Be Our Guest: Debbie Bresette

Please welcome Debbie Bresette as our latest Be Our Guest participant willing to share her expertise. Debbie is president of the United Way Capital Area in Austin, Texas. She has worked with UWCA since 2003, having served as the interim president and chief professional officer for nine months before becoming president in Dec. 2009.

Among the efforts directed by Debbie during her tenure at UWCA are expansion of the United Way 2-1-1 Texas and a redesign of the Volunteer Center into a civic engagement model now called Hands on Central Texas. Bresette was a 2009 finalist for the Austin Business Journal’s Profiles in Power and Women of Influence award. Prior to UWCA, Debbie was a founding member of the Family Crisis Center in 1981 and the Executive Director of the non-profit for 22 years. During her tenure, Debbie created emergency shelter and a wide variety of critical services specifically for women and children in four rural counties in Central Texas. Under her leadership, 21 transitional housing units were developed, built and funded along with support services for battered women and their children. This effort increased affordable housing by 10 percent in the community.

Debbie has clearly had an impact on the capital area and I thank her and her team for providing the following expertise. Enjoy her answers and provide your thoughts on her comments and her question for the group.

What is the biggest challenge your fundraising efforts currently face?

Many of our donors have told us that they are feeling a strain on their finances, and maybe can't give as much as they'd like to right now. At the same time, our 2-1-1 Texas call center continues to report an increased need for health and human services.

Our challenge is to continue to inform our donors about this increased need and show them that now is the best time to give, when demand for services is so high. A gift to United Way Capital Area is appreciated more than ever as thousands of Central Texans and many nonprofit agencies depend on us to meet community needs.

What are you doing to overcome these challenges?

As an organization, United Way Capital Area continues to find innovative ways to reduce operational expenses. We also rely on the expertise of executive professionals in our community who give of their time as volunteers. This has enabled us to renew our commitment to our nonprofit partners. Early this year, we announced an award of $3.4 million in grants to the Central Texas nonprofit community. This funding remains constant even as the economy has brought a dip in donation levels and an increase in the demand for health and human services.

What is the most successful change/program implementation you have made in your current role?

No significant change or program is implemented without the tireless efforts of hundreds of individuals and groups in the community. I'm especially proud of the work my team at United Way Capital Area has done to create Bank On Central Texas. This is an innovative program that helps unbanked Central Texans keep more of their hard-earned money by opening a checking, savings or debit card account.

Where do you see social-media’s best application for fundraising?

United Way Capital Area puts community first in everything we do. We see our role as that of a catalyst for measurable change in the community. Social media and the application of it is a digital extension of the physical community in which we live.

Just as we rely on the people we meet in our neighborhoods, schools, churches and offices to make our world better, we extend these networks into social media spaces, and seek to empower individuals to affect change in these spaces, too.

UWCA on: Facebook / Twitter / Blogspot / YouTube / LinkedIn / Flickr

What book / blog / twitter feed would you suggest fundraisers pay attention to?

Of course, every nonprofit professional should be reading Beth Kanter's blog and gaining new insights from her latest book (with Allison Fine), The Networked Nonprofit.

I'd also like to mention two of our friends in the nonprofit community, The Capital Area Food Bank and Mobile Loaves and Fishes, as being outstanding examples of nonprofits using social media for fundraising. The CAFB has created an impressive iPhone app, and MLF recently integrated billboard advertising and texting to raise money. (Video from CNN below)

What question would you find most useful for readers to answer?

How do you envision your community five to ten years from now, and what can you do as an individual to make this happen? I think every single one of us wants to feel as if we are making a difference when we give back to our communities, but I urge everyone to also demand to see the change they are making when giving back.

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