2020 MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. Annual Report

“In the final analysis, if a commercial bank is not supporting its community, it’s probably not fulfilling its obligations as a corporate citizen.”

— CHARLIE FUNK, CEO

Taking Care of Communities

H ow does a community bank that serves multiple communities across five states maximize its ability to help in times of crisis? For MidWest One , the answer is simple: let the leaders of the banks in each market determine where charitable donations are directed so they can do the most good for the most people. With the COVID-19 public health emergency causing serious hardship in every community the bank serves, MidWest One made the decision to designate more than $150,000 to be spread across its markets. Those dollars were above and beyond what the bank had already budgeted for charitable giving in 2020 as part of its robust annual giving program. “It’s very hard in the Midwest to find successful and thriving communities that don’t also have successful and thriving commercial banks in those communities,” says MidWest One CEO Charlie Funk. “The banks really support their communities in multiple ways—including providing financial support. Toward the end of the first quarter things were getting pretty bad, and we told our local leaders, ‘You decide how you want this money spent in your community because you know how to make these dollars go the furthest and what the areas of greatest need are.’” And so, in Denver, Colorado, bank leadership decided they could do the most good by making contributions to the Emergency Family Assistance Association and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver. Meanwhile, in Oskaloosa, Iowa, the donated dollars went to the Oskaloosa Student Council Pantry, Love INC of Mahaska County, Ecumenical Cupboard, Crisis Intervention Services, and Stephen Memorial Animal Shelter.

In Denver, Colorado, MidWest One contributed to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver.

In the end, it was the diversity of the communities served by the bank that drove the strategy. “This really went above and beyond in terms of community support,” says Senior Vice President for Marketing Peg Hudson. “Because of the footprint we have in so many states and the fact that we are in urban areas and farming communities and the needs are different from community to community, it made sense to give the reins to our regional leadership and let them decide where the needs were best in their hometowns. They would know how to get best bang for the buck—and that could mean one kind of organization in a given community and something completely different in another community.” MidWest One made this extraordinary commitment to its communities in the early days of the Pandemic during a period rife with uncertainty. “It was a big deal on the part of the bank because of the economic downturn and the risk that we had in 2020,” says Hudson. “It was a rollercoaster of a year, for sure, and we’re proud that we stepped up to do the right thing in the early days of the crises despite a lot of uncertainty.” There was never any doubt in Funk’s mind that MidWest One should make these much needed additional contributions. It is, after all, an essential part of what a community bank should do. “In the final analysis, if a commercial bank is not supporting its community, it’s probably not fulfilling its obligations as a corporate citizen.”

24 MidWest One Financial Group, Inc. 2020 Annual Report

MidWest One Financial Group, Inc. 2020 Annual Report 25