political office; religious organizations or activities for sectarian purposes, unless they are for the benefit of a community service that we would otherwise support; organizations that cannot designate funds to stay within our geographic region; national or international organizations.

Corporate Decision Makers

Donation and sponsorship requests should be sent, in writing, to the business development officer in the community where the asking organization is based. Generally, business development officers will be the decision-makers, though some requests, usually due to scope, are forwarded on to the Marketing Department. Capital Campaign requests are also considered by our Marketing Department.