Civic Capital: How Old National Bancorp Leverages CSR for Growth

EVANSVILLE, IN – September 22, 2026 — When a regional bank scales its operations to rival the footprint of national financial institutions, it faces a critical strategic dilemma: how to expand its asset base without diluting the localized community trust that fueled its initial growth. For Old National Bancorp (NASDAQ: ONB), the answer lies not in traditional marketing blitzes, but in the deployment of its own workforce as a form of civic capital.

On September 16 and 17, the Evansville-based holding company executed its fifth annual "Better Together Days," an initiative that saw 2,450 employees temporarily step away from retail branches, commercial lending desks, and wealth management offices to volunteer in their local communities. Generating 7,050 hours of community service across 172 nonprofit organizations, the event marked the highest participation rate in the program's history.

Yet, beyond the philanthropic surface, the massive two-day mobilization offers a compelling case study for institutional investors and banking analysts. It illustrates how mid-cap financial institutions are increasingly weaponizing corporate social responsibility (CSR) to smooth post-merger integrations, satisfy stringent regulatory mandates, and differentiate themselves in highly competitive commercial markets.

The Mid-Cap Playbook: Scaling Without Losing the Local Touch

The 12-state geographic spread of this year's volunteer initiative—stretching from the rural plains of North Dakota to the wealth hubs of Naples, Florida—is a direct reflection of Old National's aggressive multi-year acquisition strategy.

Tracing its roots to an 1834 Indiana community bank, the institution has rapidly transformed into a regional powerhouse managing approximately $74 billion in assets and $41 billion in assets under management. This elevation to a top 25 U.S. banking institution was accelerated by a series of highly targeted acquisitions: the 2022 merger with Chicago-based First Midwest Bancorp, the 2024 acquisition of Tennessee's CapStar Financial Holdings, and the milestone 2025 integration of Minnesota-based Bremer Financial Corporation.

With each acquisition, the bank absorbed billions in assets but also inherited the challenge of entering new markets where its brand equity was virtually non-existent. In the banking sector, where deposits are highly sensitive to brand perception, establishing immediate civic credibility is an operational necessity.

Industry observers note that regional banks rely heavily on localized CSR programs to establish customer loyalty against national "money-center" banks. By mobilizing volunteers in newly acquired markets like Nashville, Tennessee, and the Twin Cities, Old National effectively utilizes its workforce to signal stability and local commitment to wary legacy depositors.

Cultural Glue: Using Corporate Citizenship for M&A Integration

Beyond external brand building, structured volunteer programs are increasingly recognized as vital mechanisms for internal workforce integration. Absorbing thousands of employees from legacy institutions over a 24-month period presents immense human resources challenges.

"Better Together Days is one of the most visible examples of how our team members live our values in the communities we serve," stated Kathy Schoettlin, Old National's Chief Communication, Culture and Social Responsibility Officer. "Across our footprint, team members are proud to work side-by-side with nonprofits that are addressing important local needs every day. We're grateful for these partnerships and proud of the difference our team members help make through their service."

Human capital consultants view these types of non-commercial, unified corporate activities as highly effective tools for post-merger integration. Following the integration of Bremer's banking centers in late 2025, the recent volunteer blitz served as a neutral, positive environment to rally legacy Bremer, legacy CapStar, and legacy Old National employees under a single corporate identity.

Mobilizing approximately 35% of the bank's total workforce simultaneously is highly unusual compared to the rolling volunteer time off (VTO) programs typical of the financial sector. Old National achieves this by structuring the event into standardized four-hour shifts, allowing teams to participate during paid business hours without sacrificing personal time off, while ensuring retail branches maintain operational continuity.

The Economics of the Four-Hour Volunteer Blitz

For the 172 recipient organizations, the influx of corporate volunteers presents both significant operational windfalls and logistical challenges. The labor contributed over the 48-hour period—valued at roughly $236,000 in equivalent economic terms—provided critical manual and skill-based support.

In-person projects focused heavily on food security and disaster relief. Volunteers packed and sorted goods for regional food networks, prepared community gardens for winter, and assembled hygiene kits for local United Way affiliates across the Midwest and Southeast. Meanwhile, virtual projects allowed back-office staff to provide skill-based services, including mock interviews, financial literacy mentoring, and database administration for underserved aid agencies.

However, nonprofit directors frequently caution that hosting a sudden surge of corporate volunteers requires substantial internal resources for onboarding, materials staging, and supervision. For a short-term corporate blitz to be truly effective, it must be paired with sustained financial support.

Old National mitigates this friction by aligning its volunteer efforts with its broader philanthropic pipeline. The bank and its foundation distribute more than $13 million annually in charitable grants, ensuring that the nonprofits hosting "Better Together Days" volunteers are also receiving the capital necessary to advance their core missions in affordable housing, workforce development, and economic mobility.

Quantifying Civic Equity and Regulatory Impact

The strategic value of Old National's volunteer framework extends directly to the regulatory sphere. Under modernized Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examination standards, federal banking regulators are placing heightened scrutiny on how large and intermediate-small banks deliver community development services to low-to-moderate income (LMI) populations.

Organized volunteer blitzes provide documented, auditable hours that qualify directly under CRA community development service tests. For an institution actively engaged in M&A, maintaining a pristine CRA rating is paramount; regulators routinely delay or block acquisitions for banks demonstrating poor community reinvestment records. Proactively investing in community trust serves as a critical shield against fair lending challenges or branch closure pushback during regulatory review periods.

This institutionalization of civic engagement has not gone unnoticed by independent evaluators. In 2026, Points of Light named Old National to "The Civic 50" for the third consecutive year, recognizing it as the Financials Sector Leader. The framework evaluates companies on the integration of civic engagement into core business functions, formal corporate policies, and the quantifiable tracking of social outcomes.

By outperforming larger peers on these composite metrics, Old National Bancorp demonstrates that community service is no longer just a public relations exercise. In the modern financial landscape, structured corporate citizenship is a highly measurable, strategic asset—one that drives workforce cohesion, satisfies regulatory bodies, and paves the way for sustained, multi-state commercial growth.