Building Better Deals: The Benefits of Bank Partnerships

At Craft3, partnerships with banks are essential for delivering flexible, mission-driven capital to underserved communities. When we partner with banks, each institution brings its strengths to the table, often crafting deals that neither could do alone.

There are many advantages to partnering with a CDFI like Craft3. We can often take credit risks that traditional financial institutions can’t, and we specialize in structuring complex loans, including bridge loans and financing for nonprofits. Additionally, Craft3 serves as a trusted partner in helping customers navigate bank processes, understand financials, and build stronger relationships with their banking partners.

Our deep experience in these areas allows us to complement bank partners with added expertise. And because we don’t compete for deposits or fee-based services, banks can confidently maintain their core relationships with customers.

When banks and CDFIs like Craft3 team up, we share risk, leverage each other’s strengths, and create financing solutions that expand access and impact. These collaborations benefit not only banks and CDFIs but also the borrowers. Together, we make capital more affordable.

Stearns Bank: A Mission-Aligned Partner

Our recent collaboration with Stearns Bank stands out as an example of what’s possible when two financial institutions share a commitment to innovation, inclusion, and community impact. Stearns Bank is a woman-governed, employee-owned national financial services organization committed to empowering people, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and local communities to reach their full economic potential. Stearns Bank also prides itself in working with and alongside Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) to build a more inclusive banking ecosystem that drives shared prosperity for all communities.

“Stearns is a really unique, unicorn of a bank,” Saif Hakim, Craft3’s SVP Commercial Lending Director, says. “We’re proud to have partnered with them to make an impact for the Muslim community.”

Our shared values have laid the groundwork for the successful co-financing of recent projects serving Muslim-led organizations in the Pacific Northwest. Together, we structured financing with faith-based principles at the center of the process, while meeting institutional requirements.  

‍MAPS – Muslim Association of Puget Sound

When the Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS) set out to acquire two buildings on a former Microsoft campus, Craft3 saw an opportunity to support a longtime partner in a transformative expansion. The project was too large for Craft3 to finance alone, so the organization brought in Stearns Bank to structure a participation loan. Together, they helped MAPS purchase 100,000 square feet of former office and flex space in Redmond, WA.

MAPS is Washington’s largest Muslim organization, serving more than 5,000 families with religious, educational, and humanitarian services. The expansion will allow MAPS to consolidate operations, add worship and learning spaces, and deepen its impact across the Eastside’s diverse Muslim community. The deal marked a historic moment: one of the largest Islamic center acquisitions in the country, creating a powerful model for inter-organizational collaboration and community-led development.

Hakim reflects, “This project will be transformative not just in the Puget Sound, but also a model for other communities nationally, because of Vice President Mahmood Khadeer’s vision and collaboration with other organizations.”  

Medina Academy‍

As a nonprofit Islamic school serving K–8 students, Medina Academy also joined the campus acquisition project in partnership with MAPS. With support fromCraft3 and Stearns Bank, Medina Academy purchased 50,000 square feet of former office and flex space through an Islamic financing deal.

Medina Academy first opened their doors in 2001 to serve 4preschoolers. More than 20 years later, Medina now serves over 300 families in and around the Seattle area as a full-time nonprofit Islamic school. The new campus will allow them to further expand and serve 500+ families with more room to grow.

Masjid Ibrahim

Masjid Ibrahim, a nonprofit Islamic organization in Bethany—an area outside Hillsboro, Oregon—had outgrown its leased office space after more than a decade of service to its growing congregation. Craft3, in partnership with Stearns Bank, helped finance the final phase of construction for a new 16,000-square-foot community facility on land the organization purchased in 2017. Bridging a funding gap, the deal helped the organization secure pricing bids and complete construction while continuing their fundraising efforts. With board members Sayed Ali and Asad Iqbal serving as project managers, the project reflects a deep community commitment. Once completed, the new space will be a place not just for worship, but also for early childhood education, community meals, and gatherings.

“Alhamdulillah, this partnership with Craft3 represents the barakah in our community's efforts,” Sayed reflects.

A Model for Future Partnerships

What made these projects work was trust, mission alignment, and a willingness to innovate across institutional lines.

“Strategic partnerships with CDFIs, like Craft3, allows us to reimagine and fund more innovative, community-centered projects that can have meaningful impacts for years to come,” shares Irshad Rasheed, President of Stearns Salaam Banking. “Itis our goal at Stearns Salaam Banking to facilitate and provide equitable access to capital options that place the unique needs of our partners at the center of everything we do.”

Together, we crafted flexible, affordable, and innovative solutions for organizations doing transformative work in communities where access to capital has been limited or non-existent in the past.

Impact like this starts with strong partnerships. Discover how your organization can collaborate with Craft3 on our Partnerships page.

Ready to collaborate with us? Connect with Saif Hakim, SVP Commercial Lending Director, to start the conversation.