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December 23, 2003
KENNEBUNK –Kennebunk Savings Bank was awarded a Golden Arrow Award
from the Maine Public Relations Council for its work in helping the
York County Child Abuse and Neglect Council (YCCANC) raise funds for
their new office space. The presentation was made at the annual
meeting of the Council to Debra Tenenbaum, Community Relations Officer
for the bank.
 The
Golden Arrow Award for Citizenship recognizes public relations work
that helps a non-profit organization increase publicity or funding.
The York County Child Abuse and Neglect Council needed emergency
funding in early December of 2002 because they had to move out of
their current location and find a new space. In addition to the need
for a down payment, the new facility they proposed cost more each
month in mortgage payments, which required more in donations from the
community.
The Kennebunk Savings Bank Foundation contributed an initial $10,000
to be used towards their down payment. In addition they offered the
organization a three month dollar-for-dollar challenge grant for up to
an additional $10,000. Tenenbaum, who administers the grants provided
by the Kennebunk Savings Foundation, worked with YCCANC to aid in
their communications and help the agency use the grant to encourage
further fundraising. “A challenge grant can be a very useful
fundraising tool,” says Tenenbaum. “Once a business or individual
gets involved in matching a challenge, they are more likely to
continue to be supporters of the organization.” The goal of the
challenge was to motivate people to make that initial donation. And
the public responded to the needs of the agency. “I think people
stepped up to support this very immediate need because of the work of
the agency,” said Kate Stern, executive director of the York County
Child Abuse and Neglect Council. “We have been active in York County
for over 23 years and during that time we have touched thousands of
children and families through our educational programs.”
Thanks to the publicity, YCCANC nearly tripled their challenge goal,
bringing in $29,014 in donations in three months. Those numbers are
especially significant considering the difficult year it has been for
fundraising. “As the word spread that we had a specific fundraising
goal to meet, the Council began receiving donations from new donors as
well as donors who had not given in the recent past,” noted Stern.
“At a time when individual giving is down we really appreciated the
momentum this grant afforded us, enabling us to both hold on tight to
our existing programs and create an accessible Community Resource
Room.” YCCANC was able to move in and renovate their new space,
install a handicap accessible bathroom, and in addition, they now have
a more substantial list of interested donors to contact when
fundraising in the future.
Kennebunk Savings Bank, a winner of the Maine Businesses for Social
Responsibility Eagle Feather Award, is York County’s leading
financial institution. With eleven banking offices from Sanford to
Kittery, Kennebunk Savings has a complete line of retail and business
banking products and also offers personal and commercial insurance
through its subsidiary, Morris Insurance Services, Inc. In addition,
Kennebunk Savings has a strong commitment to York County’s business
community and has twice earned the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) Bank
of the Year Award and is a Small Business Administration (SBA) Preferred
Lender.
(In photo: (left to right) Debra Tenenbaum, community relations
officer of Kennebunk Savings Bank and Kate Stern, executive director
of York County Child Abuse and Neglect Council.)
For more information contact:
Heather Harris
Community Relations Officer
Kennebunk Savings Bank
1-800-339-6573
Learn more about Kennebunk Savings Bank's Community
Investment Program. |
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