Community Giving

Norway Savings Bank is a mutual savings bank – a true community bank. We are perceived as the bank that does the right thing by contributing to the growth and betterment of our communities. Our commitment and accountability is to the people, employees and communities we serve.

We are proud that the Bank has achieved the FDIC’s highest “Outstanding” rating for lending, service, and investment for the two most-recent three-year Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) assessment periods.

Norway Savings achieved this rating because of its strong record of helping to meet the credit needs of the communities it serves – which includes individuals and small businesses in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The Bank was deemed Outstanding in not only making significant investments in affordable housing and economic development, but also community lending, with excellent penetration in our market area. The examiners noted The Bank delivers innovative and flexible lending and financial solutions while achieving compliance with all federal and state community reinvestment, fair lending, equal credit opportunity, and consumer protection regulations. The FDIC reconfirmed the Bank’s excellent performance in the Accessibility of Delivery Systems and Community Development Services and cited its leadership in community development involvement and financial education initiatives.

We are also pleased to announce that, in 2022, we awarded nearly $1.1 million to 358 Maine nonprofits. $750,000 was granted in 2022 and $339,916 will be distributed in the form of multi-year grants.

Geographic Priorities

We will direct our resources first to organizations located in, and supporting the areas served by our banking offices in Auburn, Bethel, Bridgton, Brunswick, Falmouth, Freeport, Fryeburg, Gorham, Gray, Kennebunk, Naples, Norway, Portland, Saco, Scarborough, South Paris, South Portland, Topsham, Standish, Windham and Yarmouth; and secondly to organizations serving Oxford, Androscoggin, Cumberland, and York Counties.

Target Categories

Our financial resources will be focused on the following four categories:

  1. Education & Financial Literacy  – We will provide support for programs that promote continuing education and financial literacy for children and adults of the communities we serve.
  2. Economic Development and Job Creation – We will provide support for programs that actively assist in the economic development, job creation and revitalization of the business community.
  3. Civic and Cultural Initiatives – We will provide support for initiatives that promote the quality of life for local citizens and cultural infrastructure of our communities.
  4. Low–to-moderate income households – We will provide support for programs that provide assistance to low-to-moderate households in our defined geographic market.

Restrictions

This program generally does not provide support for individuals or individuals raising money for a cause (e.g. walkathons); 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; or organizations that are national, international or that cannot designate funds to stay within our geographic region.

Donation Designations and Project Selection Guidelines

Our goal is to provide resources that support projects and organizations that provide long-term benefits to our community. The challenge that we face is that we consistently receive more requests than can be supported. Therefore, we must prioritize our giving to ensure that our dollars are invested wisely. We will review each request and select projects and causes based on the following criteria:

  • Direct relevance to our Community Contributions and Investment Program focus.
  • Impact our geographic target.
  • Impact one of the four key categories.
  • Will stimulate community awareness, involvement and increase support from both public and private sectors.
  • Supports Community Reinvestment

Types of Contributions

Norway Savings Bank provides support to community organizations in two ways:

  1. Donations are grants made to non-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Norway Savings Bank does not receive any tangible benefit (e.g. advertising, entertainment, banner or booth display, etc.) for the gift.
  2. Sponsorships are grants to help organizations raise money and promote our presence in the community. Sponsorships may include purchasing tickets to fundraising events; purchasing a hole in golf tournament fund-raiser; or advertising in newsletters, event programs or playbills.

To submit a written request for consideration, please deliver it to a local branch, or mail it to: Norway Savings Bank Attn: Marketing, PO Box 347, Norway, ME 04268.