On the campaign trail with Julie Keeton
On her busiest day, citywide CMC coordinator
lays the groundwork for a successful drive

At the CMC agency fair, Julie Keeton, who works for Human Resources as the CMC citywide coordinator, talks to Shae Parker, a Habitat for Humanity representative.

Story and photos by Dave Schafer

Problems start early. At 8:50 a.m., the speaker scheduled to go onstage in 10 minutes is nowhere to be seen.

Yet, Julie Keeton, the citywide Combined Municipal Campaign coordinator, doesn’t panic. She has a high-energy co-worker prepared in case something like this happened.

It’s the second day of training for CMC department coordinators. In the downstairs auditorium at 611 Walker, 175 department coordinators are learning how to run their campaigns. Soon, 150 nonprofit vendors will fill the street-level lobby upstairs for the agency fair.

The missing speaker is just one of the many challenges that crop up. But Keeton has been working toward this day for eight months. She’s ready.

Behind the scenes
The CMC, the city’s employee charity giving drive, started in 1991. In 1995, Human Resources Director Lonnie Vara became head of the campaign, which he assigned to the communications division. Last year, employees contributed about $647,000 to 13 federations and more than 600 agencies.

Keeton took over the CMC in December, coming here from Child Advocates.

“I liked the idea of the CMC and helping others,” she says. “The stability, something I might not have with a nonprofit agency, is nice, too.”

Keeton’s been in the auditorium since 6:30 a.m. setting up tables, hanging up signs and double checking the table chart for the agency fair. Coordinator training begins at 9 a.m., and coordinators began arriving before 8:30 for breakfast, chatting and sifting through the gift bag they pick up when they sign in.

From the stage, Keeton tells the coordinators how to fill in the Scantrons, the card employees use to document their donations. She talks about the coordinators’ responsibilities and tries to anticipate questions before they’re asked. She inspires them to take the campaign back to their offices.

Keeton admits the subject matter can be dry. She slips in a joke here and there and elicits chuckles from the crowd.

“If that helps them to remember what’s being said because it’s fun, that’s what we’re here for,” she says.

At the fair
The fundraising campaign is August through October, but Keeton keeps busy all year planning other CMC events like the 1 Percent Recognition Reception and the silent auction, organizing next year’s campaign, and finishing paperwork from the just-completed one.

Besides her CMC responsibilities, Keeton also helps plan Public Service Recognition Week, is in charge of the Mayor’s Service Awards, and manages other HR assignments.

This morning, Keeton leaves coordinator training at 9:30 because she wants to greet the agency representatives arriving in the lobby upstairs.

Training continues without her. Trained volunteers teach the coordinators how to encourage donations and how to put the fun in fundraising.

She organizes the events and gets them in motion, Keeton says. Then, they tend to go of their own momentum.

Clad in blue jeans and a light denim button-up shirt over a green and white CMC T-shirt, Keeton greets the agency representatives with one-armed hugs and a quick smile. She asks for the spiel from those agencies she’s unfamiliar with.

The representatives are happy to meet this woman they’ve been phoning and e-mailing for months. The representative from The Technology Opportunity Institute shakes Keeton’s hand so vigorously, Keeton’s arm shakes like a piece of wood in a windstorm.

Agency representatives, CMC coordinators, a curious city employee - they all get a Keeton smile. Even when they bring her questions and complaints.

Last year, Keeton was an agency rep at the fair. Now, she brings the agencies’ viewpoint to the fair and tries to fix some of the issues she saw last year.

For instance, she changed the agency drop-off routine, making it easier on the agencies and harder on her and the other city volunteers. Many agency reps express their gratitude for the change.

When the reps aren’t thanking her, they are approaching Keeton with questions and problems. She sidles next to them and puts her hand on the back of their arms in reassurance. She rubs her chin with her hand as she thinks out the solution.

Keeton deals with most of the problems personally, offering advice, moving tables and taping up new, decorative signs to replace the bland ones attached to a third of the tables. She constantly runs downstairs to check on the training or drop something off.

The fair will end at 1 p.m. It’s been a successful day, Keeton says.

Nonprofit agencies have reached out to hundreds of potential contributors, and 175 coordinators have been trained to make it easier for city employees to contribute to their favorite cause.

At 12:30 p.m., Keeton’s leaning against a wall.

“My big feet need a rest,” she says. But the rest is brief. Agencies are starting to leave, and she needs to say goodbye.

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