Community
Matters:

For almost 50 years, Alpine Banks have operated with a “community first” ethos and have made giving back to their communities a foundation of their existence. Alpine Bank employees are also owners. Like their customers, social and environmental responsibility are important to them as well. Their commitment to the communities they serve is what drives them every day, and the Alpine Bank team gives generously of their time and talent. Founded on the principle of giving back, Alpine Bank supports nonprofits in the Colorado communities they’re a part of. Community events, the arts, the environment, animal shelters, sports, recreation and particularly children and education have been the focus of Alpine’s philanthropy.

As the global pandemic unfolded, nonprofits in Durango, Colorado, faced serious challenges that threatened their ability to serve their constituents. They hadn’t been able to produce key fundraising events to support their operations and they had to cut staff and budgets, all at a time when the pandemic had driven an increase in demand for services. 

As a result, many nonprofits have  been so busy navigating the pandemic’s challenges they have not had the resources to keep their organizational mission and increasing support needs in the public eye, essential to raising financial and volunteer support for their efforts.

Alpine Bank always looks for new and creative ways to give back to the community that will make a difference. That’s what drew Alpine Bank into a partnership with the Local NEWS Network early on.

“Alpine Bank has been a proud partner of LNN since the doors opened,” said
Beth Drum. “Something I’ve always appreciated about Local NEWS Network is
the relationship we have – we come together at the table and have meaningful
discussions about the need in our communities and how we can help.”

Prior to the pandemic, Alpine Bank sponsored the Durango Local News Business Matters segment. This was another example of LNN and Alpine brainstorming what was needed and important to the community. Highlighting and supporting local businesses is so important to the community’s economic health. When the pandemic hit, Alpine Bank and the Local NEWS Network shifted their focus from the business community to the nonprofit community to produce a similar program called Community Matters. 

The monthly news segment tells the story of a local nonprofit. The coverage helps raise public awareness about its mission, and its needs. In addition to the news story, the Local News Network also produced a 30-second video ad for each nonprofit that was distributed across LNN’s digital network. The nonprofit also received copy for its marketing and community outreach strategies on its website, social media outlets, digital newsletters and fundraising campaigns.

Program recipients had this to say about benefiting from the generosity of the partnership:

“The Local News Network and Alpine Bank’s Community Matters program have been a great help in expanding community awareness of The Powerhouse. Being featured over the summer helped us recover an audience that had been on hold since Spring 2020. We saw relative visitor numbers more than double during the period we were featured by the Local News Network, recovering up to 89% of our pre-COVID audience this summer. Their team was so easy to work with in developing content and allowed us to develop resources out of the reach of what we could have done internally.” — Jeff Susor, Executive Director, The Powerhouse.

“Being selected  for the Community Matters program really made a difference. The world is hearing that we are here and offering more than ever. Art and theatre classes are filling up. This is the future of our diverse marketing campaign. It allowed us to cast a wider net and serve a broader region.” — Brenda Macon,  Executive Director, Durango Arts Center 

“People tell me they’ve seen the Women’s Resource Center Community Matters segment…and I believe it makes the community aware of our events and more aware of who we are.” — Christy M. Schaerer, Executive Director, Women’s Resource Center.