Anniversary Grants®

Corporate philanthropy has been in the Bank’s DNA from day one, March 17, 1975. It all started with a simple offer – open a new account and the Bank will donate $5 to a nonprofit of the new client’s choice.

So how does 5 dollars become over 30 million dollars, fifty years later?

The answer lies in the relationship between a simple vision, to make the communities we serve better places to live and work, a company’s culture of giving back and a community that enjoys making a difference wherever they can. Combined they have been the heartbeat of Montecito Bank & Trust since 1975.

During our first decade we had special accounts and promotions that benefited local nonprofits in the form of donations.  For the Bank’s 15^th Anniversary, Michael Towbes and Tom Fly opted to celebrate the milestone by creating a new vehicle for giving back and celebrating the organizations that mean so much to our associates, and so Anniversary Grants was born. Making its debut in 1990, Anniversary Grants awarded ten associate selected nonprofits each a $1,000 check. 35 years later, this program has awarded over 680 thousand dollars to more than 180 unique nonprofits across Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties!

In 2003, Michael Towbes’ next philanthropic idea manifested into what has become an annual Thanksgiving tradition for the Bank and the Central Coast nonprofit community - the Community Dividends Luncheon. One million dollars (and in some years even more!) is given away to over 100 nonprofits across Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties through this program, and the luncheon brings the organizations together to celebrate and give thanks for the incredible work they do in helping to make the communities we serve better places to live and work.

Since its inception, Community Dividends has now provided over $23 million to over 500 nonprofits up and down the Central Coast. It’s no wonder why Michael Towbes cited this as being his favorite day of the year!

As the Bank’s annual giving evolved, four distinct pillars emerged as foundations of our corporate philanthropy - Arts & Culture; Health & Medical; Social Services; and Youth & Education. And today those same four pillars guide our corporate philanthropy and sponsorship programs.

On that journey from five dollars to over 30 million, we’ve also added in Associate Matching and Board Matching programs, allowing the Bank to further support the missions and organizations our associates and Directors are passionate about AND increase the impact of their giving!

Fifty years after opening our doors, the Montecito Bank & Trust team is pretty proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish; we are incredibly honored to carry forward the vision and legacy of our Founder, Michael Towbes; and we are forever grateful to the people, businesses and organizations that entrust us with their financial relationships every day. We invite you to join us on this journey of making the communities we each call home, better places to live and work.