Q: Christine Benero, president and chief executive of Mile High United Way When did you join United Way, and what were you doing before that?
A: I became the president and chief executive of the Mile High United Way on July 1 of this year. Before that, I was with the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter for five years.
Q: You returned to Colorado after a career in Washington. Why?
A: I grew up here, went to high school in Littleton and left to go to college. Prior to coming back to Colorado, I was in Washington for 12 years.
The last four years I was there were the last two years of the Clinton administration and the first two years of the Bush administration. I was director of public affairs and public liaison for the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the domestic Peace Corps. It was just an amazing experience to work for two presidents.
During those last two years in particular, Sept. 11 was a life-defining moment. I started saying to myself, “Where do I want to be, and what do I want to do?” Part of the answer was that I wanted to go home to the place that I love. My family was still here.
Q: What was the highlight of your career so far?
A: To be affiliated with the Red Cross at the time that Hurricane Katrina hit. It was wonderful to experience what the power of volunteers really can be. We had 1,200 evacuees who came here. To be involved and to be a key part of making sure those evacuees were safe was an amazing experience. After we got things settled here, I went to New Orleans and ran the operation there for a month. It showed me the power and generosity of this country.
Q: What is United Way seeing in terms of community needs and fundraising this season?
A: We are holding our breath, like the rest of the world. We have seen our calls go up 20 percent within the last 90 days. Calls go up for very basic things — rental assistance, ability to help pay utility bills and people who can’t put food on the table. We’re also seeing an increase in first-time callers, meaning this is beginning to hit folks that we have not seen before.
November and December are critical, not only for the work we do during the holidays. It is normally what funds us going into the next year. What frightens me is that just staying flat and doing what we did last year is not going to be enough.
Q: How are you addressing it?
A: The message is that now, more than ever, we need people to keep giving. We need people to increase their gift. To our very large donors, we are saying, “Yes, your portfolio is down, but you’re not going to lose your home tomorrow, you’re not going to lose your child care tomorrow, and you’re not going to worry about how to put food on the table.” So, to our donors who are able to, we are asking a great deal. We’re saying to every other Coloradan that your dollar, this year, is more important than ever.
We’re also being realistic. Our board and our staff are thinking out a variety of scenarios, from what we’re counting on, which is reaching our $49 million goal this year — 16 percent above last year — to what if we don’t.
Q: What are the early indications?
A: The campaigns we’ve seen have held flat. We need to increase it this year.
It’s a very tall order. Two years ago, Mile High United Way and its board embarked on a plan to raise $250 million over five years, based on the needs of the community. I’m glad that we have such an ambitious goal.
Q: Will you change how Mile High United Way operates?
A: We were the first United Way in the country. We’re 121 years old this year. It says something about who we are as Coloradans, who we are as Westerners, who we are as Denverites that 121 years ago, this community understood the power of coming together. We have a chance not to reinvent ourselves but to refine ourselves.
Q: What will you do differently?
A: Not differently but more of a focus. Last year, Colorado ranked fifth-highest in personal income, and yet we were 36th in philanthropic giving. If we could just give what the average American community gave, we would have $243 million more in the nonprofit sector. There are donors who have been with us for a really long time, but we have to expand that message to bring in new people to understand the work we’re doing and why.
Edited for length and clarity by Greg Griffin.
