Bankers Trust The Value of Volunteerism
By Ira Lacher

Trained volunteers monitor the public parks in Denver, Colorado, a state capital and regional economic metropolis. Reeling from a declining economy and state budget shortfalls, Springfield, Massachusetts, has instituted an annual Day of Caring, matching prospective volunteers and community service agencies. To pay for cleaning crews and security services, residents of an upscale neighborhood in Nashville, Tennesse, are considering a local property tax increase.  In Des Moines, cutbacks to the animal-control budget mean it can take days to remove “road kill” from city streets unless residents take care of it themselves.

As state and federal aid for city services continues to free fall, communities large and small are relying on volunteers to make up for the shortcomings. Increasingly, local businesses are answering the call by mobilizing their employees to put something back into the places they live.

Few companies in Iowa have promoted volunteerism like Bankers Trust. In 2005, the company reported its 350 employees volunteered about 10,000 hours with 321 organizations—nearly 30 hours per employee. In addition, Bankers Trust contributed financially to 140 nonprofit or charitable organizations.

For its devotion to community service, Iowa's oldest locally-owned bank was named Top Business for Character by the Institute for Character Development (ICD). The group, affiliated with Drake University and associated with the national CHARACTER COUNTS! organization, advocates for good citizenship.

“Their entire organizational outlook begins at the top, with CEO Mike Earley, and filters down to every individual,” says ICD Executive Director Scott Raecker. “It's not just their board of directors or leadership who takes pride in what they do — it reflects in the entire organization. Their focus is simply to treat people right. It's hard to find anyone who does business with Bankers Trust who does not feel that way.”

“It's pretty amazing how Bankers Trust has unselfishly been so much of a driver for the good of the community in global outreach and character,” adds Terry Rich, CEO of Blank Park Zoo, who nominated Bankers Trust for the award. “Every time you see a program or event in Des Moines that promotes volunteering or ethnic diversity, BTC is a sponsor. They've always been a real leader in the community.”

To be so honored, a business, organization, school, community, or individual must exemplify the CHARACTER COUNTS! Six Pillars: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Not coincidentally, the intent of all those pillars appears in Bankers Trust's 11 Basics. Instituted by Earley about seven years ago and constantly updated, these commandments, familiar to every Bankers Trust employee, detail how the bank is to do business ethically, acknowledge the need to be a good corporate citizen, impel an attention to diversity, and encourage each employee to give something to the community.

No one becomes a Bankers Trust employee without receiving a thorough understanding of how seriously the company considers community service.

“We discuss Bankers Trust's commitment to volunteering in every interview,” says Renee Hardman, senior vice president of human resources. “Every summer intern has community service as part of their BT experience. At their orientation, Mike Earley speaks to them about how important volunteering is to the way we do things at Bankers Trust.”

Bankers Trust typifies the Iowa spirit of neighbors helping one another. The Corporation for National & Community Service noted in its recent nationwide study of volunteerism that 39 percent of Iowans volunteered some of their time in 2005 — 10 percentage points above the national rate.

Its commitment to corporate citizenry also places Bankers Trust in the forefront of a growing realization: Good citizenship is good business. Studies conducted in Canada and the United Kingdom report that employees who volunteer gain needed business skills and feel better about themselves, their jobs and their employers. That translates into better productivity, which results in better customer satisfaction, which benefits the bottom line.

In its recent survey of CEOs, the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College reported that 82 percent of executives agreed that good corporate citizenship helps the bottom line; 52 percent said corporate citizenship is part of their business strategy.

That strategy is succeeding for Bankers Trust, which reported assets of nearly $1.8 billion in 2005, up from $1.6 billion the year before.

Volunteering also figures into another of the CHARACTER COUNTS! pillars — as well as Bankers Trust's Basics: its dedication to diversity. The BTC workforce is 20 percent nonwhite, a much higher percentage than most businesses in central Iowa. In addition, many BT employees have reached out into minority communities.

Last fall, vice president and consumer service manager Surasee (“See”) Rodari was honored with the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame's Lifetime Achievement Award for his exhaustive work with the Asian community of central Iowa. Rodari began his Bankers Trust career and his legacy of volunteering by presenting seminars on the American banking system to Asian immigrant groups. Since then, he has helped organize the first Asian Heritage Festival in Des Moines; is one of the driving forces behind the Health and Career Fair for Asian youth and their families; and serves on the boards of the Iowa Asian Alliance, the Iowa Diversity Network and the National Conference for Community and Justice.

“They asked me to help; I couldn't just say no,” says Rodari, who emigrated from Thailand during the mid-70s to live with relatives in tiny Victor, Iowa, southwest of Cedar Rapids.

Hardman, the Bankers Trust HR vice president, had been a longtime Big Sister mentor to a young girl who had emigrated from the African nation of Sierra Leone; the young woman now attends Iowa State. In addition, Hardman has worked hard to develop the local chapter of GEMS — Growing and Empowering Myself Successfully. Sponsored in numerous cities by the national service sorority Delta Sigma Theta, groups of female high school students meet to discuss life skills. Community service is a requirement.

Bankers Trust interns work both in the bank and in the community as part of their summer internship experience.  Ten Bankers Trust interns recently went to the Ronald McDonald House at 1441 Pleasant Street, Des Moines, to make dinners for the residents, wash windows, sweep patios, and provide housecleaning support.  Founded in 1974, The Ronald McDonald House provides “a ‘home away from home' a refuge for families who are trying to cope with the physical, emotional, and financial burdens of having a seriously ill child.”