Star Profile Mac Bennett of United Way
By John Temple Ligon
Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

James McCauley Bennett

James McCauley (Mac) Bennett was born in McLeod Hospital in Florence, the medical center of the Pee Dee, and he grew up in Cheraw. At Cheraw High School he played both varsity football and golf, while he was tapped for the National Honor Society.

He majored in finance and management at USC. After graduating in 1980, Bennett worked in the president's office for a five-year stint as an executive assistant.

For a little more than another five years, Bennett worked in various management duties at the university, to include overseeing visits by international dignitaries. He was chief of staff at the Byrnes International Center.

Bennett left USC in 1991 for the position of executive director at the Central Carolina Community Foundation, starting with $5 million in assets and leaving behind $70 million in 2005.

At the foundation he initiated the concept of total return, stocks as a hedge against inflation and bonds as a source of income. Formerly the investment strategy lay in certificates of deposit. Diversifying further, Bennett engaged a New York City firm to oversee the foundation's fortunes.

A little more than a year ago, he moved to United Way at the corner of Main Street and Laurel Street, diagonally across the intersection from City Hall. As CEO of United Way of the Midlands, Bennett directs an annual fund raising effort across six counties. Last year it brought in $10.5 million.

The major difference in fund raising between the Central Carolina Community Foundation and United Way, as Bennett put it, is with Central Carolina he focused on raising roughly $100,000 each from 50 people, while at United Way he chases 100,000 people for $50 each.

Supporting basic needs, United Way's two biggest beneficiaries are the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. As part of Bennett's understanding of basic needs, he was asked to help recommend potential locations for Columbia's homeless service center.

One recommendation was to put services, housing, and management on one block, all with firm and central control. Cost control was a central concern. City council is interested in a concentration of services and management, but a distributive housing strategy appears to be forming.

Bennett and his bride, Leslie, married 24 years ago this week. Leslie Bennett is director for the Women's Ministry at Northeast Presbyterian. Their son Evans is a sophomore at Clemson majoring in chemical engineering, and daughter McCauley has just started there, targeting a degree in education.

With an 11 handicap, Bennett's golf game competes for his time with offshore fishing. At night, there are always three or four books begging to be finished. This week he is re- reading The Purpose Driven Life.

Bennett has served on a variety of nonprofit boards during his career. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Richland School District Two Foundation. Also, he is a founding director of the South Carolina Association of Nonprofit Organizations, and he is an advisory board member of the South Carolina Philharmonic.

For Friday, September 22, United Way had scheduled its annual Day of Caring, a kick-off for the 2006-2007 fund-raising season. More than 400 volunteers were lined up to participate for the day. Bennett wants to bump up this year's collection to total $11.5 million. The economy had a good year, and United Way deserves a good year, too.