Community Investment

As part of Black Hills Community Bank’s culture, we believe in giving back to our local community as a way to pay it forward. The bank’s social responsibility plays a critical role in our business strategy of responsible growth and connects us to our purpose of making people’s financial lives better in our communities. Whether we make a loan to purchase your home or grow your business, it is also important to us to support non-profits who work tirelessly to address community needs.

How we stay involved

The Board of Directors of Black Hills Community Bank has authorized and established the Community Involvement Committee (CIC) to spread awareness throughout our community to people and organizations who are in need of support. With local organizations, we search for ways to involve our directors, shareholders, employees, clients and community members as a way to improve the lives of those we touch through our community programs.

Pass It On Program

A significant portion of the bank’s Giving Mission is done by our employees. Under the bank’s Pass It On program, qualifying employees are awarded $1,000 to contribute to a local Black Hills community non-profit organization. Our employees become ambassadors for the bank with their gifts. The Pass It On program originated in 2010, and in 2023 alone $34,000 was donated to 33 different organizations by our Community Bank Employees.

Employees donate a dollar once a week to wear jeans every Friday. At the end of each year, employees get to decide who should receive the contributions. For 2023, the bank in Rapid City continued to support the 12 Days of Pizza program. This program originated with Black Hills Community Bank in 2015 and the bank has financially supported it every year since then. Through a partnership with Pizza Ranch, more than 2,000 meals were provided to children and their families during Christmas break. The children are selected by the schools, who can identify the low-income families who may need food during the holidays. In Spearfish, the bank held a Bare Necessities drive to support the Artemis House. They collected items and in addition to using their jeans day money collected, they delivered 2 pickup loads of items.

Community Volunteer Hours

Every year, Black Hills Community Bank employees give their time to non-profits through volunteerism. Each employee is expected to volunteer a minimum of 50 hours. In 2023, the employees completed more than 5,500 hours volunteering at non-profits, serving on committees or boards, and participating in community events or fundraising activities. Nearly 200 organizations benefited from Community Bankers offering their time and assistance within the Black Hills community.  This included activities such as spearheading the Clothe-a-Kid and School Supply Drive in Spearfish, participating in the United Way Month of Caring, and serving on various boards and community committees. Employees have exceeded their volunteer goals each year since the program was established by the CIC in 2010.

Two employees at the Rapid City location volunteer their time as Troop leaders for the Girl Scouts.

2023 Summary

The bank invested in various ways throughout 2023 beyond our Pass It On program and volunteerism. We support many capital campaigns for non-profits.

In 2023, we exceeded our goal of 60,000 diapers for the Annual Diaper Drive and collected 74,680. The total included 54,456 diapers from the Rapid City location, and 20,224 from Spearfish. Throughout the month of June, both BHCB locations, their customers, and the community donated diapers and monetary donations to benefit the Cornerstone Women and Children’s Home in Rapid City and the Bella Pregnancy Resource Center in Spearfish. Several events were held to raise funds for the Diaper Drive, including an online silent auction, bake sales, and a dessert competition. BHCB has collected more than 500,000 diapers over the past 12 years.

Employees donate a dollar once a week to wear jeans every Friday. At the end of each year, employees get to decide who should receive the contributions. For 2023, the bank in Rapid City continued to support the 12 Days of Pizza program. This program originated with Black Hills Community Bank in 2015 and the bank has financially supported it every year since then. Through a partnership with Pizza Ranch, more than 2,000 meals were provided to children and their families during Christmas break. The children are selected by the schools, who can identify the low-income families who may need food during the holidays. In Spearfish, the bank held a Bare Necessities drive to support the Artemis House. They collected items and in addition to using their jeans day money collected, they delivered 2 pickup loads of items.

The Black Hills Community Bank Spearfish location held their Bare Necessities of Life Drive again in 2023 to support the Artemis House by collecting and donating items such as paper towels, cleaning supplies and clothing. These donations were provided by members of the community and bank employees. Bank employees used their jeans day donations that they gave throughout the year to support this drive as well.

How Can We Help Your Organization?

We invite community non-profits and organizations to let us know about their activities and fundraising events. While the bank views charitable giving as a commitment, we regret that we are unable to respond favorably to every donation request or requests that do not align with our Giving Mission, those may include:

• Political Campaigns
• General Operating expenses
• Research projects
• Building & Renovation projects
• Product raffles
• Conferences & Seminars
• Financial support for individuals

We make every effort to support donation requests that meet our Giving Mission. If you feel your organization or non-profit deserves to be considered for our giving programs, we invite you to fill out and submit the donation request form below.