Michigan Banker magazine features Bank of Ann Arbor's Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive as the cover story in its June issue. In the article Social Media Works for Bank of Ann Arbor, our President and CEO Tim Marshall shares the thinking behind the Sweet 15 and talks about its impact. 

Michigan Banker is a monthly magazine that covers the Great Lakes State’s banks and bankers by providing news and information, opinion and feature articles, financial stories, and more. www.mibankermag.com

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 5:15pm – Due to the overwhelming response from nonprofits and their supporters, Timothy G. Marshall, President & CEO, announced that the Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive fund has reached the goal of $75,000.  Each time a Facebook user completed an interaction and voted on the Bank of Ann Arbor Facebook page, the bank contributed $5.15 to the Sweet 15 fund. After only 11 days of the Round 2 competition, over 15,000 interactions and votes were registered which created the $75,000 Sweet 15 fund. The 15 nonprofit organizations participating in Round 2 are now assured that they will receive the full amount their ranking earns them with the top five receiving $10,000, positions six through ten earning $3,500, and eleven through fifteen receiving $1,500.  Marshall also announced that Round 2 of the Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive has been shortened to end on Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 10:15pm.   

“The overwhelming participation by the community in helping give the bank direction where to allocate our charitable contributions has been very gratifying,” said Marshall. “Since our Sweet 15 fund hit $75,000 so quickly, it seems appropriate that we cut short the Sweet 15 so we can get the money to the winning nonprofits quickly too.”

The organizations in Round 2 of the Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive are Down Syndrome Support Team, Friends of Ann Arbor Skatepark, Friends of Fiddlers Restrung, Honey Creek Charter School, Hope Medical Clinic, Humane Society of Huron Valley, Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association, Midwest Eye Banks, Neutral Zone, Ozone House, Performance Network, Perry Nursery School, Plymouth Canton Music Boosters, Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor, and The Women’s Center of Southeastern Michigan.

Round 1 of the Sweet 15 event ended on April 12 at midnight.  Facebook users were invited to “Like” Bank of Ann Arbor’s Facebook page and then vote for a favorite charity from a list of 600 local charities. 76,428 votes were cast for 399 nonprofits by 13,999 Facebook users.  Bank of Ann Arbor’s Facebook page has grown from 279 “likes” to over 16,350 during Round 1.

Round 2 began at 9:00am on Friday, April 15, 2011.  Round 2 required users to submit the week’s fun stuff challenge in order to vote.  Each time a user submits, up to one time per day, a fun stuff challenge then $5.15 goes into the Sweet 15 fund.  Users would then vote for their favorite charity from the list of 15 to receive a share of the funds. Round 2 was originally scheduled to end on July 31, 2011, fifteen weeks later. However, based on the tremendous response from the participants, Round 2 will now end on May 12, 2011 at 10:15pm. Total voting for Rounds 1 and 2 has now exceeded 90,000 votes.

Bank of Ann Arbor’s Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive, is a Facebook application created to donate up to $75,000 to 15 local non-profit organizations. The Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive combines Bank of Ann Arbor's long time support for the non-profit community with the celebration of our 15-year anniversary.  Complete information on Bank of Ann Arbor's Sweet 15 is available at www.facebook.com/bankofannarbor or www.boaa.com/sweet15.

Friday, April 15, 2011: Timothy G. Marshall, President & CEO, announced the kick-off of Round 2 for the Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive.  Fifteen nonprofits who received the most votes in Round 1 are advancing to Round 2 where they will compete to earn a share of up to $75,000.  

Round 1 of the Sweet 15 event ended on April 12 at midnight.  Facebook users were invited to “Like” Bank of Ann Arbor’s Facebook page and then vote for a favorite charity from a list of 600 local charities. 76,428 votes were cast for 399 nonprofits by 13,999 Facebook users.  Bank of Ann Arbor’s Facebook page has grown from 279 “likes” to over 16,350 during Round 1.

Round 2 begins at 9:00am on Friday, April 15, 2011.  Marshall will discuss Round 1 results and give further insight as to how Round 2 works on the Martin Bandyke morning show on 107.1FM at approximately 7:30AM on Friday morning. Round 2 requires users to submit the week’s fun stuff challenge in order to vote.  A new fun stuff challenge will be released every Friday for fifteen weeks. Each time a user submits, up to one time per day, a fun stuff challenge then $5.15 goes into the Sweet 15 fund.  Users can then vote, up to one time per day, for their favorite charity from the list of 15 to receive a share of the funds. Round 2 will end on July 31, 2011.

Bank of Ann Arbor’s Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive, is a Facebook application created to donate up to $75,000 to 15 local non-profit organizations. The Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive combines Bank of Ann Arbor's long time support for the non-profit community with the celebration of our 15-year anniversary.  Complete information on Bank of Ann Arbor's Sweet 15 is available at www.facebook.com/bankofannarbor or www.boaa.com/sweet15.

It was a close race until Round 1 of the Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive ended at midnight on Tuesday. Many nonprofits drew on the power of social networking to raise supporters to push for a spot in the final 15.  There were 76,428 total votes cast by 13,999 Facebook users for 399 charities.

 On Friday, April 15, Round 2 kicks off.  Round 2 of the Sweet 15 is where charities can capture a share of up to $75,000.  Listen for the official announcement of results by Bank of Ann Arbor’s Tim Marshall on Friday, April 15 at 7:30am with Martin Bandyke on 107.1fm.

 To learn more about Round 2 of the Sweet 15 Local Charity Drive, visit boaa.com/sweet15.