An Interview With Isabelle Benditte, Director of Development, South Florida Urban Ministries

April 1, 2010 By Joe Boland

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FS: How would you describe your fundraising philosophy?
IB: I believe that fundraising is all about building relationships and building trust. It is so important to connect with your donors and make them feel valued, appreciated and listened to. One must also gain their trust so the donors feel comfortable with you on a personal level, as well as the organization, its mission and programs, and its future. It should always be all about the donor because without the donor’s support and dedication, we would not be able to fund all the amazing programs that impact our community in such a positive way.

I also think that seeing is believing, and whenever you can actually show your donor what you are doing, they will be more connected and more invested in your organization. Give them a tour of your facility, your program site; speak with a staff person or a client. This will truly make an incredible difference, and it will make it even harder for that donor to say no when you make the ask!

FS: How do you reach out to supporters and potential supporters in ways other than purely fundraising? Are you engaged with social media and online social networking?
IB: SFLUM holds two main fundraising events each year and has recently added a new third event. Our largest event is the annual Black Tie & Blue Jeans benefit dinner and auction, which is always a fun evening and a big success. The annual Thanksgiving Day Meal Delivery program is our largest volunteer event, and last year we packaged and delivered over 4,520 meals with the help of over 1,000 volunteers on Thanksgiving morning. Our newest event is our Country Hoedown, which is a great family event with a live band, barbecue and a mechanical bull. We hope to grow this event over the next few years by securing event sponsors.

We are also beginning to reach out to people via social networking through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, yet are not making that our main focus. We still communicate best with our supporters through our quarterly newsletters in which we share our success stories and thank our donors for their dedication and generosity.

South Florida Urban Ministries2850 SW 27th Avenue, Miami, FL 33131
Phone: 305.442.8306
Web site: www.sflum.org
Annual operating budget: $2,083,411

Mission: Our mission is to empower people to move them from poverty to prosperity. To achieve this, we partner with churches and organizations to develop ministries of compassion and justice in the South Florida community.

Number of employees: 15 full-time and 25 Americorps members, three development team members and an executive director dedicated to fundraising