Framingham Co-operative Bank and its advertising agency, Sundin Associates of Natick, together have received one of the nation’s most prestigious honors for financial marketing by winning an American Bankers Association (ABA) 2009 Financial Marketing Award.

The Bank’s recent Checking for Charity campaign was the second-place winner among institutions of similar size in the Impact category of the ABA competition. Financial service marketers and advertising professionals across the country judged each entry based on execution of the communication strategy, message and positioning, and the campaign’s overall results. Entrants included banks, savings and loans, insurance companies, brokerage firms, investment firms, and credit companies.

CHARITY CHECK — Framingham Co-operative Bank’s Steven Sousa, senior vice president, and Rachel Stewart (far right), assistant vice president marketing, present a check representing the Bank’s Checking for Charity donation to (from left) Nancy Prevost, Amanda Starkel and Kate Glynn of the New England Division of the American Cancer Society.

“Winning this recognition is a wonderful honor,” said Steven Sousa, senior vice president of Framingham Co-operative Bank. “We are thrilled to be recognized for the creativity and ingenuity that went into this campaign, and with our customers’ response to it.”

Each new checking account opened at Framingham Co-operative Bank during the Checking for Charity campaign netted a $10 donation to the American Cancer Society. In addition, all Bank locations displayed and distributed informative cancer prevention, treatment, and research information to the public.

Sousa reported that nearly 500 new accounts were opened during the Checking for Charity campaign. The Bank directed its $5,000 Checking for Charity donation to the local office of the American Cancer Society and to the Natick-based Ovations for a Cure, to benefit ovarian cancer research and that organization’s community-based awareness events and programs.